Saturday, July 11, 2015

Florida Gin, St. Augustine Distillery Style

St. Augustine, Fla.—St. Augustine Distillery puts 26 botanical ingredients in their small batch gin. Some of these ingredients are Florida grown like sugar cane molasses and orange peel.

Benjamin Tier, tour guide and bartender at St. Augustine Distillery,
preparing cocktail with small batch botanical gin,
Copyright 2015 by Helen A Lockey
They also put in juniper, coriander, Cassia bark, lemon & lime peels, angelica, and other proprietary ingredients. The end result is a slightly sweet, floral gin that’s almost good enough to drink straight, which is saying something from me, a person who doesn’t like gin.

To try their gin for free, make your way to their distillery located at 112 Riberia Street, just a few steps away from San Sebastian Winery, and take a walking tour. At the end of the tour you’ll be served drinks made with whatever they are currently bottling (the alcohols change every few months or so).

If you’re lucky you’ll get tour guide Benjamin Tier, a former stand-up comedian and St. Augustine historic city walking tour guide. He makes the touring and tasting funny.

Tours run between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday, every half hour at the beginning and middle of the hour. The only difference on Sunday is that the first tour is at 11:30 a.m. Call (904) 825-4963 for more information.

St. Augustine Distillery staff advise arriving 10-15 minutes before the time you want to tour because they do not take reservations.

The next alcohol on the horizon is silver rum, estimated to be ready sometime in September 2015.

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