Grantlfant Spirits - For the love of grumbling

We got to know Grantlfant’s Philipp and Nikolaus sometime between the lockdowns in the summer of 2020. At that time, their portfolio consisted of only two products: Grantlerwasser Zirben Gin (Stone Pine Gin) and Huldra Absinthe. However, two products were still enough to convince us of the Grantlfant. Behind the small portfolio stood big ideas that are now gradually becoming a reality.
Now, two new products are joining the Grantlfant portfolio: Sloe Gin and Grantlerwasser Pur, both of which are available from us immediately. We took this as an opportunity to conduct a short interview with the guys to introduce you to this company.

- Hello, can you briefly introduce yourselves and say a few words about you and Grantlfant?

- Servus, we are Philipp and Nikolaus, and the origin story of Grantlfant Spirits is unfortunately as banal as it is lacking in eccentric highlights: former work colleagues became friends who wanted to live out their long-standing interests (processing fruit and herbs, distilling, food law, and bureaucracy) together. We found a home for this at the Vienna Craft Distillery in Stammersdorf, where we convert mostly local ingredients into spirits in a small 150-liter copper still. The "Grantlfant" (grumpy elephant) serves as our beast of burden, delivering our grumpy spirits.

- Which products can one find in your portfolio?

 - We started our gin range with the "Grantlerwasser Zirbe" – a highly juniper-forward dry gin that gets its characteristic color and resinous notes from the addition of a cold extract of stone pine cones. Over the last few months, we have expanded the Grantlerwasser line with a Sloe Gin ("Grantlerwasser Schlehe") and a very purist gin focused on strong juniper and citrus notes ("Grantlerwasser Pur").
In addition, we created a light absinthe using wormwood from Vienna, which we christened "Huldra" – a Nordic forest spirit that seeks to seduce lonely wanderers. With the next batch, we will expand the absinthe assortment to include a second variant – the light and breezy Huldra will get a tough sister by her side.

- How does your Sloe Gin differ from the other sloe gins available on the market?

- Classic Sloe Gin is actually a sloe liqueur based on gin. Liqueurs are fine, and a certain sweetness rounds out some aromas well and balances the taste, but we often asked ourselves when drinking liqueur: "Not bad, but is there a version that's less sweet?" Therefore, we intentionally crafted our "Grantlerwasser Schlehe" to be fruity and dry, completely forgoing any added sugar.

- What are Grantlfant's future plans?

- Give time its grumpiness, give the grumpiness its freedom – that’s our working philosophy. On one hand, a recipe and a spirit need time to mature; on the other hand, we want to exhaust the possibilities of distillation and not let ourselves be limited. We will therefore continue to try out new things for ourselves and have recently distilled a blackberry brandy, which is now maturing in a glass demijohn. Further fruit brandies are already being planned; meanwhile, we are experimenting with a pastis, and since we succumbed to the fascination of wooden barrels, we look at barley (and grain in general) with different eyes.