​ With fresh strawberries infused into their gin, Puerto de Indias released the concept of flavoured gin to the world in 2013.

​The main thing I've learnt about Pink Gin is that it is many things to many people. Where it comes from depends on what you think it is in the first place. There's the mix of Angostura Bitters and Gin emitting a pink tinge which was used in the late 19^th Century as a cure for sea sickness among British Navy Sailors. Then there's the simple addition of artificial colouring and flavouring to the pure gin spirit as I discovered through experimenting with my own gin.

If you're looking for the world's first authentic Pink Gin using natural ingredients for flavour however, you'll find it in the marriage of gin and fresh strawberries mixed together at the Puerto de Indias Distillery since 2013.

Puerto de Indias Strawberry Gin is more than just the result of the innovation which created it and the courage which brought it to market. Its inventors were builders to trade. Brothers, Jose Antonio, and Francisco Rodriguez Fernandez bought the Puerto de Indias Distillery in 2008 and then came up with a unique way to flavour gin with fresh fruit. Their success in the gin trade came from a mix of innovation, determination, and passion.

       The Distillery at Carmona 

​The distillery in which the gin is produced is one of the oldest Distilleries in Andalusia, dating back to 1880. It stands on a site which dates all the way back to the Romans. For them a Bath House stood at this site. It was a place where merchants met to prepare for trading in Carmona and Seville.

Outside in the courtyard, brightly coloured post-modern plant arrangements, ornaments and garden furniture evoke a sense of art and vibrance. This bright, arty quirkiness extends indoors and throughout the location.

In a large display room, the main feature set into the wall is a long brightly lit shelf with bottles of the different gin flavours running along its length. The room is bright and predominantly pink. On the walls, pictures, logos, and paragraphs in pink writing tell the story of Puerto di Indias from the ancient Roman Bath House to Anis Distillery right up to the present day and the accident with strawberries and alcohol.

​Distillery tours and tastings are available to visitors throughout the year. A tour of this site is truly a tour of the senses. Botanicals used to produce the different gin flavours are laid out in jars each housing their own unique scent. In a room beside the stills where Anis is distilled, the smell of burning juniper logs hangs strong in the air. In a dimly lit tunnel at the centre of the facility you can smell the dampness in the cool air as water, present at this site for millennia, runs along to its place in the process.

In the Tasting Room, hundreds of gin bottle light shades hang around the ceiling. At opposite ends of the room sit a functional copper still from which our gin for the days tasting will be poured and a bar from which it will be served.

Between them the room is dominated by a large table strewn with white and dark chocolate, Parma Ham and cheese. I'm already lost in the atmosphere and relishing a feast before a glass has been poured.

       A fortunate accident with strawberries 

​It's funny to think that the tremendous success of the world's first Strawberry Gin started almost by accident. The Puerto de Indias founders had decided to soften fresh strawberries in alcohol. This had initially been a success but a change in the seasons brought a change in result. In the higher temperatures of Spring in Seville, the strawberries actually diluted into the alcohol and were quite unusable as strawberries.

Unperturbed and ever creative the founders then decided to mix the dissolved strawberries with gin which was already distilling at the time. The result was unexpected and incredible. The world's first flavoured gin was conceived, and the rest is history.

An accident and an experiment which flew in the face of over 400 years of traditional gin production set off a chain reaction which took the gin world by storm. Soon every major gin distiller around the world was following suit with their own flavoured gin. The popularity of Spanish Gin exploded. Puerto de Indias Strawberry Gin is now sold in over 60 countries around the world.

A survey by Puerto de Indias carried out this summer found that Strawberry is the favourite gin flavour in the UK with 1 in 5 consumers voting for it. I was about to taste it at its source.

       Perfect Serve Of Strawberry and Blackberry Gin

​First, we tried the Strawberry Gin. Our first sample was straight so that we could capture the Gin in its purest form. As expected, I caught the strong scent of strawberries as I raised the glass and then the taste of them as I took my first sip. I would describe the flavour as sweet and soft. It was definitely pleasant, and I can see why there are so many Strawberry Gin fans in the world.

I was surprised to find the Gin accompanied chocolate and Parma Ham equally well. With such a sweet taste I was sure it would have gone better with the chocolate than the ham.

Puerto de Indias suggests that the perfect serve should comprise 50ml Strawberry Gin, 200ml of Tonic Water or 7Up over ice with sliced strawberries. I chose to try it with the tonic, and it truly was perfect.

It was a pleasant surprise to then be treated to a preview of the next big gin flavour to hit the UK from Puerto de Indias. Meeting the demand for autumnal and wintery flavours as the seasons change, Blackberry Gin is due to be released in the UK on 19^th October – International Gin Day. This flavour is already a huge success throughout Spain.

The Blackberry flavour seemed more prominent than the Strawberry flavour to me, yet still a pleasant fruity, sweet taste. Like Strawberry it also complimented sweet and savoury very well when tasted with Parma Ham and White Chocolate. I have to say though that the match of Puerto de Indias Blackberry Gin and White Chocolate is a decadent match made in heaven.

       Spanish Spirit 

​Soon we gathered around the Gazebo in the garden in the late afternoon sun. The ever-present sound of gently running water heard everywhere on the site now harmonized with a softly strummed Spanish Guitar.

A Flamenco Dancer clicked her heels and strutted and swayed to the music as we swayed in time with our notes and our gin. Seduced by the music, with the warm sun on my skin, lost in the taste of strawberries and gin, I absently wondered how Pink Gin could ever have been anything other than a Spanish Spirit.

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Puerto de Indias Gin