Our March 2021 Gin of the Month is the spirit of the River Test

The gin-clear waters of the River Test flow through the heart of Hampshire, the county that Sarah and Jon Nelson have called home for over 30 years. Together, this husband-and-wife team built a riverside distillery dedicated to making craft spirits – including the beautiful bottle Craft Gin Club’s lucky members can unbox in their March 2021 Gin of the Month box.

Read all about this remarkable tipple from England’s glorious countryside.

The River Test comes alive in March. Fly-fishermen from far and wide come for its trout; lovers of wildlife, bewitched by its flora and fauna, stroll along its banks. It meanders through the countryside, past sleepy villages stirring with the arrival of spring.

One such village is Longparish, where Sarah and Jon live with their four daughters and Sarah’s parents, David and Sue Pretty on the family estate. The property, a converted barn first built in the 1800s, is situated on a 33-acre plot of land. A mere 15 metres away, the River Test Distillery overlooks the river, tucked away in a tangle of wild botanicals. It’s here you’ll find Jon and Sarah distilling craft gins, using recipes written as love letters to Hampshire – their favourite place in the world.

The golden special-edition bottle that our members will find in their March 2021 Gin of the Month box is bursting with the lively flavours of Hampshire in spring. But how exactly did this gin come to be?

When Jon first arrived in Winchester as a university student, bright-eyed and full of promise, he knew two things right away: he wanted to make Hampshire his home and he had met the woman he wanted to share his life with.

After they graduated, the young couple stayed in Hampshire and pursued careers in teaching – but when their four daughters came along, Sarah found she had enough to keep her hands full at home.

By the time Jon had become headteacher at an OFSTED-rated ‘Outstanding’ local school, he was beginning to think about what came next. He had dedicated decades to making sure students were reaching their full potential, and now the time had come for him to find his own creative calling.

For many years the couple had been admirers of Winchester farmers’ market, but at one Sunday market, it hit him. As he looked around at all the amazing local produce and craft goods inspired by Hampshire, he realised this was a world he wanted to be a part of.

His epiphany took root, and when the modern craft gin boom began to emerge, Jon saw the chance to be part of something genuinely exciting.

The first challenge? To get Sarah on board. While she shared his love of farmers’ markets and local produce, gin wasn’t exactly on her radar.

The more she talked to her fellow students, the more Sarah began to see gin with new eyes. Two things struck her: first, gin was delicious, with more complexity than she had previously imagined; and second, the modern gin craze meant more people were using spirits as a medium to tell their stories and express a sense of place.

When Jon and Sarah arrived back home, they stood for a moment looking out over the River Test. Everything, from the gin-clear waters to the bounty of botanicals growing on the riverbank, seemed to be telling them it was time to begin a new chapter – one dedicated to “true river spirits”.

“That sounds mad.” They weren’t exactly the words of encouragement Jon and Sarah had hoped for, but it’s what they heard from many of their friends and family they told about their ginny plans.

But Sarah and Jon had made up their minds, and there was no dissuading them. As former teachers, they were both lifelong learners, and they began by soaking up as much gin knowledge as they could, studying books and picking the brains of the distillers they admired. And once Sarah’s parents were fully on board, they gave them their full support and encouraged them to follow their passion.

Once they had the basics down, Jon and Sarah were ready to begin. Partly funded by the Loddon and Test LEADER Rural Development Programme (an organisation dedicated to developing rural economies and creating jobs in rural areas) they set about converting an old building on their property into The River Test Distillery.

In the meantime, they developed their recipe for their signature edition. To do that, they needed to get up close and personal with the natural world, so they started taking long walks along the riverbank for inspiration.

Experimenting with them on his mini still, Jon could tell he was on the right path, but there was something missing. Then, quite by chance, they stumbled on what would become a key ingredient in their success: meadowsweet.

As soon as he tried distilling their blooms, Jon knew he had found the missing ingredient in their recipe. Meadowsweet, with its floral potency, elevated the liquid to entirely new heights. It was the perfect flavour to help their gin shine.

Once they had their list of botanicals, Jon and Sarah had one more ingredient to add to their list – one that is often an afterthought for distillers: water.

Rather than just taking the water from the river, Sarah and Jon went directly to the source.

Once there, Jon uses it in the distillation process as well as to dilute the gin to the perfect ABV. The water’s purity and clarity makes for an incredibly smooth, crystal-clear gin. Combine it with the sweetness of meadowsweet and the refreshing flavours of the herbs, and you have an immensely sippable spirit – pleasant to taste neat or in a G&T.

To be able to share it with their friends and family — and see their doubts melt away into pride — was a moment of immeasurable satisfaction for both Jon and Sarah. It was everything they had hoped for. But something that was beyond even their wildest hopes and dreams was the superb critical response their gin received from industry experts.

And that wasn’t the only award their gin won.

The awards they won and the way gin lovers responded to their gin spurred Jon and Sarah on. By the time Craft Gin Club approached them, asking if they’d craft a special edition for members, they were up to the challenge.

When it came to developing a new recipe, Jon and Sarah returned to Hampshire’s natural larder. What local ingredient could they use to make the perfect spirit for Craft Gin Clubbers? In the end, they turned to Longparish’s golden fields of barley.

The idea of using barley as a botanical was the result of a night at the pub with friends. It was Richard McAllister, a local contract farmer at HLM Agri Limited, who first introduced the idea of Maris Otter barley into the mix. It immediately captured Jon’s imagination.

Maris Otter barley, which was bred especially for craft brewers from older varieties of English grain, is highly sought after by brewers and whisky distillers alike. Its malt is used to impart unique natural flavours to some of the UK’s finest craft drinks. Jon wondered what the raw barley would be like as a botanical in gin.

He decided to experiment with it on his mini still and found that, to his delight, the flavours of the fresh barley translated beautifully into liquid form. When combined with botanicals like juicy grapefruit, the result was a stunning gin.

The River Test Distillery Chalkstream Gold Gin shows how far Jon and Sarah have come since they set out on their journey.

For Jon and Sarah, looking after the landscape they love so much is a priority. Here are five ways in which Jon and Sarah are dedicated to taking care of Mother Nature:

1. The River Test Distillery sits on an SSSI – a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This means that Jon and Sarah are responsible for making sure the flora and fauna on the land are conserved and enhanced.

2. Jon and Sarah use an iStill.

3. The bottles they use are made of 55% recycled glass and crafted in the UK, meaning they don’t rack up unnecessary air miles.

4. Jon and Sarah lower their carbon footprint by cutting back on the distance they travel by car. They’ve also invested in an electric van with the help of a Loddon and Test Leader grant, to minimise their footprint when making local deliveries.

5. Maris Otter barley, which is a key botanical in our March 2021 Gin of the Month, is kind to the environment.