Genie is in the bottle for fruit gin partners
TWO pals are toasting success after creating their own alcoholic drink brand which involves growing a cucumber in a bottle, then filling it with gin.
Phil Cardwell, from Macclesfield, and Ed Hope, from Prestbury, have launched Genie Gin after several years of experiments. They conceived the idea in 2019, wanting to become the first people to grow fruit in a bottle that then became the basis for a drink.
And in February this year the pair installed a hydroponic grow system, which by June had yielded their first cucumber.
Within a few months enough were growing in bottles that they were able to start filling them with gin and launch their brand.
Phil said: “This is a very exciting time for Genie Gin, and we are really pleased with the outcome of our first crop of cucumbers.
“Our product is fully dependent upon the growth and harvesting of cucumbers in a timely manner, and our business model is vastly different to any other drink manufacturer or distributor.
“Every year, we will grow the produce between the months of April to September, then we will harvest and bottle the contents in September and October.”
Phil and Ed’s idea was inspired by a friend of theirs who had a bottle of schnapps with a pear in that he left for 40 years before drinking.
Their product can be bought online and the duo will also be at the treacle Market, in Macclesfield centre, on Sunday, November 27.
Ed said: “A lot of people have been asking us if the cucumber is real inside the bottle and the answer is of course, yes.
“We have really enjoyed crafting this gin we can’t wait for more people to give it a try.”
Both Phil and Ed hope that Genie Gin will become a household talking point with the main question being ‘how did they get that inside the bottle?’.