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From Orchard to Glass: Pressing Fresh Washington Apples into Gin

Two men wrestle a fully loaded blue barrel full of fresh pressed washington apples for gin distilling onto a trailer using a forklift. A weathered red barn forms the backdrop under a cloudy sky.

Great Spirits Start with Great Ingredients

At Speed Shift Distilling, we believe great spirits start with great ingredients. And thankfully here in this rich agricultural region, we don’t have to look far to find them. Our latest seasonal gin, EnGIN, is a true taste of the Pacific Northwest.

Handcrafted with fresh-pressed Washington apples from Cedardale Orchards and infused with a fragrant blend of botanicals. It’s bright, crisp, and unmistakably rooted in the land we love.

Each apple used in this batch was harvested at its peak of flavor and cold-pressed to capture the full flavor of the fruit – sweet, tart, and deeply aromatic. The juice forms the foundation of this one-of-a-kind gin which lends a subtle complexity and smoothness that sets it apart from your typical botanical base. But we didn’t stop there.

Infused with Local Herbs and Botanicals

To round out the flavor, we add a carefully balanced mix of juniper and herbs. (Mostly sourced from local vendor Em’s Herbals, while two we had to fetch from Seattle.) Think juniper, corriander, cassia, lemon peel, and other aromatic treasures like Grains of Pardise and Cubeb Berries that bring a soft, herbaceous character to every sip.

Two men load a bright blue barrel onto a trailer in front of a rustic red barn, preparing fresh ingredients for upcoming tasting events at the distillery.
Lance Ballard and Scott Nissen. Big smiles after successfully wrestling a 55 gallon drum of fresh-pressed apple juice into the back of the trailer for distilling.

And of course, the water matters too. Ours comes from the Mount Baker watershed, filtered through a reverse osmosis system — crisp, clean, and perfect for crafting spirits with exceptional flavor.

The result? A gin that’s as fresh and vibrant as a summer morning in Washington.

Whether you’re crafting an herbaceous gin cocktail, serving up a crisp apple cider G&T, or sipping it neat, Speed Shift Distillery’s EnGIN botanical spirit brings a new perspective to a classic base. Local ingredients. Seasonal inspiration. Pure Pacific Northwest flavor.

That’s how we do gin at Speed Shift Distillery.