The spirit of innovation

19 Jun 2018
|
3 min read
Redefining well-known traditional spirits since 2007, Distillery Krauss is constantly pushing the boundaries of alcohol production. FOUR finds out more…

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Styria /Austria, a region with a rich amount of fruits like apple, pear, plum, peach, and, therefore, also a long tradition of distilling fruit brandies.

 

What did you aspire to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a scientist, therefor I studied chemistry at the university, I was interested in all kinds of plants and fruits, chemistry and physics and I wanted to work on my own, create new things…

 

How did you find your way into the world of mixology and spirit production? 

It was a spontaneous decision, based on the desire to work with fruits, create new things and discover the full range of spirits.

 

Can you tell us a bit more about the story behind Distillery Krauss?

2007 founded in a garage using a 100 L copper still, starting with fruit brandies, which were high awarded. The first step to international spirits was to produce a whisky. Our Whisky production is still growing. In a next step we distilled our gins. Our first gin was double gold awarded at San Francisco World Spirits Award 2015. 2017 and 2018 we have been awarded as best gin producing company at the World Spirits Award and got several gold and double gold medals. 2018 we have been awarded with 3 double gold medals at China Wine and Spirits Award and also at the world Spirits Award, additional our G+-Tangerine was awarded as Gin of the Year.

We also produce Rum, Anis, Apple Brandy and Vodka. This year we finish our new manufacturing plant and leave the garage. At the new location we use four copper stills. Two for gin and two pot stills to produce whisky, rum, apple brandy and other fruit brandies.

For me and my husband it is important to have our main focus on producing and developing spirits and therefor our team is growing. We have specialist for commercial, quality management, distribution and marketing. And we have got persons that support us in office and in production.

 

What do you think makes Distillery Krauss so special in your opinion?

The very high expertise in creating and producing all kinds of spirits and the ambitious demand to produce the highest quality. We follow our own path uncompromisingly in every aspect of our business.

 

Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on recently?

The next big events are the opening of our new distillery and in autumn we participate at Barconvent Berlin. We are looking for importers all over the world in order to continue our internationalization. Additionally, we are developing new gins, are working on our whisky portfolio and some new spirits.

 

What do you most enjoy about working as a distiller in the drinks business?

It is an innovative business with much opportunities to create new products.

 

Do you think that more people are entering this industry? 

Of course, a lot of new companies are entering the spirit market. Because there is demand on high quality spirits, especially on gin. Many new producers have set dimensions in quality so far unknown, but unfortunately there are also a lot of new companies who do not have the expertise in producing high quality spirits. So international tasting awards are very important for the customer to orient oneself.

 

Can you tell me FOUR of your favourite products available at Distillery Krauss and why?

Our Classic Edition London Dry Gin. It was our first Gin and the start of our success story producing gin. This gin is so straight and intense that one may mix a perfect Gin Tonic only using 4 cl Gin for 200 ml Tonic Water. The ratio of 1:5 is recommended for all our gins because of their very intense taste. The Tangerine Edition London Dry Gin – it impresses with the fresh mandarins from Calabria, combined with spicy thyme. It was awarded as Gin of the Year at China Wine and Spirits Award. Apple Brandy – it is distilled out of fermented apple juice and maturated in new French oak barrels. Styria is a perfect countryside for producing apples. The brandy offers complex flavors of apple, banana, vanilla, oak and caramel. Our rum is made out of molasses and maturated in new American oaks. In contrast to most rums there is no sugar added after distilling. Therefore, it keeps its typical taste. Additionally, I love to cook with it – for example tiramisu.

 

What interesting trends/themes are going on in the world of distillery?

I believe that the amount of craft distillers will increase more the next years. There is a trend to higher quality spirits, but the big amount of spirits will stay mass products.

 

What’s next?

I believe/hope that the gin hype still goes on. But I think that rum will become a trend in middle Europe, because many distillers produce rum now. And we want to set a trend for fruit brandies maturated in oak barrels and filled in cask strength so that they get an international touch, and maybe in this way fruit brandies could be accepted in international markets.

 

Find out more about Distillery Krauss here | distillery-krauss.com