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It's where we're from and what we do!
Ver(mont) + virgin (nonalc) + Gin = vergin
The VerGin SA Head Office has a view of the Atlantic Ocean on the one side and the Overberg mountains on the other (lucky us) but most of the production (sourcing, growing, distillation etc.) happens on an organically certified farm somewhere in the Hemel-en-Aarde / Heaven-and-Earth Valley and the bottling, labelling and dispatch for exports are handled at our Muizenberg facility.
Well, let’s start with what they are not...
Not premixes. Not blended, artificially sweetened, flavoured water or tonics with bubbles either.
Let's call them...Non-alcoholic Botanical Distillations with distinct Juniper flavour profiles.
It looks like gin. It is served like gin. It makes the perfect “G&T's” ...without any naughty additives, artificial sweeteners, colours or flavours - 0% sugar, 0% Alcohol.
It gives people who are not drinking alcohol, for whatever reason, a sophisticated, complex, healthy alternative.
Pure guilt-free pleasure!
VerGin has NO carbs (starch or sugars), gluten, fats, or cholesterol. NO artificial sweeteners, flavours or colours.
Nothing naughty… it’s pure permissible indulgence!
Less than 1kj per 100ml.
The original Bloom was named after its beautiful rose-scented floral flavour profile, reminiscent of Turkish Delight. The new “Island style” Bloom is a refined and complex blend of distilled organic botanicals that features the traditional Juniper base with a subtle hint of vanilla, a lingering spiciness attributed to Allspice berries, Cardamom pods, Cinnamon bark, and a burst of Lemon peel freshness.
Limón has a vibrant green citrus flavour profile with abundant Lemon and Lime notes underpinned by Juniper that gives it a soft spicy edge and a distinctly gin-like complexity. This is pure Lemon and Lime bliss!
VerGin works beautifully with tonic and shrubs, as well as in classic cocktails like sours and Martinis.
It’s a very versatile product that can also be used to make ice-creams, sorbets, panna cotta etc.
The first big myth is that distillation produces alcohol. It doesn’t: Fermentation produces alcohol.
Distillation is just a method of extraction—a process by which you can capture flavour. Some non-alcoholic spirit producers use alcohol in their process at the beginning, because it’s an amazing solvent. It’s really good for the first step when they steep the botanicals in a specific ratio of water and alcohol, but then use a copper still to remove the alcohol in the first distillation—because alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, so it comes off first—before another distillation to capture and concentrate all the amazing flavours. Usually that gets done for each of the ingredients, which is why it can take up to six weeks to make one batch.
The end product or “essence” of any distillation is called its “spirit”.
So, based on that logic, a UK-based company created “Seedlip” – billed as the “world’s first non-alcoholic spirit,” to be used as the basis of a new style of sophisticated “better for you” cocktails. Many other international brands followed suit and it’s become a bit of a trend... We may not be the first in the world to call our distillation a “Spirit” but we were the first in South Africa to produce a non-alcoholic botanical distillation…with Juniper.
If your VerGin has been on the shelf for a while and you tilt the bottle gently you will observe the “ghost” or “spirit” of the botanical essential oils “floating” & “swirling” inside...always shake gently before pouring...
Well, Gin is a distilled alcoholic spirit (minimum 43%) with a distinct Juniper taste.
Bloom and Limón are distilled non-alcoholic “spirits” with a distinct Juniper taste.
Just like Gin it mixes perfectly with tonic and is ideal for use in a variety of cocktails.
We won’t call it Gin on the label, but we do think it tastes similar...why don’t you give it a try and let us know?
We invested a lot of resources (time, money, blood, sweat & tears) into designing a bespoke production process that doesn’t include the use of alcohol at all so forgive us if we keep some of the secrets to ourselves...
What we will tell you is that we hand-harvest most of the organically grown botanicals and source the more exotic spices from sustainable sources in France, India and elsewhere. Just like with wine vintages each batch of VerGin varies slightly in taste because of seasonal terroir & weather influences on the growth of the botanicals.
We use a combination of stainless-steel pot still and column still distillation processes to produce the 1000l batches of VerGin. Unlike a traditional spirit, the liquid we use hasn’t undergone primary fermentation and thus doesn’t turn into concentrated alcohol when put through a still. Some of the “soft botanicals” get individually steam distilled and the more traditional “hard botanicals” go into the column...we end up with up to 21 different components that are then masterfully blended to produce the final product. The result is a distillate with all the aromas, flavours and mouthfeel you’d expect in an herbal liqueur, but without the mind-altering burn.