back to listings SME Profile: Q&S Distilling Co. Ltd t/a Atlantic Spirit Distillery

Q&S Distilling Co Ltd
Atlantic Spirit Distillery, Bideford, EX392QY

T:  (0)7462 926342  |  E:  office@atlantic-spirit.co.uk  |  W:  www.atlantic-spirit.co.uk

 

About Us

We are passionate about Gin and creating new and complex botanical flavours. We are also passionate about the North Devon coast and our locally sourced ingredients, using only premium sourced botanicals and Tarka Springs water collected a few miles away from the distillery in the hills of Langtree at Little Comfort farm.

Our gin is made using traditional gin basket infusion to create delicate pure flavours. Every bottle is part of a small batch production, ensuring that we can deliver a truly hand crafted gin.

Using premium sourced & locally foraged Atlantic coastal botanicals, all our herbs and fruits are freshly prepared and the flavours slowly extracted through the botanical basket to preserve the delicate flavours. With the addition of local Tarka Springs water, this gin is uniquely soft with superbly clean flavours and aromas.

It’s all about the flavour… #spiritofnorthdevon

Our Story

Our roots have always been in North Devon – Surfing, Sailing and Sea swimming around our local coast, generally getting out in the Atlantic ocean whenever possible. We’re passionate about creating Craft Gin’s that we hope you will love as much as we do. We love foraging for local botanicals and connecting with our environment, the Laver and Samphire are two great examples of this, carefully picked on the coast to expose the amazing flavours on our coastline.

The bottle artwork is from two local artists whose work we love. We’ve always been a fan of Merlyn Chesterman and luckily she is a fan of our gin – a perfect partnership. She kindly gave us permission to use the artwork from a beautiful wood cut ‘Atlantic’. https://www.merlynchesterman.com/about.html

Mau Mau is also a local artist and an old friend who I used to skateboard and surf with, you can see a lot of his work locally and he created our iconic Mermaid. http://www.mau-mau.co.uk/

Dean Sampson is the other local talent that has put their artwork together and now a firm friend (although he’s in a rival Surf Lifesaving Club :0). He took us through a truly cathartic journey creating the bottle designs and we can’t thank him enough for bringing it all together. http://sampsoncreative.co.uk/

 

Sustainability

Bottle Reuse

We’ve changed from paper labels to a ceramic printed bottle. The ceramic inks are cured at 600°c, in a process that takes over two hours in an oven type kiln called a Lehr. Once cured, these inks are highly durable.

This means that if you can return the bottle and cork to us we will give you £1 off your next purchase and your old bottle will be washed and cleaned ready for re-filling. Of course, returning bottles to us is not easy if you don’t live in North Devon but if we get 20-40% of our bottles back, that’s already a massive recycling effort. 

We will are collecting all the  bottles from local bars and restaurants on re-order, and will be collecting from you at  Appledore Farmers Market on the first Saturday of every month.

If you can’t get the bottle back to us then they’ll look great on the table with some of your garden flowers !

Solar

At the beginning of 2021 our distillery was fitted with solar panels. We now run on renewable energy. Your gin is made by the North Devon sunshine!

We are also on a green tariff so that when we aren’t making enough energy our provider ensures we are using power from renewable sources.

Packaging

We use plastic free packaging from https://www.flexi-hex.com/ 

This company is based in Cornwall and their cleverly designed boxes and sleeves keep your gin bottles safe when we post out to you.

Partners

We are lucky enough to live within the North Devon Biosphere, find out more by clicking this link.https:/ /www.northdevonbiosphere.org.uk/

We are one of their Business Partners which means that we are committed to Conservation, Local Development and Awareness raising.

We aren’t ever resting on our laurels! There is always more to do…..

 

Products

Micro-batch DISTILLED on the ATLANTIC COAST with locally foraged ingredients.

Hand crafted artisan gin, distilled in our alembic Copper Pot stills with only 120 bottles per batch. 

No. 1 Hibiscus

Made with Hibiscus flowers, liquorice root (no aniseed flavour just sweetness), and citrus fruits. Soft sweetness and long flavour from the subtle balance of hibiscus and liquorice root, leaving a hint of spice and juniper on the finish. A pleasant hibiscus and citrus nose. Serve with a plain or Mediterranean tonic and a slice of lime.

No. 2 Lemon & Thyme 

No lemons were harmed in the making of this as we use lemon balm to create the flavour, along with 2 selected local thymes, this is a beautiful gin. Lemon sherbet all the way with a citrus fruit and juniper finish. Super smooth with a fresh lemon citrus scent on the nose. Serve with a plain or Elderflower tonic, a slice of lemon and sprig of rosemary.

No. 3 Samphire

 Using locally foraged tidal Samphire, this gin gives an exceptional taste and succulent texture creating a super clean flavour. Micro-batch produced as we only pick small amounts, following the foragers code. Fresh coastal breeze on the nose, no, it's not salty! Serve with a plain tonic (not slimline) and a slice of crisp apple or blackberry.

No. 4 Lundy Gin

Based on the Lemon & Thyme with the addition of handpicked Gorse flowers from Abbotsham cliffs, giving this gin a soft honeyed sweetness. A really refreshing gin. Serve with a plain tonic, slice of lemon and a sprig of rosemary.

No. 5 Thai Basil

Using fresh Thai Basil leaves this gin is packed with flavour, liquorice notes and sweetness from the basil. Great with a seafood meal or just as a refreshing gin on a hot summers day. Serve with a plain tonic, slice of lime and a regular basil leaf.

No. 6 Laver Gin

Using locally foraged laver seaweed from Abbotsham cliffs this is a true labour of love. Another micro-distilled gin to preserve the small amounts of local laver available, this gin has the aroma of a sea breeze and tastes like a truly clean refreshing gin. It’s not salty – it just tastes amazing… Serve with a plain tonic ( not slimline) and a slice of pink grapefruit.

No. 7 Sea Buckthorn

We told you we were always working on something...... Our Special Edition Gin for the end of the summer comprises 2 different botanicals, foraged within 4 miles of our home. One is Sea Buckthorn , you can take a look here: http://sea buckthorn wildlife trusts Often used to make jellies and preserves. It has a very tart flavour, like sour orange or mango. It can also be likened to pineapple which is why we chose..... Pineapple weed :http://Pineapple weed wildlife trusts It has feathery leaves and yellow flower heads. When crushed these give the distinct scent of pineapple. So when these two combine it gives a citrus led gin with a real nose of pineapple. Fruity and distinctive. Serve with a plain tonic and a slice of pineapple. Orange and mango work well too.

 

 

 

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