The Teasmith Gin
The Teasmith Gin came in at number 5 in our poll of the nation’s favourite Scottish Gins in 2019, and as with many of the wonderful gins we feature, it has a very special story behind it.
Launched in 2016 by the newly-married team of Nick and Emma Smalley, The Teasmith Spirit Company set out to create a gin that was something a bit different from the rest.
Seeking inspiration from their surroundings in rural Aberdeenshire, they discovered that a gentleman called James Taylor from Auchenblae planted the very first tea plantation in Sri Lanka, beginning a process that would turn the island into one of the world’s finest tea-growing regions.
Following this discovery, the couple decided they would make Scotland’s first tea-distilled gin. At the time, while juggling life with their baby son, Finlay, they sourced the finest and rarest speciality tea from Sri Lanka and distilled it with carefully selected botanicals that complement and match the unique flavours of the tea to produce The Teasmith Gin.
The Teasmith Gin is light, crisp and refreshing and goes down great in a classic G&T with a mint garnish.
And to follow that up, last year they launched the world’s first gin to be distilled with Scottish tea, the limited edition Broich Single Estate Gin, made using the leaves of tea plants grown in Scotland.
So we caught up with Nick and Emma to find out about their achievements, plans for the future and how it felt to be named the nation’s fifth-favourite Scottish Gin brand.
In 2020 we are looking forward to another exciting year of growing our stockists across the UK and releasing new editions of The Teasmith Gin. These will be focused on both classic gin styles and flavoured products. We are also starting to see our first export opportunities come to fruition.
Our biggest achievement in 2019 was the release of our Broich Single Estate Gin. This was the world’s first gin distilled with Scottish-grown tea. The product was really warmly received and it was a beautiful first extension of our product line. Broich was packaged in all of the classic elements of The Teasmith whilst also having its own individuality. With notes of honey and apple, the limited batch of 1000 was very popular and only a few bottles remain.
Our favourite part of the job is always getting out with the brand and introducing it to new gin lovers. We have some exciting events in the calendar for 2020 and look forward to meeting you all.
The Scottish Gin Society has a huge reach and a survey with a large sample of over 6,000 is really significant. To be placed so highly in 5th position gives us a huge amount of reassurance that our products and brand are really popular with the gin community.
Don’t miss out on your chance to vote for your favourite Scottish Gin in our 2020 Consumer Choice Awards here.
