We hear this comment a lot in the tasting room. Juniper is the defining ingredient in gin, but it’s not the base ingredient. Gin is made by flavoring a vodka or neutral grain spirits with juniper, and other botanicals if the distiller chooses. Distillers start with a high-proof neutral spirit and use a variety of methods to add juniper flavors to the spirit. Copperworks uses a traditional method called “maceration.”

We soak juniper and nine other botanicals in 100 proof Copperworks Vodka for 24 hours in our dedicated gin still. We then distill the spirit (with all the botanicals still soaking in it) to draw out the best flavors from the botanicals and leave the more resinous and bitter flavors behind. That creates Copperworks Gin, with its distinctive balance between the juniper and other botanicals.