A group of hipster gin makers came close to creating chaos after they accidentally made mustard gas while trying to concoct a new flavour.
Workers from Sipsmith distillery, in Chiswick, west London, were attempting to create a mustard-flavoured drink but instead made the dangerous chemical agent, famous for its devastating use in World War One.
The firm, founded by Fairfax Hall, Sam Galsworthy and Jared Brown in 2009, evacuated its plant as soon as the blunder had been detected.
Kit Clancy, assistant distiller at Sipsmith, said: 'There was a near disaster. What the guys actually produced was in effect mustard gas. The distillery was evacuated. That one wasn't made again.'
Mustard gas, also known as sulfur mustard, causes itching of the skin which leads to scratching and the victim being covered in large puss filled blisters.
It can also cause temporary blindness as well as effecting the digestive tract which results in abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and vomiting.
Often people recover from the effects of the gas but they can be left with disfigurements and respiratory problems later in life. Mustard gas has also been known to increase the chances of developing cancer.
Sipsmith boasts having the first copper gin still in 200 years and produces four different gins and two vodkas which are sold in supermarkets and bars.
Why, in the name of all that is sacred or profane, would anyone want mustard gin? -"BB"-
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:49 pm
by Gob
Nommy!!
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:52 pm
by MajGenl.Meade
It goes well with ham-stuffed olives?
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 2:20 am
by datsunaholic
That one wasn't made again.'
Understatement of the year.
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 7:36 am
by Lord Jim
This picture of Boris is obviously photo shopped:
He's only got a drink in one hand...
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:09 am
by Guinevere
If you want good gin, try Uncle Val's -- they make both a botanical and a restorative which are each fabu.
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:30 pm
by Long Run
Bicycle Bill wrote:Why, in the name of all that is sacred or profane, would anyone want mustard gin?
You ever hear The Gourds cover Gin and Juice?
Re: Gin? It's a gas..
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:20 pm
by rubato
aka Yperite because it was first used near Ypres in France in WW I. Nasty stuff, often causes life-long injuries. One of my thesis advisors last projects was a report about the destruction of old chemical munitions:
The idea that a Gin manufacturer made some 'accidentally', or even at all, is very unlikely. I don't buy it. Someone making 'flavored' gin is buying chemicals and then just formulating them into the product, not doing synthetic chemistry. They would have no reason to have a synthesis lab or hire a synthetic chemist. I'm willing to bet they just heated some mercaptan or other or possibly a different sulfur-containing compound, and stunk up the place someone said "it smells like mustard gas" (like they would know) and then hysteria took over. Perhaps they were adding the chemical before final distillation so there was some heat available to volatilize it. Mercaptans are VERY stinky on a per-mass basis as are other sulfur-containing compounds.
