FOERSTERs Heide Gin - London Dry Gin

You have to be honest. We didn't want to make this gin. Now it's one of the best in Germany. But first things first.
Four years ago, you could say we were a little arrogant. Gin, we thought, no, it doesn't need that. Everyone does it. Besides, we've got our own great caraway! So, just get rid of it.

But the customers wouldn't stop asking us. And at some point, we could no longer ignore it.
After all, we knew: Zero-eight-fifteen was a no-go. Too much gin on the market.

Then, in January 2016, we discovered the ingredient that sets our gin apart from all the others.
In the depths of Mecklenburg, on a hike through the forest, the snow heavy and firm on the ground, we were told to close our eyes. The hiking guide held something under our noses. It smelled of grapefruit, fruity and fresh. It was needles from the coastal fir tree. We were crazy enough to put them in our gin.

The coastal fir probably found its way to Germany in the 19th century. Here in the village, we stumble out of the door and are almost in the middle of Germany's largest coastal forest, the Rostock Heath. Hermann Friedrich Becker played a big part in this. A great forester in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries. And hence the name. Foerster's Heath Gin.

What else makes it special?
A good ladle of juniper. A little lemon and local sea buckthorn. The needles of the coastal fir, of course. When we distil our gin, one of us goes into the forest and harvests fresh. We use a total of eleven ingredients. That's all it takes to cork up nature. We distil everything together. A dry gin.

It won a gold medal at the World Gin Awards. The best gin in Germany. Along with a few others, as you can see in the list.

And we didn't even want to make it in the first place.