To fit with the transcendent theme of this year’s Holy Handmade! exhibition, we searched far and wide for a suitably divine drink to serve up to guests at the Wallpaper* Handmade party during Salone del Mobile. Taking place at Mediateca Santa Teresa, a deconsecrated church on Milan’s Via della Moscova, the party required an elixir with a certain spiritual slant.
On reading about #CHURCH – an independent band of party organisers from the Dutch city of Groningen who began producing their own gin, named Holy Water, in 2015 – we knew we’d found the perfect partner.
‘Our collective started out organising parties and music events back in 2006,’ says co-founder Jesse Terpstra. ‘Core to every idea that came to fruition was the belief that we could do everything ourselves, and even better than anything already out there. This approach led to us hosting parties, with home-made food and local musical talent, that quickly caught on in the community.’
‘The same mentality was key to launching our own gin,’ he continues. ‘Our starting point was a love for a good gin and tonic and a spicy curry. We quickly learnt what was needed to make a gin that suited our tastes better than any gin already out there.’
The gung-ho team became evangelical about the distilling process, and what started out as experimental, backyard-produced moonshine quickly evolved into a professional product. Distinguished by its herbal taste, the gin is now produced at small local distilleries in Groningen but remains single-distilled and unfiltered in order to preserve its original taste and handmade, artisanal quality.
Graphic designers and friends of the #CHURCH collective Rudmer van Hulzen and Pim Klomp are the duo responsible for Holy Water gin’s distinctive H-shaped logo – a motif that takes the # from #CHURCH and transforms it into a gothic H written in black ink.
‘It not only captured the spirit of our gin and our collective perfectly, but combined with the characteristic apothecary bottle, made for an exceptional design that stands out,’ enthuses Terpstra. ‘Holy Water is the perfect gin for the true connoisseur; small-batch, artisanal with a bold flavour and a bold design. A true gin drinker’s gin.’