The ingredients
The pieces of the spice cabinet.
Sourced from people we know by name, in the regions the recipes already pointed to. Each ingredient is documented by where it comes from and why we pick it over the easier alternative.
Spice · Torbat Heydarieh, Khorasan, Iran
Saffron
The thread that started the brand. Cold-macerated at 4 °C for forty-eight hours before distillation, 2.4 grams per litre of spirit. Bought from a single family co-operative we visit twice a year.
Botanical · Macedonia
Juniper
Slovenian and Macedonian juniper berries, sun-dried, with the resinous edge that gives the Saffron Gin its backbone. Picked late in the season so the berries carry more oil.
Grape · South of Maastricht, Netherlands
Syrah (Shiraz)
A grape born in the northern Rhône, named for a Persian city, grown on a south-facing slope above the Geul valley. Harvested in two passes to compensate for uneven ripening.
Fruit · Yazd, Iran
Pomegranate
Pressed and reduced for the seasonal Shiraz Rosé and for the cellar negroni mix. Pomegranate from Yazd carries more tannin than supermarket varieties — a deliberate choice.
Grain · Limburg, Netherlands
Pilsner malt
The base malt for the Saffron Beer. From a maltster outside Roermond who still does small-batch floor-malting. Pale, biscuity, designed to let the saffron sit forward.
Hop · Žatec, Czech Republic
Saaz hops
Whole-cone Saaz, added once at whirlpool — never in the boil where flavour goes to die. The dry, herbal note that closes the Saffron Beer's long sip.
Fruit · Kelleris, Denmark · Limburg, Netherlands
Sour cherry
For the limited-release sour-cherry vodka. Picked at the precise moment when the brix is just enough and the acid is still bracing — three days, every year, somewhere in late July.
Botanical · Tuscany, Italy
Orris root
A two-year aged orris root from a single grower in Pratomagno. Used as a fixative for the Saffron Gin — pulls the saffron together rather than competing with it.