Grantlfant Spirits

Grantlfant Spirits - For the Love of Grumpiness

We met the "Grantlfanten" (grumpy elephants) Philipp and Nikolaus sometime between the lockdowns in the summer of 2020. Back then, their portfolio consisted of only two products: Grantlerwasser Zirben Gin (stone pine gin) and Huldra Absinthe. But two products were enough to convince us of the Grantlfant. Behind the small portfolio were big ideas that are now gradually becoming reality.
Now, two new products are joining the Grantlfant portfolio: Sloe Gin and Grantlerwasser Pur, both of which are now available from us. We took this as an opportunity to conduct a short interview with the guys to introduce you to this company.

- Hello, could 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: 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 transform local ingredients into spirits using a small 150-liter copper still. The Grantlfant is our beast of burden that delivers our "grumpy" spirits.

- What products can be found in your portfolio?

- We started our gin range with the "Grantlerwasser Zirbe" – a 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 range with a Sloe Gin ("Grantlerwasser Schlehe") and a very purist gin focused on strong juniper and citrus notes ("Grantlerwasser Pur").
We also created a light absinthe with 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 range to include a second version – the light and breezy Huldra will get a feisty sister at her side.

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

- Classic sloe gin is actually a sloe liqueur based on gin. Liqueurs are a fine thing, and a certain sweetness rounds off 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?" That's why we intentionally produced the "Grantlerwasser Schlehe" to be fruity and dry, and we completely forgo any added sugar.

- What are Grantlfant's future plans?

- Give the grumpiness its time, and the grumpiness its freedom – that's how we work. 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 limit ourselves. So, we will continue to try new things; for instance, we recently distilled a blackberry brandy, which is now maturing in glass demijohns. 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 see barley (and grain in general) with different eyes.