A home brewer - who turned his hobby into a successful gin business during the pandemic - has lifted the lid on how he did it. Ginsmith Ltd is a home-grown business and when director Phil Smith founded it in May 2020, during the pandemic, he was selling to just one customer.
The firm uses handfuls of locally grown herbs and berries from Rossendale and turn them into bespoke gin, vodka and rum that is being sold across the UK.He said: “From start to finish it takes eight hours to do a run and then the spirit is in a barrel for two weeks before decanting into bottles.
The first gin made by Ginsmith was a blueberry and blackcurrant, it took six months to perfect the recipe that is still the company’s best seller. Phil is always looking for new botanicals and when he found black sambuca berries growing locally he used them in a new gin. He said: “I have just made lemon cheesecake gin and that is going really well both in the pubs and restaurants we supply and also through the website www.ginsmith.co.uk. The business turnover has doubled from last year and I now have two stills in the converted room that I use for manufacturing.