Singapore (AFP)

In a Singapore distillery, a scent of pine, citrus and flowers spreads as students crush juniper berries and mix them with other ingredients to learn how to make a custom-made gin with an Asian touch.

At the "gin school" the gleaming copper stills and glass beakers are lined up on the tables in front of shelves filled with bottles of gin and drawers full of aromatic herbs and spices.

Students are encouraged to be creative and to invent their own combination of aromas - floral, herbaceous, spicy or citrus-based - by blending classic ingredients such as juniper berries or coriander seeds with ingredients. the local cuisine.

They can dip in trays of plants, fruits, like tamarind, pandan leaves, or porcelain roses, ingredients typical of Southeast Asian cuisine.

For Jamie Koh, who founded the Brass Lion Distillery where the "gin school" is held every week, making this alcohol "can be very creative".

"You can only use three plants or you can let go and use a million," says.

Gin is traditionally based on juniper berries, but many other plants can be added to create a wide variety of flavors.

Tonya Shaw, 45, takes a piece of galanga, a lemon-flavored rhizome, sniffs and cuts it before putting it in a tray that also contains lavender and rosebuds.

"I like having a little taste of citrus and a floral touch, so I got inspired, the Earl Gray, my favorite flavor."

- A "wasabi effect" -

The students distil following a simplified method.

They start by heating a neutral-based alcohol in their still, then distil it again with a mixture of spices or plants, then add water to achieve the desired level of alcohol.

The interest in a gin with ever more original flavors is growing around the world, as in Singapore, which has a great diversity of bars serving many alcohols and cocktails.

The city-state, the Mecca of Asian gastronomy, has seen the proliferation of new bars and restaurants, which can somewhat offset a reputation as a boring city with very strict legislation.

After having concocted their gin, the alchemist apprentices bottle it and bring it to the bar to make it a gin and tonic. They can take home 500 milliliters of their creation at the end of the lesson that costs 198 Singapore dollars (130 euros).

Daniel Lim distilled a gin made from lemongrass, kaffir lemon leaves and three small pieces of bird's eye pepper.

"I wanted to try a Singaporean flavor," the 30-year-old told AFP. "And it gives a wasabi effect, it goes straight to the nose," he says.

© 2019 AFP