Haggerston-based distillery 58 Gin has ditched its hand-crafted tipples in favour of hand sanitiser.
Gin production has temporarily ceased, with all of the distillery's resources diverted to making hand sanitiser instead, using a blend of ethanol, glycerol, hydrogen peroxide and essential oils, and ensuring that distillery staff can keep their jobs.
10% of money raised from Hand Gin-Itizer will be donated to The Drinks Trust, a charity which supports those working in the UK drinks industry, where many jobs are currently at risk as a result of the coronavirus situation.
Carmen O'Neal, Managing Director of 58 Gin Distillery, said
When we bottled our first gin, I never imagined we’d be stopping production to make hand sanitisers. However, this has been a critical move to help keep our staff in jobs and protect the future of the company during very challenging times.
Hopefully this change in production will mean we can find ourselves in a position to get back to distilling gin in the near future.”
The initial run will consist of 3000 bottles (200ml) of hand sanitiser, and should be available in the next few days. The distillery is aiming to supply shops which are running low on supplies, though you can also preorder Hand Gin-Itizer online.
Keep up to date on all the latest London coronavirus news here.
