A world first in the spirits market
Low alcohol for gin, rum & co. with full flavor
The gin world champions from Hamburg-Zanzibar want to take drinking to a new level with a world first. With a specially developed process for the production of so-called "micro spirits", the two founders Yuka Suzuki and Dr. Hauke Günther are once again breaking with convention and breaking new ground.
The result: spirits that only need to be used in minimal quantities but offer maximum flavor. The dilution effect in the drink reduces the alcohol content by around 90 percent. The calorie content is also halved.
Full flavor and ten times less alcohol
The new "KOYI Micro Spirits" from the two-time gin world champions from Hamburg-Zanzibar do away with everything superfluous - except for the good taste. In this unique production process, the makers of the best gin in the world reduce the spirits to their essence. What remains is the full flavor and much less alcohol in the drink.
"With our micro spirits, we are responding to current trends towards more conscious alcohol consumption and a healthier lifestyle and want to evolve drinking, i.e. develop it further and create something completely new," says Dr. Hauke Günther, the technical and creative mind behind KOYI and founder of the small spirits manufacturer Hamburg-Zanzibar alongside Yuka Suzuki.
The aim: "We are initiating a new product category so that the consumer does not consume more alcohol than necessary - with the same enjoyment experience, the same taste and identical product character."
No additives, flavors, sugar or substitutes
The special thing about Micro Spirits: "Our KOYI Micro Gin, for example, is based on the recipe of a classic gin," explains Dr. Hauke Günther. "In the newly developed production process, we distil the botanicals several times in succession under special conditions. This creates a highly concentrated distillate, which then develops its full flavor in a filler such as tonic water." Unlike non-alcoholic spirits, KOYI contains no additives, flavorings, sugar or substitutes.
All it takes to mix a long drink is a few dashes or strokes with the integrated pipette into the filler of your choice. Tonic water, ginger beer or other lemonades are used for this. The strong dilution results in a minimal alcohol content.
Seven KOYI gin tonics = the alcohol content of a single beer
"We're talking about quantities that you can also find in other foods such as very ripe bananas or certain baked goods," explains Yuka Suzuki, the driving force behind the micro spirits. "For comparison: the amount of alcohol in a beer corresponds to the amount of alcohol in seven KOYI gin and tonics or other long drinks with our Micro Spirits," explains Yuka Suzuki.
The micro spirits are currently available as gin and rum. A pastis will follow shortly. "We are currently experimenting with other spirits," says Günther.
The startup Hamburg-Zanzibar, which is behind the innovative idea, was previously known primarily to gin lovers for its unusual and multi-award-winning gin creations.
It is the only distillery in the world to have won two world champion titles at the World Gin Awards. Yuka Suzuki, originally a yoga teacher, and her partner Dr. Hauke Günther, originally a biologist, are fascinated by the desire to experiment with new flavors. During their fourth parental leave, they created an unusual gin with turmeric in their kitchen at home, with which they won the 2021 World Gin Award, the most important spirits prize in the world. The second world champion title followed in 2023 with their classic gin "Hamburg-Zanzibar Suburban".
Unlimited shelf life and no refrigeration required
"With KOYI Micro Spirits, we now want to open a new chapter on the topic of 'conscious drinking'," says Hauke Günther. Alcohol-free spirit alternatives are justified, but they don't always deliver what they promise and also have disadvantages such as limited shelf life, the need to store them in the fridge and unwanted additives.
"The concept of micro spirits solves all these problems. It could be the next step in the development of our future drinking behavior - more of a drinking evolution than a revolution," says Yuka Suzuki. "And once you realize that the small amount of alcohol in a finished drink is almost negligible, there's nothing standing in the way of conscious drinking," adds Hauke Günther.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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