The story of Brixton Gin began a long-time ago, when long-term Brixton resident, Andrew Murray-Watson, was in Guzzl, his gourmet grocery store in Brixton Village. Andrew was standing in front of a shelf of gins from across London and the UK. It seemed strange, he mused to himself, that Brixton did not have its own gin.

Now fast forward a few years. Andrew and his partner in life, Calandra Smith, have just had a baby. The unthinkable had happened -  a pandemic had struck and everyone had been told to lockdown at home.

Like many people at that time, Andrew and Calandra were sitting in their garden with too much time on their hands. Andrew has a large G&T in his hand. “Did you know that Brixton doesn’t have its own gin,” Andrew says to Calandra. “Hmmm?,” comes the reply. “Well, maybe we ought to do something about it. Or we can carry on reading about which plants to grow in this tiny garden.”

And just like that, in a cobbled back garden a few feet from Windrush Square, with a sleeping baby in the flat and a shaggy black dog under the table, the idea for Brixton Gin was given form.

Over the next six months, with Rosie (that’s the new baby) growing fast, Andrew and Calandra pull together a team of people who can turn their idea into a reality.

And then, something amazing happens. Brixton Gin is actually a thing. A real thing that looks and tastes great.

And is full of locally sourced botanicals like raw honey and wood violets that are being grown in disused spaces in Brixton.

And then something equally amazing happens: people start buying it. And they really like it. And then those people buy another bottle. And then pubs want to buy it. And restaurants. And wholesalers. And people on Instagram who actually know something about the drinks industry ask to get involved.

And three years later, Brixton Gin has won awards and is growing steadily and is a proper little business. Rosie is almost at school and now has a little brother to constantly steal her toys.

Brixton has always been a community that does things its own way. Botanicals grown on the urban streets of Brixton?! It’s not your usual origin story. The result is hopefully something that really stands out in a crowded market

And that’s the short version of the Story of Brixton Gin.