Trevethan was founded on two principles: honour the past, then make it better.

While working together in 2013, Norman’s grandson Robert Cuffe, an engineer, would talk fondly of his late grandfathers love of craft brewing, in particular a family recipe for a bathtub gin with his friend John Hall, a chemist. Prior to this, John already had a keen interest in distilled spirits, in particular whisky, and had started a personal journey over the previous few years visiting distilleries and educating himself as a hobby with any free time he had. He was fascinated with the complexities of whisky’s origins, grain types, distillation techniques and ageing process and was determined to understand and aspired to truly appreciate the drink not just for its scientific aspects but for its complex sensory elements too. However, there was a period of learning before he finally developed the skills, palate and craftmanship he needed. John looked at those who enjoyed whiskey, enhancing the moment they were in, he wanted to know what they knew, he saw these connoisseurs and knew that was the culture he wanted to be part of, that was him. Over this time, what John was witnessing was the very early days of the craft drinks movement which would soon start to unfold, so when the discussion with Rob arose, John could not resist the opportunity to dust off his old lab coat and recreate the gin recipe that had been lost to the world for over 70 years. He would spend the next few months listening to Rob and his family’s memories of Norman’s bathtub gin creation and the botanicals the family would hand pick. Two ingredients that were always mentioned were the picking of prickly gorse and the sweet aromas of elderflower from Cornish hedgerows.

Over the next 18 months John would produce 30 iterations of Norman’s recipe until it was finally elevated to a not just a “bath tub” gin but what we now know is a World leading London Dry Gin. However, that didn’t go without its challenges. When the quantities were scaled up to produce a larger volume of gin, the mouth feel from the gorse flower oil had changed, back to the drawing board. With the addition of vanilla, the recipe was now perfected ready for the arrival Trevethan’s first Copper-Alembic still. The tradition goes that the Master Distiller has naming rights over any new still, but they name them after an important Woman in their life. So the first Trevethan still was name Doris after John’s Grandmother.