• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Edinburgers

  • Food & Drink
    • Recipes
    • Reviews
  • Edinburgh Fringe
  • News & Events
    • Out & About
    • Interviews
    • Business
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Wellbeing
    • Weddings
  • Home & Garden
  • Parenting

Q&A with Pickering’s Gin

by Clare Leave a Comment

pickerings

Next up in our Q&A feature is Pickering’s Gin. Gin has seen a huge market explosion and seems to be the drink of the moment. We tried Pickering’s Gin at Foodies Festival and it was delicious. It has a fantastic smooth taste and tastes great in their custom made cocktails as well. The 9 botanicals – juniper, coriander, cardamom, angelica, fennel, anise, lemon, lime and cloves – are carefully measured and added to the grain spirit in a 500 litre copper still. Named Gert. Thanks to Gert’s gentle simmering it produces an excellent product at the end.

So here’s what we found out about Pickering’s Gin.

Who are you and what is it you do?
Matt Gammell and Marcus Pickering, business partners for 12 years, friends for longer. We set up the Summerhall Distillery together and it is there that we make our marvellously mixed Pickering’s Gin.
How long have you been in business?
We set up the distillery late in 2013 and launched the first product, Pickering’s Gin on 27th March 2014. Just over 6 months in total.
What was the inspiration behind setting up your own business?
We have a motto that we both subscribe to ‘if you can’t find what you want, make it yourself’. That is the basis of our business. However, the idea for the distillery stemmed from a piece of paper that came into our possession – that bit of paper contained a gin recipe written in Bombay in 1947.

food40

What has been the biggest challenge in getting your product to market?
The biggest challenge that we are having at the moment, is breaking out of the Scottish market. Selling the gin in Edinburgh and Scotland has been great. There is still a lot of work to do, but people are more receptive to a Scottish gin in Scotland.
How do you decide what flavours to make?
With a lot of hard work! It took us about 18 months of taste testing and flavour profiling to take our gin from the original recipe to the balanced smooth Pickering’s Gin recipe that we use today.

gin

What makes you stand out from other similar products?
For us, its all about the quality of the gin. The smoothness and richness of flavour that make our gin special. Gert (our still) is heated with a custom designed bain marie heating system, which allows to create our soft, highly drinkable gin.
What is a typical day for you?
There is no such thing as a typical day for us. One day we could be in the distillery actually distilling the gin, or bottling, or labelling or getting hands on with the process. The next day we could be in meetings with high level operators in the UK drinks industry. Followed up by running a late night event with Gin and Tonics and cocktails. No two days are really the same.
How did you find your niche ?
It found us really. We spent a lot of time working on our brand identity and are very luck to have some great people to talk to about this sort of thing. However, we didn’t really pick a niche and go for it, we started the brand focused around who we are and where we are in Edinburgh and its really gone on from there.

gin3

What’s your favourite gin and why?
Ours! There is such a great wealth of fantastic gins out there, not only from Scotland but around the world, people are spoilt for choice with flavours and tastes. However, we created our gin because we like it – so its our favourite too.
Where can we buy your product?
We have had a great response from stockists up and down the UK, higher end outlets such as Harrods, Fortnum and Masons and the House of Bruar all stock our gin. However, you can also get bottles in many independent wine stores across Scotland and the UK.
If you were entertaining friends what would cocktail using Pickering’s Gin would you make and why?
We have a wonderful Pea-cocktail that we served during the Edinburgh Festival this year. It’s tasty, flamboyant and with a little bit of added fizz to really make is sparkle. We call it the Lady Pickering, its a mix of gin, earl grey tea, lemon juice and elderflower topped with sparkling wine. An outstanding may to end (or begin) a night with friends.

gin2

Many thanks to the guys at Pickering’s Gin for answering our questions. Mr E is a big gin fan and I think I am being converted. Did you know they also do tours and tastings. Guided tours and tastings are available by appointment Monday – Saturday, from 12pm to 4pm. Tours last around 30-40 minutes. For a mere £10 a head you can experience the wonderful world of Pickering’s Gin. Find out more about their tours here. 

You an find Pickering’s Gin on –

Facebook – Pickering’s Gin
Twitter – @pickeringsgin

*Thanks to Pickering’s Gin for use of some of their professional images.

Previous Post: « Mash Tun Beer and Burger
Next Post: Chocolate fudge brownies »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • About Us
  • Work With Us
  • How To Start a Food Blog

geek t shirt

teacher t shirts

family christmas shirts

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

oversized shirt

teacher shirt

baby tee

gym shirt

Jeulia Wedding Jewelry Sale 2022

Recent Posts

  • 5 Mistakes To Avoid When Opting For An Outdoor Wedding
  • Crimestoppers Scotland – Keep your home and loved ones safe
  • 3 Red Flags To Avoid When Booking A Wedding Venue
  • Tortilla Edinburgh – Second branch rolling into town + 2for1 Voucher!
  • 8 destinations to visit in Asia that you’ll love too
Shesaidyes Wedding Rings Sale 2022

Featured Posts

Tortilla Edinburgh – Second branch rolling into town + 2for1 Voucher!

Encore to open in Edinburgh’s West End!

Thanksgiving at Duck & Waffle Edinburgh: Gather, Give Thanks and Celebrate

Gary Maclean’s Scottish Celebrations – Treasured traditions and contemporary recipes from Scotland

Health and Wellness Benefits of Alcohol-Free Wine Consumption

Freddy’s Edinburgh – Unveiling the Latest After-Dark Hangout

Helloice Hip Hop Chains 2022

Footer

Are you looking to Sell Disney Timeshare to vacation minded travellers? If you sell Wyndham timeshare are there more opportunities to travel around the country? Work with a timeshare broker to understand timeshare resales and see the opportunity this time of vacationing offers.

Copyright © 2023 Edinburgers | Privacy Policy