There are now over 300 different being made in Scotland and amongst them are a growing number of colour changing gins.

We’re going to explore our favourite Scottish blue colour changing gins and the magical botanicals that give them their colour changing properties.

Behind each of the blue colour changing gins is a floral botanical which is included in the botanical blend. The inclusion of the flowers gives the gins their blue hue and also create the theatre of changing colour. The change happens when adding an acidic ingredient such as tonic water. The gins will go from the blue to a delicate lilac/pink colour.

Butterfly Pea Gins

Butterfly pea is an Asian botanical which has been used for many years in Asian cooking as well as in teas.

McLean’s Something Blue Gin

Something Blue Gin was first launched as a limited edition to mark the wedding of Colin & Jessica McLean, the husband and wife team behind McLean’s Gin, in June 2018. The gin was a marriage of Colin & Jessica’s two favourite botanicals; tonka bean and buchu leaf. These botanicals were combined with 4 secret botanicals along with butterfly pea flowers for a unique and intriguing gin.

Something Blue has suggestions of summer fruits, mint, caramel and hand-rolled tobacco-leaf, supported by a fresh, herbaceous background. We recommend serving over ice with a quality tonic and finishing with some fresh mint and a slice of cucumber.

The gin proved to be so popular that it has now been released into McLean’s core range of gins.

Linlithgow Distillery Four Marys Forever Fresh Gin

Released in September 2019, the newest blue colour changing gin is Forever Fresh from the Four Marys series by Linlithgow Distillery.

Forever Fresh is a refreshing combination of classic botanicals such as juniper and coriander with eucalyptus leaves, peppermint and lemon verbena for a cool, fresh gin that leaves the palate feeling wonderfully clean.

The vibrant blue colour will change to a delicate pink when tonic is added. We’d recommend finishing with a wedge of lime.