Read Of The ‘Anty Gin’ – The Gin Made Out Of Ants

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As the name suggests, Anty Gin is a unique type of gin made by distilling red wood ants. Oddity Central reports:

The idea for Anty Gin came about when Danish organisation Nordic Food Lab contacted Will Lowe, of Cambridge Distilleries with a very odd request. “We were approached by a company from Copenhagen called Nordic Food Lab who explore the culinary qualities of insects and argue for the eating of them in western cuisine.

They asked us to come up with a gin where the typical citrus flavor came not from lemon or lime peel, but from ants.” Lowe said. This might come as a surprise to many of you, but insects are actually known in the culinary world for their distinct citrus flavor.

“We did a lot of research and found that the reason ants taste like citrus is because they spray formic acid as a method of defense. Hundreds of years ago formic acid was made by distilling ants, and so that’s what we decided to do,” Lowe explained. The gin maker started with 6,000 ants and soaked them in high strength ethanol.

He then distilled the liquid to make an ant concentrate, which he mixed with juniper, stinging nettle, wood avens root, alexanders seeds, and other botanicals foraged from the forest. “The result is a spectacular, one-of-a-kind gin that is being very well received worldwide,” he said. “People are astounded at how good it tastes.