Terra Gin Botanical 750ml

2222261* 

$69.49 $66.99 price per bottle

WHAT IS IT? A beautiful, botanical Indiana gin with unexpected spices from everywhere: Zuta, an unusual mint from Israel, is the star of the botanical blend, and it lends floral, herbaceous, pine and resin character; Indonesian berries add grapefruit bitterness. It’s wonderfully layered. Think: woodsy state parks, secret streams, treasured hiking trails. Wilderness in a bottle. HOW IS IT MADE? Terra Gin was created with Lior Lev Sercarz, the master of the legendary La Boite spice company in NYC. He translated nostalgia for nature into a custom spice blend that we then distilled here in Bloomington. Lior helped us to turn the process of making gin inside-out. There is a usual roll-call of botanicals that go into gin, and Lior said: Forget that. Instead, he wanted to talk about the past. What were the tastes and smells from way back that stuck with us for all these years? Cardinal co-founder Adam Quirk wanted the gin to capture our collective nostalgia for nature - that wild, outdoorsy freshness that we can all recall. Adam shared his favorite memories of hiking Lincoln State Park in southern Indiana in the fall, and walking on railroad tracks near the edge of the woods as a kid. Lior calls his method “spice therapy,” and it’s fascinating. He translates someone’s memories of the past into a spice blend. He’s done this again and again for some of the most famous chefs in the world, who use his blends to coat food and coax memories from their guests. Our Terra Gin is Lior’s first time creating a spice blend for a spirit. Lior incorporated his own scent memories into the spice blend with zuta, a wild, prolific mint that grows on his father’s olive grove in Israel’s Upper Galilee. Technical notes 84 proof / 42% ABV
Producer GIMME AN OVERVIEW Just like craft breweries in the early 1980’s, there is a movement of quality craft distilleries opening in America, and a desire for locally produced food and drink in general. We brought the production of high quality spirits to downtown Bloomington, where we create great jobs and support our community. The founders of Cardinal Spirits started the company because of a shared passion for craft spirits and American manufacturing. They also wanted to create meaningful employment for themselves and others - a place that values entrepreneurial thinking and encourages creativity at every level. We distill premium spirits using the highest quality ingredients, and we source local ingredients whenever possible. All parts of the distilling process - from fermentation to mashing to aging to bottling - happen on-site. Since its opening in Feb. 2015, we distilled 12 spirits and 4,000 cases, more than any other craft distillery in Indiana in 2015 We distilled Indiana’s first craft Single Malt Whiskey, using malted barley from Sugar Creek Malt Co. in Lebanon, Ind. Our spirits are distributed to over 200 placements in Indiana, including major grocery and liquor store chains, plus top restaurants, bars, and independent retailers. WHY A DISTILLERY? When someone asks us why we started a distillery, it’s hard to answer in less than five minutes. To understand our underlying goals at Cardinal Spirits you have to dive a little deeper than what you might expect. We’d really rather you come in and talk to us about this stuff - one of the owners is at the distillery almost every day of the week. Our staff is totally on board with all of this too, so you can pretty much ask anyone here about what’s going on. We’ll try not to sound too pretentious. HERE ARE A FEW KEY POINTS. . . We started Cardinal Spirits to increase connections between people. Spirits make it easier to talk to strangers, friends, and family alike. Discussing things over a drink is usually a great way to have difficult conversations, and to celebrate big moments in life. To increase connections between people, you have to increase the ease of social communication. Spirits: the original Internet. We grew up after the bulk of manufacturing jobs had already left our country. Over the past few decades, we have all become less and less active with our hands. Instead, we focused on comfort, commercialism, and convenience. This is not sustainable. The word manufacture is from the Latin ”manu factum”: made by hand. That’s what we were craving - being able to hold something in our hands and say ”I made this from scratch, and it’s amazing”. We wanted to create a business that puts people over profits. We wanted to build a place where people enjoy coming to work, where days are fulfilling and meaningful, and where creativity is valued. We believe in continuing education for our staff, and incentivize them with raises to attend internal training events and read books that we keep in our house library. “The best innovations - both socially and economically - come from the pursuit of ideals that are noble and timeless: joy, wisdom, beauty, truth, equality, community, sustainability and, most of all, love. These are the things we live for, and the innovations that really make a difference are the ones that are life-enhancing. And that’s why the heart of innovation is a desire to re-enchant the world. ” - Gary Hamel