Guildford
Guildford is a town in the Guildford area, Surrey, England. The town had 66,773 inhabitants in 2001. It is the capital of the Guildford district and the administrative center of the South East England region.
The earliest evidence of human activity in the area is from the Mesolithic and Guildford is mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great from c. 880. The exact location of the main Anglo-Saxon settlement is unclear and the current site of the modern town centre may not have been occupied until the early 11th century. Following the Norman Conquest, a motte-and-bailey castle was constructed; which was developed into a royal residence by Henry III. During the late Middle Ages, Guildford prospered as a result of the wool trade, and the town was granted a charter of incorporation by Henry VII in 1488.
Silent Pool Distillers Guildford Gin
Guildford Gin celebrates the vibrant and exciting town of Guildford in Surrey, the place we call home. This gin is inspired by the town’s rich historic past, drawing on locally abundant flavours such as Heather, Wild Thyme and Nettle. This wildflower packed gin produces a fresh, light, floral taste, perfect for those who appreciate more delicate flavours.
The distillery of Silent Pool.
In keeping with the original vision for a sustainable business, a vintage wood-fired steam boiler was restored to power the hand-built copper still, created for Silent Pool Distillers by the Arnold Holstein Company in the Lake Constance area of Germany.
The distillery was completed with the arrival of the bespoke stainless steel tanking, sourced from the Vipara Valley in Slovenia.
Mayfield Gin
It’s time for a tale of some very fine craft gin. Our story starts on a single farm in East Sussex, where columns of hops rise to the sky. We harvest those hops and dry them in our Oast house, and distil them in a copper pot still.
Mayfield
Rhubarb & Ginger Gin Liqueur
The tale of The Cuckoo Line comes from the old Victorian Railway line that ran through Mayfield Village. This tale comes in the form of some very fine Rhubarb & Ginger Gin Liqueur.
The Surrey Copper Distillery.
Marco Heyrman says that this Surrey Copper Distillery website is incredibly well built, stylish. Congratulations !
Our gin still has been designed specifically for The Surrey Copper Distillery. She is beautiful!
The gin still at The Surrey Copper Distillery is very special. She is a 300 litre Mini Carterhead designed specifically for us by one of the world’s leading craft distillery manufacturers, Green Engineering of Italy. Green Engineering not only bring a tremendous amount of technical expertise to still design but as craftsmen with typical Italian flair also produce beautiful stills. And we really wanted her to be beautiful.
The first chapter of the creation of the distillery was to design the layout of the distillery. The gin still would need to be supported by a spirit lab. The spirit lab would be the birth place of each new spirit produced at the distillery. Katherine sketched out the concept and basic plans and together with our friends at Hoare Laboratory Engineering a unique spirit lab was designed, built and commissioned.
Two 2 litre (The Twins) and one 20 litre (our heroine) copper pot stills with hotplates were acquired. The twin stills were unpacked and named themselves, as they look exactly like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Their taller and more elegant companion was obviously Alice. All three characters appear in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through The Looking Glass, which he wrote in Guildford. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee are the perfect size for developing new gins and Alice is the still we use for Small Batch and Limited Edition gin making.
Creating fine spirits requires a special type of still. We could have bought one ready made but we decided to take a different path. We shared our inspirations and aspirations for our distilling process and the flavour and aroma attributes with Green Engineering and they designed a 300 litre carterhead solid copper still with infuser basket. The still was handmade in Italy and she is perfect. In fact, we think she is beautiful. She had to be properly sited and we needed help to understand how best to do that so we are very grateful to Briggs of Burton for all their help.
Hidden Curiosities Gin
Multi-award winning small batch artisan gins, meticulously handcrafted with 20 intriguing botanicals to create remarkably curious gins. Distilled in the Surrey Hills, England.
Hidden Curiosities Gin was created by Cravat Club director Jenny. After spending 5 years in Japan refining her discerning palate, followed by a year of extensive research sampling over 100 different craft gins, she was determined to dedicate her time and passion to develop a unique recipe with a very distinctive character. The balance of aromatic spices from 5 different peppercorns and green cardamom, paired with strong citrus flavours from yuzu and pink grapefruit, and supported by a whole orchestra of highly delectable botanicals, formed a deeply complex and multifaceted artisan gin.
Working very closely with Silent Pool Distillers in the Surrey Hills, who carried the right expertise for this exciting new project, Jenny was able to perfect and fine-tune her recipe in order to produce the specific result she had in mind. Using their magnificent hand-built 350 litre copper still, charismatically powered by a wood fired steam boiler, her first batch of Hidden Curiosities gin was born in July 2017.
Since then, Hidden Curiosities gin has certainly evoked curiosity in the gin world featuring on the menu at Michelin Star restaurants, available in top London bars and gin palaces, and now stocked in the famous London department store, Harrods in Knightsbridge.
Hidden Curiosities and the newer, well-acclaimed Aranami Strength, have both won a multitude of Awards, and have consistently received overwhelmingly positive reviews from renowned gin bloggers.
Jenny says, “I truly believe this gin is something very special indeed; the flavours transform depending on how you serve and garnish your Hidden Curiosities gin. It is extremely palatable neat, or by adding a splash of tonic will release more of the hidden botanicals residing in the background.
“My recommended garnish for the perfect gin & tonic would be pink peppercorns and green cardamom to intensify the spices; perfect for a winter gin, or if you have a penchant for pepperiness like myself! For more of a refreshing clean citrus taste, add a twist of pink grapefruit or yuzu peel. Or for something completely different, try strawberries and cracked black pepper.”
Surrey Gin Fest
Surrey Gin Fest is returning to Loseley Park on Saturday 7th of September 2024. We can’t wait to see you all there to celebrate our third year in the county!
We are shaking things up for 2024 with a Festival Market, even more gin bars and the best live music all day!
Loseley Park has a large Tudor manor house situated in 1,400 acres of glorious rolling countryside, just three miles south of Guildford in Surrey. The manor house is filled with Tudor memorabilia and historical items, and was even used in filming the popular tv series, The Crown.
Our gin festival takes place on the front lawn with the magnificent manor house as our backdrop.
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