UK-based Circumstance Distillery is gearing up to release Monker’s Garkel, a new gin made using an artificial intelligence (AI) program.
Circumstance has partnered with technology scientists Tiny Giant and Rewrite Digital, who developed and built the AI called Ginette.
The program was trained to analyse thousands of botanicals, understand gin recipes and learn a database of more than 500 gin names. The AI decided on Monker’s Garkel, which is described as a fragranced gin.
The 40% ABV spirit features juniper berry, coriander seed, angelica root, raspberry leaf, gooseberry, prune, clementine zest, orange zest and marigold.
An automated algorithm created the label using a curated set of styles, colours, textures and fonts that were then formulated by artist Tim Sutcliffe.
Liam Hirt, co-founder of Bristol-based Circumstance Distillery, said: “AI and machine learning are exciting new tools. We do a lot of contract distilling and wanted to know if these tools could make a meaningful contribution to new product development.
“At present, they are not a substitute for the skill of the distiller, but we have clearly shown that they can make a valuable contribution to all aspects of the development process, from the recipe to the naming and labelling. We trained Ginette well, and with a little human help and guidance, her product is interesting, attractive and, most importantly, delicious.”
Kerry Harrison, co-founder of Tiny Giant, added: “We’ve loved every minute of this project. The creation of Monker’s Garkel has demonstrated that it’s perfectly possible to align machine predictive power and human creativity to make something delicious, valuable and commercial.”
The first Monker’s Garkel batch will be a limited edition of 1,000 bottles with each 50cl bottle retailing for £42.
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