‘My mother said we were crazy’
Bruce and Paramjit Nagra of Crazy Gin, Wolverhampton
Building manager Bruce and Met Police employee Paramjit Nagra quit their jobs in London to create the world’s first clear mango lassi gin, celebrating their British-Asian heritage. Now, the pair supply the Taj Hotels and Michelinstarred restaurants like The Cinnamon Club, and the gin’s fans include chefs Sat Bains, Atul Kochhar and rapper Tinie Tempah. “The idea came to us over a terrible takeaway on a drunken Friday night back in 2015,” says Bruce. “We were reminiscing about the British-Asian dishes we had as children, like spicy baked beans and spam curry, but we realised that our parents had never brought British and Asian culture together through spirits.
“Lassi is an iconic drink, and a way to invite people into a conversation about our Punjabi heritage. We wanted to give it a new identity – a bit like how we created our own identity as British-Asians growing up in the Eighties – and push the boundaries. First we thought about whisky, but then realised the juniper in gin balances well with turmeric, yogurt, black pepper and coriander.”
When they told their parents they intended to spend their life savings on the idea, the first thing Bruce’s mother said was “paagal”, which roughly translates as, “you’re crazy” (hence the name: Crazy Gin). Their distiller introduced them to the Harvey Nichols head buyer, and when gave him the first bottle, he jumped at the chance to stock it.
It hasn’t been plain sailing: when the distiller pulled out, they sold their house and moved back to Bruce’s mum’s house in Wolverhampton “on a wing and a prayer”, applying for a licence to distil their own gin. “Bruce’s dad had passed away unexpectedly, we were both thinking, life’s too short. We didn’t want to be forever thinking ‘what if ?’ We were feeling optimistic – and we had nothing to lose,” says Paramjit.
This year, the pair have been juggling the business with the arrival of their son, Zoro, born in October 2018 (he turns one next week), have opened their own bar space in Wolverhampton’s Mander Shopping Centre, and have also launched Crazy Co, selling pure distillates and atomisers for other people to experiment with in their own cocktails and dishes.