Flavoured gin: the business case and the risks

What counts as flavoured gin

Gin is a neutral spirit flavoured predominantly with juniper. A flavoured gin adds another dominant flavour, such as fruit, spice or floral notes. How that flavour is added matters. Distilling it with the botanicals is one route. Adding flavouring or sugar after distillation is another.

The legal position depends on the market. In the EU and UK, London dry gin may not have flavourings added after distillation, so a gin flavoured that way cannot be sold as London dry and needs another category. Heavily sweetened products may fall into a liqueur category in some places. Check the labelling rules where you sell before you design the recipe.

Why founders want one

A flavoured gin can bring in drinkers who do not like the dry juniper character. It can give a seasonal or limited edition a reason to be talked about. It can give a bar a different serve. It may be cheaper to make if it relies on a simple infusion.

Those are real advantages. They are not guaranteed. Read the business case line by line before you commit.

The case in numbers

Treat the flavoured gin as a separate product with its own sheet. Include:

• Extra ingredients: fruit, peel, spice, sugar or flavouring, with loss and waste.
• Extra packaging: label, possibly a different bottle or colour.
• Extra stock: more SKUs mean more cash held on shelves.
• Extra time: another recipe, another set of trials, another quality check.
• Lost sales from your core gin if drinkers switch.

Use the method in working out the cost of a bottle. If the flavoured gin only sells because it takes sales from your core gin, you have added cost without adding revenue.

Flavour stability and shelf life

Fruit and citrus flavours can fade, darken or throw a haze over time, especially in light and warmth. Colour from natural sources may change. Sugar, if used, affects stability and microbial risk. Test finished bottles stored warm and in light. Taste them after weeks and months. A flavoured gin that tastes good on the day of bottling and flat in the shop in four months has failed.

In a hot climate this is not a small detail. Store test bottles at realistic temperatures and watch them.

Fad risk and range discipline

Flavours follow fashion. A recipe tied to a trend may sell fast and then stop. Limited editions manage that risk, because they end by design. Standing lines are riskier.

Keep your range small. A brand that launches five flavours before its core gin has a following may find that none of them has enough volume to justify the stock. See pricing and positioning for how a price ladder works with a small range.

A cheap way to test

Make a small batch. Show it to trade buyers and to a group of adult drinkers with the brands hidden. Ask what they would pay and where they would use it. Sell a limited number of bottles in your own shop or at an event, where the law allows. Read the result against your cost sheet. If it passes, plan a first run sized to the proven demand and no more.

A ready-to-drink version is a related route. See canned gin and tonic as a product line.

Recipe routes and where it sells

There are three broad ways to build a flavoured gin. You can add the flavour botanical to the still, so it is carried over in the distillate. You can macerate fruit or spice in finished gin and filter it. Or you can blend a flavouring into the spirit. Each has a different cost, a different taste and a different legal footing.

Distilled flavours are usually cleaner and more stable but take run time. Macerated flavours are quick and look appealing but can fade or cloud. Whichever you choose, record the weights and times so the product can be repeated.

Ask the buyers you already know. A bar that stocks your core gin may want one flavoured version for a seasonal serve. A shop may like a limited edition for gifting. A hotel may not want the extra bottle on a crowded back bar.

Look at the occasions too. A flavoured gin that works as a long drink with soda may not suit a martini. Write down the one serve you would design it for.

Responsible marketing of sweet drinks

Sweet, fruity products can appeal to people who are underage or new to alcohol. Do not use imagery or language aimed at them. Follow the advertising rules of each market. Keep strength and serve information clear.

Common questions

Is flavoured gin still gin?

It depends on the legal category where you sell. Some flavoured products are sold as gin and others in a different category, so check the labelling rules.

Is it cheaper to make?

Not always. Extra ingredients, packaging and stock can outweigh any saving. Cost it as a separate product.

Should I launch a flavoured gin first?

Usually not. A clear core gin gives a brand something to stand on. Flavours can follow once the core sells.

How do I test shelf life?

Store sample bottles warm and in light and taste them after weeks and months against a fresh batch.