The story

During a trip to the United States, Valérie, the founder, experienced a much more varied offer of drinks, with subtle tastes, natural ingredients, and properties that make them real allies in everyday life. The first thoughts about JNPR then germinated.

As she researched, she discovered that during the 17th century, distilled juniper berry and other plants and spices such as coriander seed were highly sought after, renowned in particular for their medicinal properties.

She meets Flavio Angiolillo, a renowned bartender, and together they think about the best way to keep this tradition alive by setting themselves an additional challenge: to maintain, even without alcohol, excellent mixology properties. After months of reading, research, testing and meetings, JNPR was born.

“The fundamental idea of JNPR is to give the choice, which is too often limited today during festive occasions to drinks that are either alcoholic or too sweet”

The JNPR Project

500 juniper plants have been replanted in Normandy since the start of the adventure

JNPR is a name that was chosen in reference to the juniper berry, which is the characteristic ingredient of Gin, and the star berry of the products in the JNPR range.

At the very beginning of the adventure, when it came to sourcing raw materials, Valérie realised that the majority of juniper berries were imported from Eastern Europe or the Balkans, even though it is in fact a Norman species. The first 60 plants were planted 1 month after the launch of the brand to monitor their development, knowing that the shrubs take 3 years to produce the first berries. The project is growing with the brand and 500 new plants were planted in March 2023.

The project will not allow us to be self-sufficient in terms of the supply of juniper berries at this stage, but it is a win-win project with our partners. Indeed, we ensure the quality and supply of some of our berries, and for our partners, the hedges that are created help to limit soil erosion and promote biodiversity.

The art of the Distillation

Our alcohol-free spirits are the result of meticulous work. In order to be able to confer a length in the mouth and an aromatic force worthy of classic spirits, the emphasis has been placed in research on ancestral techniques and in particular that of distillation. The latter, by allowing heating at high temperatures, makes it possible to extract the aromas of all botanicals and spices, even if no alcohol is used in the manufacturing process.

For the JNPR collection, the use of a copper Charentais still allows distillation in small batches.

To obtain the desired adult taste, 2 to 5 times more spices than for a classic spirit are used, thus strengthening the aromatic intensity, even without alcohol.