A crayfish gin makes its debut on to the craft gin scene

Kennet Crayfish Company launches a unique craft gin using crayfish claw shells and botanicals. The distilling process releases not only the sweet delicate taste of the claws but a crayfish oil that creates a new top-quality mellow gin, smoothing the edges of the botanicals and enhancing the flavour of mixers rather than competing with them. Add to that the eco credentials of each drink helping to protect the waters and wildlife of Britain’s rare chalk stream, the Kennet, one of only 200 in the world, and the Kennet Crayfish Gin has all the hallmarks of a winner.

Kennet Crayfish Company is the UK’s largest fully licensed plant for processing wild caught American signal crayfish caught in the riverbanks of the Kennet in Berkshire.  The best size and quality crayfish are prepared and chilled for food distribution while the smaller crayfish are used for other products including animal feed for zoos.

Crayfish Gin is the result of a collaboration between The Kennet Crayfish Company, one of three finalists in the top category “Food Producer of the Year” in the prestigious BBC Food and Farming Awards 2024, and Hawkridge Distillers, which produces award winning gins including ‘Best London Dry Gin in England’, which it has won twice, as well as a cluster of gold and silver medals from the annual World Spirits Competition.

Andrew Leech, managing director of Kennet Crayfish Company, explains: ”We are proud of our quality crayfish product; however, I felt that there were opportunities for us to develop exciting and tasty products from the humble crayfish shells leftover after extracting the meat, and then I had the idea to create a gin. Mad as that sounded, talking to various professionals in the drinks trade I was encouraged to explore this further and so our gin journey began. I am delighted that after meeting, Phil Howarth, managing director of Hawkridge Distillers, he too thought that a crayfish gin could be winner, and I am delighted with the Kennet gin product that has emerged.”

Phil Howarth, managing director of Hawkridge Distillers, says: “Hawkridge has been distilling gin for many different companies from hotel groups to luxury brands, clubs and pubs since 2018. When Andrew approached us with the idea of distilling crayfish claws to make a gin, I was intrigued and excited at the prospect and certainly up for the challenge.  We created the final product over numerous distillations, macerating and infusing the complimentary botanicals in our 400L copper pot still, Victoria. The premium gin blend we have created for Kennet Crayfish is fresh on the nose, sweet on the palate and delivers a beautiful citrus and herbaceous complexity. We are delighted with the final product and very pleasantly surprised at what a wonderful botanical crayfish claws have proven to be “

Carolyn Bennett, CMO Kennet Crayfish Company, who is coordinating the gin project says: “If it takes an original story and original flavour to stand out in the craft gin market, then Kennet’s Crayfish gin hits all the right notes.  Signal crayfish, the ones we eat, are an invasive species imported from America in the 1970s. Unfortunately, they escaped into the wild and proliferated so successfully that they are now found in huge numbers across British waterways and pose a real threat to river wildlife. They damage riverbanks by tunnelling, causing the banks to collapse resulting in siltation of the rivers. They also consume the rivers’ natural invertebrates and predate on fish eggs depleting an important food source for animals such as Otters.”

Bennett added: “As a licensed crayfish company, we are proud to be a sustainable food producer helping to protect Britain’s waterways. By fishing this invasive species, we are helping to keep their numbers down while producing a premium delicious food product. We wanted to feature this aspect of our operation and have incorporated a ‘tails of the riverbank’ illustration by Sophie Jonas-Hill, a British award-winning artist & illustrator into our label design.  From the outset we wanted to create a premium craft gin that not only intrigued but also would delight the gin connoisseur and everyone who tastes it just loves it. We are looking forward to creating even more excitement around our gin by running promotions and events that incorporate Kennet’s gin with delicious crayfish dishes.”

The Kennet Crayfish gin will be sold to the hospitality industry and through food and drink retailers, as well as being sold direct to consumers through our website www.kennetcrayfish.com.  It is sold in two sizes – a small taster 5cl bottle at £6.50 and a full-size 70cl bottle at £40.