The Gentleman Magazine Issue 18 | December 2019 | Page 82

STRANGER & SONS GIN HAS LAUNCHED IN THE UK
Inspired by the wonderful strangeness found in India's cultural
diversity, colour and customs, the founders named their
gin ‘Stranger’, whilst ‘& Sons’ refers to the common suffix of
traditional Indian family-owned businesses that are passed
down through generations within that family.
These include a bouquet of locally cultivated and handpicked
spices from fertile farmlands along the Konkan and Malabar
Coasts, from Goa to Kerala, such as coriander seeds, black
pepper and cassia bark along with a blend of four Indian citrus
peels. Out of the nine botanicals, juniper berries and angelica
are the only two ingredients which are not sourced from India.
The resulting gin is a light and refreshing, three-dimensional
spirit with spiced overtones, followed by an earthy, sweet
aftertaste.
Stranger serves - the Gibson Martini and the Gimlet
The Stranger & Sons team have created two signature cocktails
that celebrate the unique relationship they have with the local
community in Goa, as well as India’s history of pickling: the
classic Gibson Martini, made using pickles, and the Gimlet,
made with fruit cordial. The cocktails will be available to try at
some of London’s top bars, with each bar putting their own spin
on the Gibson and Gimlet through varying pickles and fruit
cordials. Bars include at the likes of Happiness Forgets, Sager
+ Wilde and TT Liquor, or the bottle itself can be purchased
from Masters of Malt, to make the cocktails at home to your
taste.
Crucial to the production of Stranger & Sons is the support of
the local community; Women from a local self-help group are
employed to peel the four local citrus fruits that perfume the
gin, before the distillery returns the flesh of the fruit to them.
The women then use this surplus fruit to create pickles and
cordials for Stranger & Sons’ cocktails, thus providing them
with additional income whilst minimising food waste.
Speaking on the launch, Stranger & Sons co-founder Sakshi
Saigal said:
Stranger & Sons , one of the first gins to be made in India since
the country gained independence in the 1940s, as well as one
of only a handful to reach UK shores, has launched in the UK.
The gin is now available in select serves within a selection of
London’s top bars and available to buy online through Masters
of Malt. Stranger & Sons is the debut gin from the family run
Third Eye Distillery, based off the beaten track in Ponda, a
district in South Goa with a rich history of spice farming.
Introducing Stranger & Sons
Retailing at £34.95 (70cl), Stranger & Sons is the creation
of Mumbai-based Sakshi Saigal, alongside her husband
Rahul Mehra and her cousin Vidur Gupta, and celebrates
the abundance and diversity of high quality botanicals and
inherently Indian spices found in the country’s household
kitchens.
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“As avid gin drinkers, we always heard of India spoken about
in gin circles, as the country has long been a vital supplier of
botanicals for the international gin market; but surprisingly
there weren’t many craft gins being created in India. So we
decided to distil our own quality Indian spirits, using these
amazing spices and botanicals we, and many other Indian’s
grew up with and now have in our own kitchens. After a lot of
experimentation we perfected the recipe for Stranger & Sons!
“Gin has played such an important part in the history of both
India and the UK, so it seemed like the next natural step to
launch Stranger in Britain, and we’re so excited to be here.”
www.strangerandsons.com
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