Taste above all

As a words person with no hardwired taste buds working at Kyr? can sometimes be a bit confusing and often leaves you in awe. You are surrounded by people whose profession is tasting, and let me tell you, these people can really taste. They taste things us, mere peasants, cannot even imagine ever detecting without a helping guide.

That is not to say whether we all have a right to say our opinion when it comes to matters of taste. We do and we absolutely should. We are encouraged to do that, and we certainly encourage every single one of you to do that. But it really is quite different to someone who tastes stuff for a living.

?One of these crazy diamonds at Kyr? is Matti, the head of our All-But-Whisky -team. (And yes, All-But-Whisky actually means all but whisky). Matti is that lovely and unique person by whose taste buds for example our award-winning pink gin and the Kyr? Rhubarb have gotten their distinct features from.

There is more to taste than taste

?Matti loves cooking (a matter of taste, too) and techno (a serious matter of taste). Because his love for careful food preparation he thought that a profession in the field of tastes could be a perfect career path for him. And it certainly is. Because Matti and his team are behind of some of the most wonderful tasting things we have. But it’s not only taste they develop: the colour, the scent and the mouth feel are a very important part of the overall experience we want the friends of Kyr? products to have and enjoy.

?Of course, Matti has studied this field also officially. He studied bio engineering, and originally applied because he wanted to do something that would complement his love for cooking. So, a lot of it is about education. But when listening to him talk about his work there is no doubt that some people can taste better. And that talent makes our lives a lot more fun and delicious.

The precious pink labour of love

?The pink gin project has been Matti’s favourite so far. It was not an easy ride or a project without challenges, but in the end this particular drink is something that he feels very proud of. And there really is a lot to our pink. It is also the basis to our fresh sparkling Kyr? Rhubarb, and this step made the developing part even more compelling for the maker.

As mentioned, in reality developing something new is not all fun and games. The difficulty with preserving the perfect colour and challenges with the right kind of bottles were something that really stressed the team at times. And there are times you just have give in a bit and compromise (not in taste, though). And now our pink lovechild is really that good that it has won international awards.

Sometimes the process of making something new can even open a new door to the maker. Even if Matti is not a fan of basil in his drinks in general, his favourite drink made with pink is the Basil Smash (You’ll find the recipe from our website. Try it, it’s absolutely perfect).

Personality makes a difference

?At this moment Matti and his team are developing something – a few things actually – they are very secretive about. But it involves a lot of hours in the laboratory and hopefully a lot of future tasting for the rest of us. (The joint effort of tasting new stuff in different stages of development is something there have not been many objections to.)

The feeling of euphoria is what draws Matti to hardstyle techno. It’s a way of life. Dancing to it gives him energy. A few years back he organized really cool staff raves for our work community, and showed a side of him that we had not seen before.?Though, in some ways his personality has always been fully present in his work. Our lovely pink gin and all its successors could, and would, have a completely different palette of features if it was made by someone else.