We will be regularly blogging about each of our botanicals, starting with the local botanicals that underpin our recipe for Biggar Gin.
We start with the common or garden Rose Hip, which adds both caramel undertones and a sweet perfume to our gin.
Here are seven facts you need to remember about this unsung hero:
1. Rose Hips are found on the Dog Rose or Rosa Canina. Perhaps that is why our greyhound is so fond of them.
2. Rose Hips are said to contain four times as much vitamin C as blackcurrant juice and twenty times as much as orange juice. This was discovered during the Second World War, when oranges and other sources of the vitamin were not available.
3. In Sweden, Rose Hip soup is a traditional winter dish.
4. In Scotland Rose Hip jellies and wine used to be commonly made to be enjoyed over the Winter months.
5. The constituents of Rose Hips are vitamin C, A, B1, B2, B3 and K, flavonoids, tannin, pectin, carotene, fruit acids, fatty oil, invert sugar, polyphenols, carotenoids, volatile oil, and vanillin.
6. While we don’t claim any health benefits from Biggar Gin other than lifting your spirits, Rose Hips are ascribed many health benefits including: warding off the common cold, alleviating the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and healing wounds.
7. Rose Hip Schnapps is a favourite in Denmark
