A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to go to the Edinburgh Gin Distillery, for a tour and the chance to make a bottle of our very own, customised gin! (You can imagine how excited we were about that, right?) The distillery is in the very centre of Edinburgh but as it’s only been open for a few months, and as they only make small batches of gin (inspired, they say, ‘by the majesty, marvel and mischief of Edinburgh and its inhabitants’) it’s not too well-known yet. It’s also underground and we were inspired by the clever lighting that’s been used – based on the copper pipes of the stills themselves. It’s in keeping with the theme and also gives a lovely glow.  Just in case you are not quite sure what a gin still looks like, here is Edinburgh Gin Distillery’s Caledonia still: And here are some examples of the clever lighting. This is a cosy seating area with a freestanding lamp made from copper tubing: Here copper tubing has been used to make a wall lamp that looks like a floor lamp: Two examples of wall lights:

And finally (probably the easiest to copy at home), a light shade made from a perforated copper saucepan:

But enough about the lighting, what about the gin? That’s very good too – and the lovely people there were keen for us to sample it. We tried the Canonball, Spiced Orange, Edinburgh’s Christmas Gin and the three liqueur gins (elderflower, raspberry and rhubarb & ginger). All of them were delicious but the biggest treat was making our own. The base flavours are juniper, coriander, angelica and orris – but then we got to choose the other flavours from a wide array. We chose bitter orange, pink peppercorns and fennel seeds – luckily we had help from the lovely distiller who was able to add just the right amount of each. By the time we’d had a tour of the distillery and a gin and tonic, our bottle was ready. Cheers!