The secret behind Arctic Blue Beverages products’ prominent flavours is in the pure northern nature, well known for the world’s cleanest air, purest spring water, arctic botanicals and wild berries that grow in the pristine forests. All the above makes it no surprise that the cleanest gin is born in Finland.

The idea behind Arctic Blue Beverages products, to capture the arctic nature in a bottle, can easily be recognised when opening a bottle, and the essence of Finland’s forests envelops you and takes you deep into the North Karelian woods.

A distillation process without chill filtering – sign of quality

Distilled spirits are all alcoholic beverages in which the concentration of ethyl alcohol has been increased above the original fermented mixture by a method called distillation. The principle of alcoholic distillation is based upon the different boiling points of alcohol (78.5°C or 173.3°F) and water (100°C or 212°F). If a liquid containing ethyl alcohol is heated to a temperature above 78.5°C but below 100 °C and the vapor is coming off the liquid that is condensed, the condensate will have a higher alcohol concentration or strength. 

Chill filtration is a method that is commonly used in distilleries for removing residue. In chill filtration, distilled spirit is cooled to below zero degrees and then passed through a fine adsorption filter. This is done mostly for cosmetic reasons, to remove cloudiness. Chill filtration is not necessary if the alcohol by volume of a final product is over 46%. This is the reason why Arctic Blue Gin and Arctic Blue Gin Navy Strength has a higher bottle strength (46.2% and 58.5%), to avoid chill filtration.
The cloudiness in Arctic Blue Gin and Arctic Blue Gin Navy Strength comes from the proteins of blueberry pectins and essential oils of rose petals. When blueberry pectin, which is preserved in Arctic Blue Beverages gin, comes in contact with something cold, like ice or tonic water, it turns the gin into a cloudy white-blue shade. This happens when the alcohol bonds break down between the molecules and these invisible particles become visible. The pectins are preserved because of Arctic Blue Beverages gin not being chill filtered. When a spirit is non-chill filtered, the flavours and aromas of the botanicals are better preserved. Non-chill filtering is seen as a sign of quality and the reason why Arctic Blue Beverages award-winning gins have such a unique taste. 

When Arctic Blue Gin is distilled, only the top three stages in the six-stage column pot are bypassed. The aim is to “scare” the heaviest alcohols with rapid cooling, which is possible, due to the deflector in use at the top of the column tower. A strong back flow is achieved and only the lightest and more flowery aromas get through the final cooler. 

”Arctic Blue Gin and Arctic Blue Gin Navy Strength do not undergo any chill filtration at all, unlike most big gin brands gins do. Neither Arctic Blue Gin Rose undergoes chill filtration, however its distillation process includes a simple filtration due to the blueberry juice that is used for colouring instead of artificial colouring. We focus on preserving all the aromas and scents in our final products, by taking advantage of the natural essential oils from the wild blueberries and herbs, as well as the protein chains and the natural pectins from the beginning to the end. You can see this for yourself: add some cold tonic water and ice to the Arctic Blue Gin or Actic Blue Gin Navy Strength, and you can see how it changes to a gorgeous hue of pale blue, reminding you of the colours of the wild blueberries from the North Karelia”. - Asko Ryynänen, Master Distiller 

Written together with Arctic Blue Beverages Master Distiller Asko Ryynänen.