Local hero stepping up, picking juniper with patience as super-power.

Juniper berries playing hard to get is the elusive melody of the autumn 2019 in the High Coast of Sweden. A huge challenge threatening the production of Hernö High Coast Terroir Gin. Our call for help in social media reaches organist Per Brudsten and his performance is heroic when he is stepping up to pick juniper berries. Spending days in the woods our local hero finally manages to forage one kilo of the blue gold from the forest. Super-power: Patience. Reward: His name on the label of Hernö High Coast Terroir Gin 2020*.

– I spent hours in the woods during five days to forage one kilo juniper. That was the amount demanded by Hernö Gin to get my name on the label. The first day I found 30 grams of juniper during four hours and I was close to give up. But my competitive spirit was awakened and I returned to the woods next day and the following days. It was cold and my fingers were cold, but I continued, Per remembers.

– It was quite nice weather with cold and fresh air by the end of October. I brought coffee and enjoyed the well-spent time in our beautiful nature, foraging together with my girlfriend Ronja, he adds.

A matter of heart and a story to tell the grandchildren in the future.

With the conviction that you should give a helping hand when you can, Per support others. This time Hernö Gin when they need help to find enough juniper to secure one batch of Hernö High Coast Terroir Gin. Supporting a local company that he cares about is also a matter of heart for him.

– On top of that I thought that this would really be a story to tell my grandchildren the day I’m getting old: Once upon a time your grandpa rescued Hernö Gin out of a terrible disaster threatening their production and I used all my super-powers to…, laughs Per.

– It is also fun to get a bit manic about something odd once in a while. It’s refreshing and ignites your spirit of life, he smiles.

The perfect GT-serve according to a passionate local ambassador.

Pers passion for Hernö Gin is a history going four or five years back.

– I introduced a friend visiting me in Härnösand to Hernö Gin during a weekend when we decided to try the four products in the core range at that time with different tonics. We spent the days hiking in The High Coast of Sweden and the nights experimenting with different combinations of gin and tonic, Per recalls.

Hernö Juniper Cask Gin, aged on juniper barrels, with Fever Tree Mediterranean remains a personal favorite since then.

– And, I know that Hernö Gin does not recommend or use cucumber, but I really do like it as garnish in this one. This is my personal perfect serve for a gin and tonic, he adds.

Using Hernö Old Tom Gin, Per likes to create his unique Tom Collins with home made syrup spiced with juniper, lemonzest, blackpepper, vanilla, coriander seeds, cinnamon and lingonberries.

– Not too much cinnamon though, it can be very intense, Per advices.

A pearl to enjoy on very special occations in memory of days spent in the woods.

Pers collection of gins amounts to about fifty bottles at this time. Hernö Gin and others.

– I have almost all of Hernö Gins products, including the limited editions, and when I choose to drink one of them neat it is with devotion I select a rare sipping gin. In a small glass, just letting one or two centiliters linger during a precious moment that lasts, he tells.

– And this years Hernö High Coast Terroir Gin will be a precious pearl to enjoy on very special occations in memory of the days spent in the woods. Send a thought to me and the other persons who picked juniper berry by berry with cold fingers in October 2019 when you drink it. Cheers, salutes Per.

*Per Brudsten is one of three local heroes getting their names on the bottle of Hernö High Coast Terroir Gin 2020. The other two are Willy Östman from Älandsbro and Rasmus Edberg from Ramvik.

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