The Blend
Folium Gin
Exquisitely refined Gin
Folium is Latin for leaf, and in the production of our refined Gin, we have sought to bring together the history and complexity of taste from two of the world’s most prominent leaves – the vine leaf and the tea leaf.
The goal with Folium Gin was to capture and combine the flavours from the grapes and the tea to create the same taste experience you have when drinking more complex wines and the purest teas.
To truly capture the unique flavour we were looking to create our Gin it was important to work closely with the producers of our botanicals, learning from them and using the history and experience from generations of producers to help us create something unique.
It is for this reason that Folium Gin is produced in the Douro Valley in Portugal, working closely with Port Wine producers to identify the right grapes to use and ensuring the distillation retains their unique flavour. Miguel, our grape producer, comes from a long line of growers and a family that has created fine port wines and red wines for generations and has continued the traditional approach for the growing, cultivation and harvesting of the grapes.
For our tea, we went to the Wuji mountains in China to source the freshest young leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant. Zhang Wei is a third-generation tea producer and has a deep understanding of the care and precision required to develop and harvest the finest leaves and manage the critical oxidisation process.
We make individual distillations of our botanicals before combining each one back together to create the final blend ensuring we get a strong and consistent flavour from each of our ingredients. Great to enjoy on its own, as a gin and tonic, and a fantastic addition to cocktails.
Folium is a premium Gin which stands out because of its seductive aroma and unique taste which is smooth and complex with a spiced note that creates a lasting flavour.
Our Botanicals
The blend of nine
Our base spirit is a grape distillate to which we add both the white and green tea distillations, before blending in the mint leaf, rosemary leaf and the citrus of the verbena leaf. The taste is completed with the addition of goji berries and grape to boost the tangy fruit flavour and star anise to give Folium its spiced finish.
The core of any Gin
Our Juniper
We have sourced our juniper from Tuscany in Italy where we get a smaller but higher quality berry with better oil content that has a slightly more fruity and complex flavour.
The Sweetness
Malvasia Fina
Malvasia Fina is a grape of inland northern Portugal, especially the Douro, Dão and Beira Interior regions. Malvasia Fina wines are subtle, not too intense, fresh and moderately complex. They have hints of molasses, a suggestion of beeswax and nutmeg and can appear slightly smoky.
White Tea
Bai Mu Dan
Our choice of white tea is known as White Peony in English but is more widely known as Bai Mu Dan or Pai Mu Tan. It is a classic tea and considered to be synonymous with wealth and honour in China and is often preferred by white tea drinkers for its fuller flavour.
Green Tea
Huangshan Maofeng
Huangshan Maofeng tea is amongst the most famous green teas in China. The tea is grown near Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), and the English translation of Huangshan Mao Feng is “Yellow Mountain Fur Peak” due to the small white hairs which cover the leaves and the shape of the leaves which resemble the peak of a mountain.
The bitterness
Goji Berries
Goji berries have been eaten in China for around 2000 years, where they are nicknamed “happy berries” because of the sense of wellbeing they are said to induce. They are high in nutrients and have a slightly bitter taste somewhere between cranberry, cherry, and tomato.
The Savory
Rosemary
Rosemary, is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It has a piney aroma and more savoury taste with a slight sweetness.
The Coolness
Peppermint
Peppermint contains an essential oil that is unique among mints for its quality and taste. We source our peppermint near to the distillery so we retain the cool refreshing flavour.
The Zest
Verbena
Verbena, was brought to Europe by the Portuguese and it has a strong citrus flavour, with a fruity aroma that gives our gin its crispness.
The Spice
Star Anise
Star anise is a spice made from the fruit of the Chinese evergreen tree Illicium verum. It’s aptly named for the star-shaped pods from which the spice seeds are harvested and has a flavour that is reminiscent of liquorice.
Our Method
Distillation and Blending
Folium follows a traditional process in the distillation of spirits but adds a modern twist to ensure we maintain consistency and taste.
We use the local wine produced following the September harvest in the Douro valley, and we distil this to 96.4% ABV to give us our base spirit.
We use a traditional still, and we individually distil each of our nine botanicals in twenty-four-hour infusions. At the end of each distillation, we go through filtration, and we test the quality of each infusion.
We then blend each of our botanical infusions to create the unique taste of Folium. Following a final filtration and test of the finished product, the Gin is bottled and labelled by hand and allowed to rest for fourteen days to let the aromas and taste envelop fully.
