Twenty five A-Level Chemistry students recently spent the afternoon at the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery in Laverstoke, Hampshire. The aim of the trip was for them to experience the intricate manufacture of a high profile everyday product, which applied some of the principles found in their studies.
Before the tour began, the students discussed various structures and properties of the molecules in the sophisticated mixtures being made. They also presented to each other their knowledge and understanding of the key botanicals used in making the gin.
The guide was particularly informative about the key distillation process taking place in four active stills, as well as how the key ingredients dissolved.
We were taken into two giant glass greenhouses that allowed examples of all ten botanicals to flourish: in a large separate room, there was a good opportunity to taste and smell each of these as well as appreciate how their properties complimented one another.
No trip would be complete without the consumption of a complimentary non-alcoholic cocktail in a comfortable cinema, where the secrets to the marketing success and the history of the product were shared.
