TWO MOONS DISTILLERY

Hong Kong

Two Moons Distillery is a micro-distillery based in Hong Kong and was established by Ivan Chang and Dimple Yuen in 2019.  As I've written about previously, they also encountered a lot of red tape in setting up in Hong Kong, taking nearly 2 years before they received their distillery licence. 

Dimple used to be a programmer before she became a distiller and pursued her diploma in distilling at the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in the UK, whilst Ivan has a background in the hospitality industry. They have strived to show that it is possible to make a classic gin, but showcasing asian botanicals and pride themselves on the entire process being done by hand, right down to the wax top on the bottles.

Their custom made copper still is called Luna and is made up of two round shapes, representing two orange moons.  The label design incorporates a Parrot, which references the Distiller's Parrot.  If you aren't familiar with the term, during distillation, after the gin leaves the final condensing column it goes into the proofing parrot -  a small, cylindrical collection vessel that catches the distillate long enough to get an “on-the-fly” measurement of ABV being produced in real time.  

Two Moons’ Signature Dry Gin features 12 distinct botanicals.  At least a third are of Asian origin and include dried tangerine peel, fresh lemon peel, pink peppercorn, Chinese apricot kernels, tonka bean and premium Madagascan vanilla pods.

NIP DISTILLERY

Hong Kong

It's the perfect time to focus on some amazing gins from Hong Kong.  

Back in 2017 the two founders, Jeremy Li and Nick Law, who had no previous industry experience, set out to pursue their passion and become one of the first gin distilleries in Hong Kong.  The process of acquiring a distillery licence in HK is expensive and involves a mountain of red tape, and NIP report that they had to deal with around 7 different authorities, from customs to hygiene departments.  Once this was done, they also had to find a suitable premises in one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the world, but rather than set up outside the city where rates were cheaper, they wanted to encourage visits and make their distillery as accessible as possible.  In 2019 they opened their distillery amongst the office blocks of Quarry Bay.  

They were driven by their love of gin and learned the art of distillation during a visit to Strathearn Distillery in Scotland and were also taught by the Master Distiller at Four Pillars Distillery in Australia.  They have set out to create a classic and traditional gin, but one that also pays homage to local botanicals, traditions and flavours.  

The 11 botanicals include longjing and shoumei tea leaves, aged tangerine peel, goji berries, fresh ginger and osmanthus.