The Amazing Taste of Science
Follow Geranium Gin on their journey from passion to being the world's greatest
The days are gone where liquor was simply seen as a remedy to make your existence a tad more cheerful and escape everyday challenges for a brief moment. Today, enjoying fine spirits gives you a layer of sophistication and embodies the modern man’s appreciation for quality and fine craftsmanship.
In February this year, Copenhagen held the country’s first gin festival. Giving the public a chance to taste 120 different nuances of the popular liquor, setting the stage for an era of experimental wonders beyond your classic G&T.
The World’s Best Discovery
Henrik Hammer has been in the big leagues of gin enthusiasts for over 10 years and was part of the jury in the International Wine & Spirit Competition for many years. Though still a hobby at the time, he always had the dream to create his own distinct bottle of gin. He had an urge to channel years of experience into tangible value and like many other entrepreneurs, he spent most of his waking hours next to his day job as a consultant, thinking about how he could create a gin different and good enough to satisfy his own judgement. The solution would however turn out to drop into his lap by sheer coincidence.
On a typical day in the summer of 2008, Henrik was on his way home from work when he stopped by the local florist to buy a geranium that could add a bit of colour to his kitchen.
The geranium flower has a powerful scent and is a common measure against the smells that keeps lingering in the air after cooking up a nice steak, or any other of the modern man’s favourite gourmet indulgences for that matter.
When you are a man as passionate about his hobby as Henrik Hammer, you tendto see certain elements in a different light than the rest of us. For instance, if you are a runner, a hill is not an annoying obstacle on your way but a new opportunity to challenge yourself. For Henrik, the geranium became that challenge. He knew that the flower had been used for therapeutic purposes for many centuries by extracting the oil and mixing it with juniper berry, citrus and coriander. If you know your gin, you also know that the three latter plants are key ingredients in any decent bottle. So why not make geranium the fourth? With the idea firmly planted in Henrik’s mind, he went to his father.
“My many years of experience had sharpened my taste buds and I knew I could strike just the right balance, if I took the time to really explore the influence of the geranium flower. But I needed my dad to help me extract the ethereal oils which is the part of a plant you use to flavour the liquor. My dad was a chemist and had worked with aromatic compounds for years. Together we made the perfect pair. We spent countless late hours in the kitchen fine-tuning the taste.”
Today, the Geranium Gin has been praised around the world and is among the preferred gins at the most exclusive bars and restaurants globally.
Not Just Your Average G&T
What makes Geranium Gin unique is the effort and the knowledge that lies behind the perfect combination of the 8 different botanicals that are in perfect harmony with each other. It is the story of hard work and a never ending devotion to a dream that finally came true. Unfortunately not in time for Henrik’s father to see the results, as he sadly passed before the first bottle was made. But it is also caring for the details as represented by the simple yet exclusive bottle that has this certain Scandinavian feel to it.
“Geranium is for the man who finds pleasure in the taste and not the effect of the gin. Today, most new gins that reach the market, are either too standard to be noticed or too special to be used for traditional gin cocktails. We have stayed true to the origins of the liquor, but distinguish ourselves in the precision of the blend. Consumers are becoming increasingly quality-conscious and the current hype around gin is only broadening our target group of buyers who want value for money.”
Henrik’s vision is to be acknowledged globally, not only for making high quality gin but even more for his approach to production and developing new products. Combining experience with new perspectives and creative taste combinations never tried before, is how Henrik intends to continuously revolutionise the liquor industry. And Gin is just the beginning.
To us, Geranium is not just the key to a perfect drink on a Friday night with the boys. It is the embodiment of dedication, hard work and the beauty of how far you can go with passion. We cannot wait to see what scientific wonders Henrik will come up with next.
Until then, cheers!
