Bombay Sapphire Gin has almonds in it, a risk for those with tree nut allergies. In fact, 10 botanicals are used in its processing:
- juniper
- lemon peel
- “grains of paradise”, a relative of the ginger plant
- coriander seeds
- culeb berries (part of the pepper family)
- orris root
- ALMONDS
- cassia bark from the cinnamon family
- liquorice
- angelica root
Their website says that “Bitter almonds from Spain bring out and tie together all of the flavours of our botanicals, delivering the silky smooth feel that makes Bombay Sapphire so enjoyable to drink. Harvested in the late summer, the almonds are ground to produce the precious oil that makes this botanical so special.”
The website further informs us that “Whilst ordinary gins boil their botanicals directly in the spirit to achieve their flavour, the taste of Bombay Sapphire is created through the Vapour Infusion process. The 10 precious botanicals used in our gin are held separate from the spirit in perforated copper baskets, and when the heated vapours rise, the distinctive flavour of the botanicals are released. The result? A complex aromatic liquid that delivers a broader, more balanced flavour.”
Source: http://www.bombaysapphire.com/en-CA/ourgin.aspx Accessed 24 May 2013
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Excellent article! We’ve been compiling a list of alcoholic beverages that contain allergens on our website forum. http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1833&start=15
I work in this industry and deal with suppliers all the time. Everyone who drinks spirits and has food allergies is taking a huge risk. Many times the label does not reflect what it has been infused with!! Please be careful. These artisanal products are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.
I’m not a Gin drinker but this type of information is very important to share with nut allergic young people who might be trying out cocktails.
This is rather scary to be honest. Thanks Elizabeth for this discovery and for helping us out with solid information.
Great thanks to Elizabeth for having such a watchful eye. As a martini drinker, I did a bit of poking around to find out about other gins. I checked Beefeater’s recipe (my own preferred brand), which only has 9 botanicals, one of which is also almonds, and they do steep them in the liquid for 24 hours before distillation. When you consider what distillation consists of–boiling, evaporating, and cooling, I don’t think much residual protein can make it through. According to Beefeater, “This long process allows for a full extraction of flavour from the botanicals, capturing a wide range of volatile oils.”
For anyone who worries about almond, Tanqueray only has four botanicals: juniper, coriander, angelica root and liquorice.
That is interesting. I have a tree nut allergy but have been drinking Bombay Saphire for a few years without thinking about it. I will have to compare how I feel when drinking Bombay to another gin and see if there is any minor reaction going on. I was wondering though as it is flavoured by passing the distillation vapours through the botanicals are there measurable amounts of any of the botanicals present? On another note, Amaretto is a almond flavoured liqueur but Di Saronno brand uses peach pits as the ‘almond’ flavour so is nut free.