Precision Spirits, the introduction of a brand-new gin distillery. Here we explain our values, our goals, and why we want to do something different in the world of alcohol and craft spirits. The influences on our decisions and our love of alcohol are what push us to create great products and generate new perceptions.
We are Precision Spirits. A small, independent startup intent on making and sharing great things with you. Right now we’re simply a drinks and spirits company, but we plan on being so much more than that.
By the end of University, we had forged a love of alcohol(oops), tried a lot of products, and spent a good amount of time in bars and around the industry itself. Along with this 'hands-on' experience, we had learned all about distilleries & distilling, how the spirit is made, and the type of work that comes with launching a startup business.
Combining our theoretical and practical work, we felt well-positioned to try something different and bring the consumers a new category of gin to find on the open market.
The first thing we questioned was tradition. You see it everywhere, used as some sort of stamp of the utmost quality, and don’t get us wrong; often this does ring true. Whiskies are a great example of spirits that don't need revolutionising - many consumers and distilleries thrive on the years of craft that goes into the making of this spirit type. Just because a theory holds true in one case, does not mean it is universally applicable.
We feel that certain, less intricately made products -such as gin - have not been pushed to their limits. There are so many craft spirits and new gin startups flooding the market, but such little variance in the products that are being created. Looking at this lack of innovation within the category, we wanted to set our product around getting the most out of our spirit and create boundary-pushing new mixers to pair it with.
It’s not just modern-day techniques we look for, it’s a modern-day mindset as well. Certain products and brands of alcohol get a bad name, for better or worse, purely based on who drinks it and where it's supposed to be consumed. Every brand has one to some extent, a stereotype that will pigeonhole it and the people who like it into belonging to a certain group of people who look, dress, or act in a particular way.
To that, we say, who gives a sh*t.
Today, confidence can be a major problem among consumers. Choosing a drink that fits the setting, that people won't point out are all ideas that can weigh on a person's mind. You should be comfortable in your choices and making a choice of drink based on what you love and what you think tastes best is something that everyone should be afforded.
Unfortunately, society sometimes says otherwise and narrow-mindedness within the industry over many-a-year has still left us at the point where some men feel they can't try a new gin, or some ladies get scared to order a pint of stout.
Thankfully, this type of thinking is becoming outdated, as more open brands hit the mainstream and traditional drinking habits and expectations die out.
That’s why, as a new business, our gin brand is not marketing for any specific archetype of consumer - we believe we have some thing for everyone, both right now with our Gin Spritzer (even if you don’t like gin**) and with our future products. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, f*ck the stereotypes and spark a goddamn can(responsibly).
**Crazy?! We know. Trust us, though, this is akin to no other gin you'll have tried.
On the back of this, we want to use our platform to contribute positively, to do more than make just make sales. That’s why we want to do what we can to keep our environmental footprint at a minimum. This means using recycled materials for our packaging and doing everything we can to repurpose and recycle our own waste. Currently, all our spent botanicals and fruits are composted to fertilise the ground and help new plats and living creatures flourish. We have a few more innovative and different ideas for our fruit waste that we are set on bringing to light in the coming months.
With our backgrounds in chemical engineering, we have been blessed with the ability to sniff out when a business or distillery is talking out their arse when it comes to sustainability- which *drum roll, please* happens a lot. We will always be transparent in our work, and what we can and cannot do to limit our ecological impact. A lack of understanding can set the stage for people and consumers to be duped by brands, and blamelessly made to think that a business is one that operates to the highest degree of sustainability. The reality is that most of the time, the brand is using sustainability as a buzzword for marketing. We will always try to shed light on these truths and be open with you all around just how impactful certain activities in the craft gin and wider alcohol industry can be.
Another of our aims is to reduce our usage of glass bottles as much as possible and focus on the use of aluminium cans (SPOILERALERT: there’s actually a very good argument to make that aluminium is far more sustainable than glass, you can find out more about this in our OnlyCans mini-series, coming soon). As a starting point, a bottle weighs up to 15 times more than a can of the same volume... does this seem to be the best use of materials to you?
Going hand-in-hand with reducing our footprint is using locally sourced materials and ingredients where possible, after all, it’s quite hard to grow lemons in Scotland…
This allows us to support our local community and help out those who need our business most. Going one step further is the creation of a Circular Economy (CE) - within Edinburgh first before branching out across Scotland. The CE is a network where businesses and retailers are all connected and are able to share their secondary resources with one-another to minimise wastage, time, money, and energy while in-turn bringing local communities together(but more on this later).
These are just some of the pillars that we want to create and fortify over time.
I know this is a lot to take in and you’re probably wondering why a company such as us, at this stage, is talking about such grandiose things. But this is just the start of our journey. We can’t do everything we want right now and that’s okay because these are our goals for the future. And besides, nothing good ever came from holding back, right..?
For now, we might just seem like another small-batch craft distillery - but if you stick with us, we will prove to be so much more.
As a closing sentiment, we want to introduce you all to Ghostie, our mascot. You’ll be seeing a lot more of him over time that’s for sure - so keep your eyes peeled.
So, that’s us for now.
If you like us, great. If you don’t, that’s alright too. But either way, we’re inviting everyone (over the legal drinking age) to embrace these values and join our guild of ghosts (open to other naming suggestions...please)
