Electric Spirit Co.

Electric Spirit Co. was established in 2014 by James Porteous. James initially studied product design and photography before diversifying and completing a Master’s Degree in distillation at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, famous in the distillation world for its courses and facilities. James initially set up his distillery in a small unit in Leith, where he worked on developing his flagship Achroous Gin. James wanted to create a balanced gin that provided a flavour journey for the drinker but used a small number of botanicals in the recipe. James began refining his recipe and the production process to extract as much flavour as possible from each botanical.

With the recipe ready, James knew the bottle had to have visual impact and stand out on the shelf or behind the back bar of any venue. He also wanted a bottle and packaging that would tie in with his Electric Spirit Co. branding. After several variations, James went with a neon orange varnished glass bottle that changed appearance depending on the light. James wanted something cost-effective for the label that could be quickly adapted if any gin element changes. James took a proper hands-on approach and produced several custom rubber stamps, which allowed him to hand-stamp each bottle. Eventually, as the popularity of Achroous Gin grew, James decided to get the bottle screen printed due to the growing number of orders.

In 2016, James was approached by Leith Agency, a creative agency based in Leith, who wanted to release a gin that was tongue in cheek and poked fun at the number of new gins that were appearing, plus generate some interest in the agency’s work. Working together, ‘Not Another Effing Gin’ was released in 2017, with its straight talking name and a recipe that featured angelica root, coriander seed, ginger, lime, liquorice and orris root.

In 2018, James moved his gin distillation to the Towerstreet Still House, at the time also home to the Lind & Lime Gin production and main office of Muckle Brig, the business behind Lind & Lime and, at that time, the work-in-progress Port of Leith Distillery. The office was famous in the Edinburgh distilling scene as it was, in fact, a garden shed inside the industrial unit. It was also well known to be more akin to a fridge freezer; even when the Genio spirit was producing spirit and heat, the office and distillery were constantly cold.

Throughout his journey into the world of Scottish spirits, James has continually looked at ways of reducing his brand’s carbon footprint and improving the business’s sustainability credentials. In 2021, James launched a five-litre refillable, reusable metal Achroous Gin keg, specifically designed for the on-trade with the goal of reducing the number of glass bottles used by on-trade partners.

Cohabiting with the Muckle Brig co-founders Iain Stirling and Paddy Fletcher allowed  James to use the bigger Genio still to increase his production capacity. James was also able to provide advice and guidance when Iain and Paddy were creating Lind & Lime Gin. With both brands yearning for more space, Lind & Lime moved to a larger distillery in 2022, where both brands continue to co-inhabit the distillery where James enjoys a proper office with all mod cons, including central heating!