Chris Rijkenberg and Nico Commandeur are two young masterminds who were upset by the amount of bread that is thrown away every day. In the Netherlands alone, some one hundred and twenty million kilos! A mortal sin. Not just of the bread, in their opinion, but also of the craftsmanship and passion that all those bakers put into it.
The garbage can is simply not the best place for unsold bread.
So what is the best place for this 'waste'? Exactly! Genever!
Together they found a way to replace leftover bread with grain during the fermentation process, and thus create the basis of their own eco-genever.
"From waste to pure taste!"
One bottle of gin (500ml) is good for saving nine slices of bread!
Because local bakers donate their bread, and the guys use every kind of bread, no two batches are the same!
Attention to detail: they also consider their carbon footprint with the bottle and label: the bottle is made of recycled glass and the label of wood.
The bread is cut into small pieces and soaked in hot water to release the starch. Then ground malt is added. After the mix is cooled, yeast is added, thus starting the fermentation process. After a week, the mash goes into the still to be distilled into malt wine. This very high distillate is then diluted with water and voila, Bakers Best Genever!
Aroma: The smell has something sweet and at the same time a fine acidity. Almost raisin-like!
Taste: Tones of pepper, cardamom and anise round off the convincing bread taste nicely.
Aftertaste: A warm, long aftertaste where also the acidity comes back.
