PUDDINGSTONE® DISTILLERY
Unit 1 Artisan Workshop, Lower Icknield Way Wilstone Green, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 4NT
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
THE FOUNDERS
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors Founders
Take two kindred spirits, a myriad of sensory experiences absorbed from travels to countries near and far, throw in a realisation that good gin can be enjoyed equally as well outside under the stars as it can at the bar, and you have the creation of Campfire Gin.
In 2014 we stepped out into the unknown having made a decision to establish the region’s first small batch gin distillery. After 18 months of premises hunting across the beautiful Chiltern Hills, a chance meeting with a local farm owner, who shared our vision of a destination for local food and drink producers, took Puddingstone Distillery one step closer to becoming a reality.
The winding journey from inception to launch on 11 November 2016 saw us travel the length and breadth of the country and establish relationships with distillers and industry professionals from across the globe. Alongside a successful crowdfunding campaign and completion of an Institute of Brewers and Distillers exam, we’ve gone on to handle all aspects of the gin distillery’s creation. A creative ‘marketing man’ and equally creative ‘graphics girl’ who absorb experiences, refine them, mix them up and turn them into something great… in this instance, Campfire Gin.
Our collection of experiences, most of which have centred around our love of travel, adventure, outdoor pursuits and our work helping other brands communicate and grow, forms the basis for our working ethos.
Above all we’re driven to produce a gin of an exceptional and inspirational nature, created with a mindfulness of community and environment, with an aspiration to invigorate your senses, lead you on adventures near and far, discover simple pleasures and connect with kindred spirits.
This is our spirit, your spirit, the spirit of the outdoors.
Ben & Kate Marston
SUSTAINABILITY
We’re driven to produce a gin of an exceptional and inspirational nature, created with a mindfulness of community and environment, with an aspiration to invigorate your senses, lead you on adventures near and far, discover simple pleasures and connect with kindred spirits.
Green credentials
Our ethos statement above is something we strive towards every day. When developing a new gin, product or piece of packaging we ensure it meets as many of these criteria as possible.
Our bottles
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
Our Campfire Gin range is available in 70cl and 10cl bottle volumes. We’ve chosen a bottle that is made from 40% recycled glass. We also use these bottles for our for limited edition gins and PUD PUD Christmas Gin. Many bottles will have a large plug of glass in the bottom. Our’s doesn’t. Less glass equates to a reduced carbon footprint during production, transit and recycling.
Our Campfire Gin bottle labels are printed just eight miles from the distillery – again reducing transportation. The paper material is 30% recycled fibre and is from a FSC certified supplier. This includes the neck watch strap anti-tamper labels too. Occasionally you might see what looks like a plastic anti-tamper seal on our limited edition bottles. These are made from compostable plastic.
Cork is the bark material of the Quercus suber tree (cork oak). Whilst it is seen as a sustainable product and one of the best materials for bottle closures it does take around approx 10 years for the bark to grow thick enough for harvesting. Our stopper is made from recycled cork with a wood top made from FSC certified wood.
Packaging
Shop Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
If you order gin online from us all our bottles and gift sets are shipped in plastic free packaging.
All trade orders are shipped in plastic free packaging too.
Gin production
Our gins are made using the multi-shot method rather than single-shot method. This significantly reduces our energy and water usage.
Gin refills
Enjoyed a bottle of Campfire Gin and want another? Well, if you live locally to our Tring distillery you can bring your 70cl bottle into the distillery and we will refill it for you. What’s even better is that you’ll make a saving on the bottle price.
For our trade customers we operate a pouch scheme which reduces the amount of bottles, packaging, fuel and energy used.
Whilst our bottle is made from 40% recycled glass the more we can re-use the bottles the better. It takes time, uses transportation fuel and manufacturing energy to re-introduce recycled glass back into the system and with less virgin material available the quickest route to recycling our bottles is to bring them back to the distillery for a refill.
GIN DISTILLERY TOUR EVENINGS
Tour Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
Puddingstone Distillery gin tours
A mighty big bang, a dead king and a grotesque gin – a distillery tale
Join other like-minded gin lovers for an evening gin distillery tour. Held on Thursday nights (8.00pm-10.00pm), founders Ben & Kate Marston, present an insight into the history of gin, the creation and set-up of Puddingstone Distillery and how we make multi-award winning Campfire Gin using our stills Isabella, Amelia and Annie.
As we delve into the four key gin styles that comprise the Campfire Gin range you’ll learn about our favourite gin cocktails and why we won the World’s Best Martini Challenge and England’s Best Matured Gin!
The two hour evening session includes two gin cocktails from our Campfire Gin menu, gin samples and your very own branded Puddingstone Distillery gin glass to take home.
“A great experience” Moz C
“A wonderful gin tasting and tour. I cannot recommend it enough. Such an interesting story and very tasty gin.” Jenni K
Tour Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
CAMPFIRE LONDON DRY GIN, 42%
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors London Dry
“A refined, athletic, smooth, elegantly formed blend of sweet botanicals and clean citrus notes. Linear on the palate, lifted, elegant and fine on the finish. Beautifully balanced.” Judges comments, International Wine & Spirits Competition
Under stars, by a campfire, a gin was born. Pitching camp on the boundary between classic and contemporary styles, ten botanicals including rooibos, sweet, fresh orange, hazelnut* and piney juniper are distilled with the finest UK wheat spirit. Campfire London Dry Gin has a citrus nose and juniper palette which yields to a rich fruity middle and sweet nutty end that builds, sip, after sip, after sip.
Distilled on Amelia, the larger of our two production stills, this gin conforms to the production method that enables us to call it a London Dry. A neutral spirit of over 96% ABV, a new make spirit of over 70% ABV and nothing added after distillation except water.
Venturing into the exciting world of gin cocktails? This is the best martini gin, it makes a superb bone dry martini. We won the World’s Best Martini Challenge 2019 and the Best Ready to Drink Martini 2022 with Campfire London Dry Gin. The ingredients and instructions on how to make a Campfire dry martini are in our Campfire cocktail recipes.
*Because this is a distilled gin the nut allergens are not present.
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
CAMPFIRE CASK AGED GIN, 43%
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors Cask Aged
World Gin Awards, Country Winner Gold, Matured Gin 2024.
“A delicate balance of green herbs, lemon meringue tartness and hints of blossom and spice supporting a classic gin nose. Soft vanilla notes with gentle layers of flavoursome elegance.” Judges comments, International Wine & Spirits Competition
Before the Single Bottle Act of 1861, gins were often shipped and sold in oak barrels, a process that added flavour, aroma and colour. Each batch of our Campfire Cask Aged Gin is shaped by the history of the wood that surrounds it, taking on a unique profile every time.
Based on the same botanicals as Campfire London Dry Gin but made to a different recipe Campfire Cask Aged is rested in American oak ex-bourbon casks gaining a golden hue. This is an oak aged gin but it’s not oaky or woody! Additional notes of vanilla, caramel and soft bourbon shine through.
Love negronis? Try in an Ember Negroni or a Fireside Manhattan which is a twist on a Gin and It cocktail and a Manhattan cocktail – we switch out the bourbon for our barrel finished gin.
*The roasted hazelnut botanical adds flavour and mouthfeel but because this is a distilled gin the nut allergens are not present.
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors Casked Aged
CAMPFIRE OLD TOM GIN, 45%
“Bold and slightly sweet, without being sugary; obviously still a gin – and a pretty awesome one at that” David T Smith, gin expert, judge and author
In considering how an 18th centuryrural distiller might approach thecreation of an ‘Old Tom’ style gin,we’ve married a unique botanical selection with pot distillation and compounding processes to deliver notes of spice, juniper and citruswith a hint of colour and sweetness without the use of sugar. History respected and re-imagined.
During the development of the distillery, Ben discovered that his great grandfather worked in the wine & spirits industry until a ripe old age. The distinguished gentleman below, one Thomas Marston, was affectionately known by his peers as Old Tom.
Old Tom gin cocktails are the original gin cocktails, long before London Dry gin cocktails and even vodka cocktails came on the scene. We think our Campfire Cask Aged Gin makes a pretty awesome negroni but Campfire Old Tom Gin is more than equal especially if you make our Old Bold Negroni recipe using a double measure of gin!
CAMPFIRE NAVY STRENGTH GIN, 57%
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors Navy Strenght
“A classic juniper and citrus driven nose. It is dry and majestic with a great balance between alcoholic sweetness and zesty quality.” Judges comments, International Wine & Spirits Competition
Whilst the botanicals remain anchored to that of Campfire London Dry Gin, we have tweaked the recipe for Campfire Navy Strength Gin and raised the alcohol content to bring you a bigger, bolder expression. The perfect storm… in a bottle.
With a greater emphasis on the juniper profile and a higher botanical loading to offset the 57% strength, this gin can only be described as surprisingly smooth. Whilst the gin has a high ABV, a single 25ml measure of Campfire Navy Strength Gin and a 200ml bottle of tonic plus ice dilution brings the ABV of the G&T to between 5 and 6%. Strong but not as strong as a glass of wine!
*Because this is a distilled gin the nut allergens are not present.
SPECIAL EDITION GINS
Our limited special edition small batch gins are born of collaboration, the desire to create something unique or seasonal, or merely to indulge ourselves. Often deviating from our core botanicals and processes, these gins are available for a few fleeting months each year, especially our PUD PUD Christmas gin.
To ensure you get your hands on the best artisan gins in Hertfordshire, you’d be wise to sign up to our newsletter for release dates and have our gin delivered direct to your front door.
BOTANICALS
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
MALTED BARLEY
MACEDONIAN JUNIPER
ANGELICA ROOT
CHAMOMILE
CARDAMOM
FRESH LEMON PEEL
BRITISH CORIANDER SEED
CINNAMON
CAMPFIRE SERVES
Make a gin Mint Julep with Campfire Old Tom. Cooling and refreshing, sweet and spicy this gin cocktail is a summer favourite.
For a simple G&T serve with Fever-Tree Mediterranean or Lemon tonic water and a slice of lime. For something sweeter pair with Fever-Tree or R Whites lemonade.
You either love a negroni or you don’t, however we’ve found that by tweaking the recipe slightly and using a double measure of Campfire Old Tom Gin the sweetness in the gin balances out the bitterness of Campari. Give our Old Bold Negroni a taste and see what you think!
The Balsamic & Cherry Shrub cocktail is sweet, spicy and bitter – definitely worth the 24 hour wait to prep the shrub!
The Old Tom Sawyer is Campfire Old Tom Gin, Bitter Union Aromatic Bitters and Spiced Orange Bitters with lime and sugar syrup – voted the best of the three gin cocktails during our cocktail bitters themed online tutoring event.
Serving gin to local gin lovers in London, Tring, Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Aylesbury, Watford, Dunstable, Luton, Bedford, Amersham, Hitchin, Leighton Buzzard and beyond since 2016. Visit our micro distillery for gin gifts and gin tasting experiences or order gin online and have gin delivered direct to your front door.
PUDDINGSTONE DISTILLERY JOURNEY SO FAR…
Whilst the doors to our Hertfordshire distillery opened in November 2016, the journey to reach this point started way back in January 2014 with a wrist operation, the purchase of two great books and a Eureka moment that sadly did not involve a bathtub full of gin. Since then we’ve picked up awards, been on the TV, presented at gin seminars and more. Here are some snippets of our journey so far.
2014 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
January
Kate purchased two books which became the catalyst for setting up a gin distillery.
February
We decided on the name Campfire Gin – named after the fact we’ve enjoyed our best gin and tonics sitting round campfires.
September
As part of our research we took a road trip to visit distilleries in Edinburgh and Durham.
October
We finalised our distillery name and logo. Puddingstone is a rare rock formation found in Hertfordshire. Historically used in churches to ward off evil spirits, we like to think it keeps the good ‘spirits’ in the distillery!
2015 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
February
We received our first HMRC licence to distil at home on Jessie May and Ada, our 1 litre and 5 litre test stills. Officially the first licence to be issued in Hertfordshire.
June
Dacorum’s Den – we made a presentation to five influential local business people, one of whom was the Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP, to obtain a £1000 grant. We put the grant towards our crowdfunding video.
September
Filming took place for our crowdfunding video in the grounds of Ashridge Business School.
November
Our crowdfunding campaign launched on 1 November and ran for 56 days. Each day we either attended an event to raise awareness of our campaign or pushed out messages via our social media channels.
December
Hurrah! We exceeded our campaign target! This was only a portion of our start-up funds, the rest of which came from our savings and some family assistance.
2016 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
January
Throughout 2015 we hunted for a suitable distillery premises. A chance encounter with local farmer and producer of Chiltern Rapeseed Oil, Simon Mead, led to the build of a new structure on the P E Mead & Sons Farm Shop site in Wilstone, Tring. Building worked commenced one cold January day.
April
We chose six female adventurers and asked our Campfire crowd to vote for their favourite two, after whom our stills would be named. Amelia Earhart and Isabella Lucy Bird were the winners. Pop into the distillery shop to read more about these two inspirational women.
July
Our first run of bottle labels was printed, embossed and foiled. The design features a chevron pattern which began life as a sketch of water, trees, mountains and birds, all created using a chevron shape.
September
Throughout August, September and October we stained, cut, drilled and constructed the distillery interior, predominantly by ourselves with a little help from an electrician. We also worked on upscaling our test London Dry recipe to our 50 litre still, Isabella.
November
Official launch night on the 11 November! Initially just supposed to be an evening for our crowdfunders to collect their Campfire London Dry gin rewards, we opened the doors on the same night as the P E Meads Christmas food festival. We think about 400 people came through the doors that night purchasing all our gin set aside for the official launch the following day! An early start was required the next morning to bottle Campfire Gin resting in containers!
2017 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
March
The launch of our 2nd product – Campfire Cask Aged. Read more
April
Five months after its official launch Campfire London Dry Gin won a bronze award at the American Distillers Institute Craft Distillers Awards and was named as The Independent Online Spirit of the Month.
April
The 3rd in our core range of Campfire Gins was launched – this time a juniper forward Navy Strength. Read more
June
To celebrate World Gin Day we held two Dine at the Distillery evenings with St Albans based caterer, Chappell & Caldwell. With a menu based around our gin botanicals we created gin cocktails to pair with seven courses.
July
The first Himalayan balsam pulling took place, collecting the flowers for our Campfire Special Edition No 1, our ‘pink for a purpose’ gin. £2 from the sale of each bottle goes towards the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust. Read more
July
We were delighted to win the Best Newcomer Award at the Hertfordshire Life Food & Drink Awards.
October
Campfire Navy Strength Gin beat off strong competition to win Navy Gin of the Year at Craft Distillers Expo.
November
To celebrate our first birthday we launched our Winter seasonal – Puddingstone Pudding Gin or PUD PUD for short. Made by distilling juniper, sweet fresh orange peel and Christmas pudding! The bottle label was copper and gold foiled on cherry wood veneer.
December
We held the first of our free distillery cocktail sessions which now run every couple of months.
2018 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
February
It came full circle, from first purchasing a Difford’s Guide to Gin to finally submitting our three core Campfire Gins to Simon Difford to taste and review. 4.5 stars for our London Dry, 5 each for our Cask Aged and Navy Strength.
April
After cancelling the event twice previously due to weather, we finally held our stargazing and cocktails evening.
May
With juniper berries in hand we both pledged allegiance and were officially accepted into the Gin Guild. We now wear our silver juniper sprigs with pride!
June
Our first Junipalooza – over 70 distilleries for attendees to visit over two days at London’s Tobacco Dock. On the same weekend we launched PUD PUD Aged, a 50 bottle limited edition gin which sold out in three days!
July
Way back at the start of the year we submitted our core Campfire Gins to IWSC for their annual awards. We were over the moon when the results came out. Silvers for Campfire London Dry and Cask Aged and Silver Outstanding for Campfire Navy Strength.
October
Kate and her sister collected the award for Best Rural Drink Business and runner up award for Newcomer at the Amazon Rural Business Awards East region. We head off to the national finals in February 2019.
2019 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
January
The win we are most proud of! Campfire London Dry Gin wins World’s Best Martini Challenge 2019 for our 10:1 ratio of Campfire London Dry Gin to Dolin Dry Vermouth recipe.
April
Campfire Old Tom Gin is launched to complete the line up of four heritage gin styles in the Campfire Gin range. Botanicals were chosen based on what would have been available to a rural distiller during the 18th century.
May
Chef, author and food writer Gill Meller headed up the kitchen for a pop up dining event at Peterley Manor Farm. We were invited to serve the arrival cocktail – our Cherry & Balsamic Shrub.
July
The Grove Hotel and Golf Resort invited us to set up a pop up bar outside The Stables Bar and Restaurant. Along with Campfire Gin & Tonics they served a cocktail we devised for the event – The Fire Extinguisher.
September
Ben was invited to speak at Craft Distillers Expo with a presentation entitled ‘Can you have too much botanicals in the still?’
September
Even though Ben is a judge for the Craft Distilling Expo awards his comments and score are removed if we have entered one of the categories. These awards are open to all new gins launched during the year. We were delighted to win the Old Tom category with our Campfire Old Tom Gin.
October
The first gin to be made with Hertfordshire juniper. The Box Moor Trust have been cultivating juniper on their land and harvested some of their berries for us to use in a special gin with £2 from the sale of every bottle going to the Trust.
December
The Telegraph newspaper gave our PUD PUD Cask Aged Gin 10 out of 10 in their Christmas Gins review. The only gin to be awarded 10 out of 10.
2020 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
May
Well, lots did happen between January and May but it mostly involved COVID-19 lockdown activities so we won’t dwell on these! We did move events online and our first event was a martini cocktail tasting!
June
Due to the popularity of Domestique London Dry Gin in our limited edition bidons we decided to launch it as a core gin in glass bottles. The label features colours and patterns from cycle jerseys.
July
We entered Campfire London Dry, Cask Aged and Navy Strength Gins into the International Spirits Awards 2020 and they all won well deserved silver medals.
September
A collaboration between ourselves and George Street Canteen saw the launch of Honey Gin using honey from the hives at the canteen. Ben has distilled the honey so the gin has floral notes from the flowers visited by the bees.
December
We launched our new gin gift set which contains a full sized bottle of gin and two branded gin glasses. Launched just in time for Christmas gin gifting!
2021 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
February
With events still running online we hosted another martini night but this time raising much needed funds for the Chiltern MS Centre. Over two events we raised £605. Thank you to everyone who attended!
April
We were over the moon to win two gold medals (Campfire London Dry & Navy Gins) and two silver medals (Campfire Cask Aged & Old Tom Gins) at the London Spirits Competition.
April
Like the London Spirits Competition, The Gin Guide Awards attract entries from all over the world. Campfire Cask Aged, Navy and Old Tom Gins were winners in their categories and Campfire London Dry was awarded a highly commended. Amazingly we also won the overall award of Distillery of the Year!
May
Campfire Navy Cask Gin was released – a very small and limited edition batch of just 67 bottles. Rested in port and bourbon casks this expression didn’t last long on the distillery shelves!
June
A year late but worth the wait! Our latest gin collaboration with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust – Ultrasonic Gin. Inspired by the flight of bats through the British countryside and the botanicals they encounter including barley, elderflower and Bramley apple. Uniquely we use ultrasound and distillation to extract oils from the botanicals.
July
We only entered Campfire Navy Strength Gin into IWSC this year and given the new structure of the points awarded and the high number of gins who entered we were delighted to receive a bronze medal.
August
Our new Puddingstone Distillery gin glasses arrived! Decorated with our trees and sea graphic in a gold print.
September
Campfire Gin re-launched in NEW 70cl bottles. 40% more gin for everyone to enjoy!
2022 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
March
As COVID restrictions started to lift we resumed in person events at the distillery with our travel themed cocktail demo.
March
It took a while to come to fruition due to COVID but we finally launched The Grove Gin which is sold exclusively at the 5 star hotel on the bar and in the mini bars. Botanicals are harvested from the kitchen garden at the hotel.
April
We scooped four awards at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC)! Not easy given the number of entries from around the world.
April
We were delighted to win awards for Campfire Old Tom Gin and Campfire Cask Aged Gin at the 2022 Gin Guide Awards.
June
A small batch of PUD PUD Cacao Gin was released for the summer months. It made a delightful martini and paired amazingly with strawberries.
June
Ben rode 70 miles across Hertfordshire visiting some of the best wild places as part of the HMWT’s 30 Days Wild Ride Wild Challenge. Supported by Alex from estarli electric bikes Ben and Alex completed the ride over the 29th and 30th June to raise funds for much needed wildlife projects in the region.
July
A trio of silvers was won at the 2022 Spirits Business Awards.
July
Our refill scheme for the 70cl Campfire Gin range was launched. In addition to helping support our environmental and sustainability credentials customers are rewarded with a £3 discount for every bottle refilled.
August
To celebrate the centenary of Watford FC playing at Vicarage Road a special edition bottling of Campfire London Dry Gin was launched.
October
You know we love a martini and we were delighted to win our second award for Campfire London Dry and our martini recipe with Dolin Dry Vermouth at the Craft Distillers Expo.
2023 Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
April
The first cocktail demo of the year. The theme of Salt Acid Heat was inspired by Samin Nosrat’s amazing book Salt, Fat, Acid Heat.
May
Campfire Navy Strength and Campfire Old Tom Gins both picked up wins in their respective categories at the 2023 Gin Guide Awards!
May
During the year we held two sold out Gin & Cheese Pairing events in partnership with cheese expert and judge James Grant from No 2 Pound Street.
July
A very exciting evening at Tewinbury Farm Hotel for the finals of the biz4Biz awards. Delighted to pick up the Special Judge’s Award which was presented to us by journalist and sports presenter Chris Hollins.
September
Launch of Box Moor Gin, our collaboration with The Box Moor Trust in Hemel Hempstead. Distilled with unique and rare juniper harvested by Ben and myself from The Box Moor Trust estate. £2 from every bottle sold is donated to the Trust.
October
Proud to take part in the inaugural travel trade event hosted by Visit Herts at the prestigious location of Knebworth House.
November
To celebrate our 7th birthday PUD PUD Cherry Christmas Gin was re-launched in a new 70cl bottle.
December
Charlie’s Coffee in St Albans wanted a small Christmas gifting gin. A blend of their house cold brew coffee and our Campfire Cask Aged Gin was the perfect solution.
December
Another collaborative gin with a St Albans business. This time a super citrus gin for Craft & Cleaver.
December
A Christmas cocktail demo showcasing festive cocktails featuring PUD PUD Cherry Gin. Cherry & Cranberry French 75, Cherry Gin Sour and White Herts (a riff on a White Russian).
Table of Contents
Campfire Gin Spirit of the outdoors
