As we announced in a post back in January, as well as in this longer article, we keep investigating the world of beverages that are distilled but without alcohol. We contacted several producers to understand the new techniques that are being developed, last fall, we talked with one of these producers: the trio behind Easip.
Enjoy!
How did you develop Easip? How much time did you need?
We started with a small pot still, individually distilling more than 100 different botanicals to better understand how different botanicals come out in a distillate and how the smell and taste were affected by different methods. We then took some inspiration from literature and expert knowledge e.g. on flavour pairing (and our own preferences) to start blending different distillates together. Once we had some blends that we liked, we tested them with a larger audience: friends and family, some mixologists and focus groups. Overall we spent quite a few month doing this over and over again, before we came to a “sketch” recipe that we and – quite a few people who tried it – liked. Getting from the sketch recipe to a final product that met our standards and that we could offer to customers took almost as much time.
Do you have experience in distillation before starting the brand?
Milan is a studied food technologist. During his time at TU he surely learned the theory. But working with a real life still was new to all of us. By now we can all say that we have quite some experience to handle the stills we use for new product development.
Do you have your own facility?
No, we have a few small stills that we are using for recipe development, but we work with partners who own the equipment to produce EASIP.
Did you know immediately what you wanted to achieve?
In terms of ingredients we did not, but we always wanted to create a non alcoholic drink that has a more complex flavour profile than what is on the market. We think enjoying a good and complex drink does not have to go in line with consuming alcohol. With EASIP we want to create new drinking moments.
READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW HERE
