The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

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Summer 2022

Discover captivating Corsica, the island of beauty and glitzy, cinematic Cannes. Explore Antibes, less well known than it's neighbours Nice and Cannes, it's incredibly pretty and authentic, and the Camargue in the south of France where wild white horses and pink flamingoes roam. Come with us to arty Arles, historic Agincourt and Aisne in Picardy - the ancient cradle of France. Meet artisan gin makers in Cognac, discover the prune route of France, fabulous recipes, guides, gorgeous photos, the best tours, what's new in France and delicious recipes - and more...

The expat ARTISAN GIN

The expat ARTISAN GIN makers of Cognac 64 | The Good Life France

Janine Marsh meets expat gin makers distilling an award winning gin in the living room of a house in Cognac… “The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen's lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire…” So said Winston Churchill, and it has to be said, gin is generally thought of as an “English” drink. However, gin originated as a medicinal drink (yes really), distilled by monks and alchemists in the Netherlands and later in Europe including in Flanders, now northern France. Then it was called “genever”, an eau de vie made from juniper berries. But when William III of England banned imports of foreign alcohol, English distillers created ‘gin’, a cheaper version, which wreaked havoc on the working classes and earned it the nickname “mother’s ruin.” Eventually controls over production were brought in and the gin and tonic became a popular drink around the world. In France “le gin and tonic” has never been more popular than now, inspiring a legion of artisan distillers to create new, exciting gins. And in the heart of Cognac country, in the living room of his house, a distiller called Miko has been quietly creating his intoxicating and sensational Pink Pepper Gin… Miko, AKA “the man in the lab”, from Sydney, Australia looks every inch a mad scientist! He moved to Cognac from London where he’d been working, in 2011 and worked as a Cognac distiller. But his real passion was for gin. Inspired since he was a teen by his mum Nici who made fruit liqueurs from family recipes and dad Michel to understand the process and flavours of spirits, he’d long been experimenting but it was in Cognac that he had his Eureka moment. He developed a honey-led gin but felt it wasn’t quite there. Remembering a pink peppercorn tree in the family garden, he added some of the spicy pods to another 8 botanicals (herb and plant derivatives) in the mix – and a star was born. In 2014 Miko met Ian, an English expat who The Good Life France | 65