Botanical Spirits Workshop

As of 2018, gin is the leading growth category in beverage alcohol, worldwide. Fueled by a booming cocktail scene, gin consumption is projected to increase over the next 5 years, providing a huge opportunity for distillers looking to capitalize on this trend. Using a broad palette of botanicals and styles, craft distillers are creating unique expressions of gins, absinthes, and amari that stand out on the shelf without needing to spend years in a barrel.

Our hands-on, three-day advanced workshop will focus on the art of botanical spirit production, giving you an edge while you stake your claim in this booming market. We’ll explore history, category styles, production methods, and distillation processes, as well as botanical mash bills, maceration, filtration, and finishing.

Students will also get to practice hands-on distilling of a botanical spirit, scaling up from compounding to a table-top still and finishing with a 50-gallon still. Other significant educational experiences include examining individual essences, discussing various business considerations, and conducting source material tasting and sensory training.

In addition to gaining valuable insights on botanical spirits production, we’ll take an in-depth look at:

• History & classifications of botanicals
• Gin, absinthe, & amari production methods
• Botanical calculations
• Maceration, filtration & blending
• Individual botanical & distillate evaluation
• Relational segmentation
• Table-top & production-scale distillations
• Gin, absinthe, & amari practicums

Tuition includes all class materials; breakfast, lunch, and refreshments; and transportation between our contracted hotel and our campus.

**Early Bird Registration covers your stay at our contracted hotel from the night before Day 1 to the last day of class. The Early Bird deadline is 3 weeks before the first day of class.