I’m Ann Brock, Master Distiller at Bombay Sapphire, and This Is How I Work
We can say that Dr. Ann Brock makes a living by drinking. But please don’t say it so that you can hear it. Dr. Brock is the head distiller at Bombay Sapphire, overseeing gin production in the English village of Laverstock. We spoke to her about her chemistry experience, her gin club, and her favorite cocktail party.
Location: Hampshire, UK Current Place of Work: Master Distiller, Bombay Sapphire Gin Current Mobile Device: Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone SE Current Computer: Microsoft Surface Pro 4 One word that best describes how you work: hard
First of all, tell us a little about your past and how did you come to what you are doing now?
When I was younger, I wanted to become a doctor and got a place in medical school. After eight months there, I was 100% sure that a career in medicine was not for me, and I left.
Then I became a bartender, working in hotels all over the UK and traveling for work. After a few years, I decided to return to university, this time to study chemistry. After receiving this degree and subsequent doctorate. I decided to explore becoming a gin distiller – a career that brought the two sides of my life, bartender and chemist, together.
I moved to London and was lucky to have the opportunity to build and run a small gin plant in central London. I made sure to immerse myself in the world of the genie, and a few years later I was appointed director of the Genie Guild. In 2017, Bacardi reached out to me when they were looking for someone to fill the position of Master Distiller at the Bombay Sapphire plant in Hampshire, and I jumped at the chance.
Tell us about a recent work day.
As a master distiller, I am involved in many different aspects of the production and promotion of Bombay Sapphire, and my day can be different. Although I travel, I can usually be found at our distillery in Hampshire.
Every day at 8:15 am there is a distillery team meeting to discuss any safety, quality or manufacturing issues that producers face. I try to arrive an hour or so before that; the sooner I arrive, the more I can get done before the day gets busy.
After that, I will go to the lab to check out the new batches of gin we made to make sure I am satisfied with the quality of the product sent to the bottle – a challenge that I return to throughout my life. day. The rest of my day is divided into overseeing projects at the distillery such as installing a new distillation still, addressing safety, quality and sustainability issues, identifying areas for process improvement, discussing product innovation, managing people, and developing my vision for the business.
I may also have days where I am filming a distillery or showing VIP guests the grounds. I find it easiest to focus on one day so that you don’t overwhelm yourself with everything that needs to be done.
What apps, gadgets or tools can’t you live without?
My Kindle and Google Maps. Moving from London, I often find myself on a train with good reading times, so I carry my Kindle with me everywhere. If I am not taking the train, then I am sitting in the car and I need to show the way somewhere in the countryside of England.
How is your workplace arranged?
My office is a small room upstairs at the gates of the distillery. Aside from the basic office furniture – a table, storage cabinet and flat screen – I also have a rapidly growing collection of gin, a few tasting glasses, and a closet full of PPE.
On the wall is a large map of Hampshire and a beautiful photograph of Tower Bridge and the Shard in London taken by a friend of mine. I hope to set up a tasting lab and a cocktail trolley in the office, but these are year-end projects.
What’s your best genie hacker?
My favorite gin hack is a fruit flavored gin. All you need is a bottle of London gin like Bombay Sapphire and some fresh fruit. Cut the fruit and put the slices in the gin, leave the gin for a few days until the fruit turns pale. Then you can enjoy a unique gin and tonic with a creative fruity note. Most summer fruits will work, especially strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb and black currants.
Tell us about an interesting, unusual, or challenging process you have at work.
My team must account for every milliliter of alcohol that goes into the distillery. Each drop is tracked throughout the entire process by recording volume, temperature and density at each step until it either leaves the site as gin or is disposed of as waste. Reported by HMRC. This can be quite tricky – being finicky is a great way to describe the process.
What do you want more people to understand how the distillery works?
The role of the distillery is incredibly varied. There’s a fun aspect to this too: sip on carefully prepared cocktails and share your products with passionate people. However, it requires a lot of hard physical work and close attention to detail. Distillation involves high pressure, high temperatures and large volumes of flammable liquid. Serious accidents can happen in distilleries and my most important concern is to ensure that the team is working safely.
Who are the people who help you achieve results, and how do you rely on them?
My distillers. They work around the clock, producing every drop of Bombay Sapphire in the world.
How do you keep track of what you need to do?
I write a lot of lists either in OneNote or just using a pen and sticky notes. If the task is not on the list, it will not be completed.
How to recharge or relax?
I do yoga and jogging regularly throughout the week. Every year I try to travel and immerse myself in a different culture. The further from home I feel, the faster I disconnect and get a full break.
What’s your favorite side project?
I run an extracurricular gin club at a distillery. Each month, participants are given a small sample of a new gin or classic that some of us have yet to taste. I shoot a video of the gin for the rest of the club to watch and suggest a cocktail that matches it and we compare the taste.
It is good to keep an eye on other products that are on the market. The gin world is expanding and changing rapidly, and I try to keep up.
What are you reading now or what do you recommend?
I am currently reading The Room of Mars by Rachel Kushner and recently completed The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. All good fellows.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
My dad had some advice that he repeated as I was growing up. I was left alone: ”a person who never made mistakes, never did anything.” In the past, I’ve scolded myself too much for what I thought was failure, but I’ve learned to avoid mistakes and not be afraid to challenge myself.
What problem are you still trying to solve?
I am trying to figure out how to further reduce my water consumption locally. Distillation has traditionally not been an environmentally friendly process, but at Laverstoke we strive to be as green as possible and have received several awards in recognition of this. However, we do not like to be satisfied with what has already been achieved, and every time we manage to achieve a difficult goal, we set ourselves a more difficult one.