No one geeks out over gin better than Simon Ford. 

Most cocktail and gin enthusiasts may recognize Simon Ford today as the founder of Fords Gin, a brand that's often cited as a favourite mixing gin amongst some of the world's most celebrated bartenders. It's hard to escape the association, given also that the brand proudly sports Ford's last name across all its labels. "Job security," Simon jokes about the naming, "though in the early days, god, it was a huge amount of pressure".

Yet, prior to founding Fords Gin, Simon had already played a key part in shaping the gin and broader spirits industry of today. In the mid-2000s, Simon was tapped to help grow Plymouth Gin in New York, a role that saw him cold-calling and knocking on the doors of some of New York's best bars. His success in that role is widely recognised to have inspired other brands to try to replicate Simon's Midas touch by recruiting brand ambassadors of their own to market their respective spirits.

In essence, Simon Ford was the spirits industry's first real brand ambassador, at a time when the industry had yet to invent a neat label for such a role. One might then surmise that Simon is, at heart, a cocktail and gin nerd who is truly passionate about learning and teaching others about the category - qualities that surely helped him excel as he did during his time at Plymouth Gin, then later as Director of Trade Marketing at Pernod Ricard and Chairman of the Spirited Awards, and now, as founder of Fords Gin. 

And upon meeting with the man himself, we can confirm that to be true. 

During a recent interview with Simon, we had the throughly enjoyable opportunity to geek out over gins with a true expert. Simon's passion for the category came through in his enthusiastic recounts of the history of various gin recipes, as well as seminal developments in the gin market in the early 2000s. We also gained some insight into the Fords Gin story, as Simon looked back on its nerve-wrecking beginnings and looks forward to its exciting future innovations. Grab a gin & tonic, and let's dive in. 

Follow Simon Ford: @simonfordsgin | Follow Fords Gin: @fordsgin

"That’s what Fords Gin is about: taking into account all of the input of the bartenders and the community, so that we could create a Gin for us... In that sense, we strive to be a spirit that is not self-centered, and that is thoughtfully designed for the community."

88 Bamboo: First things first, when you Google “Simon Ford”, there's a lot that has been said about you and your illustrious career. The many hats you’ve won in your past life includes bartender, wine sommelier, spirits educator (some have even said you were the industry's first brand ambassador!), and marketer for numerous larger-than-life brands spanning Vodka to Gins. And today, you’re of course most commonly known as a co-founder and creator of Fords Gin.

Yet, we’d like to offer you the opportunity to write your own introduction – so in your own words, who are you, Simon Ford? And to that end, what would you most like to be known for?

Simon Ford: For the part that I play in our modern hospitality world, I'd like to be seen or remembered as someone that contributed to it in a positive way and as someone who brought people together - but not only that, as someone brought people together for the right reasons. Maybe it was education to improve bartending at some point, or maybe it was to teach others more about gin because that's an area of my expertise or knowledge. Or maybe it was just something as simple as me having the opportunity in my career to bring people together with different thoughts and different ideas. I think that throughout my career, no matter what I've been doing, that's what I've always strived to do.

Some of my proudest moments were when I brought people together from different countries and they were able to share ideas. These days, it’s much easier because we have Instagram, but there was a time when it was just Facebook. And in those days, I would bring bartenders together from different parts of the world. With my past roles in Tales of The Cocktail and the Spirited Awards as well, all I really wanted to do there was help create a forum that celebrated what bartenders do and pushes their work into the forefront.

The short answer? I’d like to be remembered as someone that always promoted the hospitality industry and tried to push and strive to make it better.

"For the part that I play in our modern hospitality world, I'd like to be seen or remembered as someone that contributed to it in a positive way and as someone who brought people together - but not only that, as someone brought people together for the right reasons."

88 Bamboo: Now onto the Fords Gin story. These days, there’s rarely a gin lover that hasn’t heard of Fords Gin in some capacity, and it’s often introduced as a gin made by bartenders by bartenders. Why was it so important to you to create this particular gin? What did this gin symbolize to you and what did you hope to bring to the table with Fords Gin? 

Simon Ford: The original idea of Fords Gin was actually part of a wider idea to create a portfolio of spirits, with each of those spirits having representation from the bartender world. The idea was that if a bartender could be a part of the spirit, then there was a future in something beyond bars for people in the hospitality industry. I had actually started a company that had a Tequila, a Rum, a Vodka and a Gin - and Fords gin was a part of that.

Each of those spirits also had bartender input, and the goal was to create business partners out of different bartenders and hopefully build a company that celebrated the talents and the creative process that bartenders bring.

So the vodka and rum actually sold for a minute. People loved the taste of them, but it was very difficult to keep them sustainable financially. Fords Gin was always the favorite amongst the spirits, and that was the one just kept taking off. And I think the reason that it was Ford's Gin was because I dedicated my life to loving gin, learning about gin, and teaching people about gin. It was the area of my expertise and so when it came to running it, it worked very well.

When I think about what Fords Gin symbolizes, it was never about me. It's sounds silly to say that cause my name is on the label, but that wasn't my idea either. That was Sasha Petrosky, who was one of the bartenders that started the business with me and gave me the idea to make a gin that was about cocktails. And that’s what Fords Gin was about: taking into account all of the input of the bartenders and the community, so that we could create a Gin for us. So, it wasn’t a representation of me, it was a representation of the bartender industry and the over 100 bartenders that I was working with at that time.

"And that’s what Fords Gin was about: taking into account all of the input of the bartenders and the community, so that we could create a Gin for us... In that sense, we strive to be a spirit that is not self-centered, and that is thoughtfully designed for the community."

And I think that is why it's liked by bartenders around the world. If you think about yourself, if you feel as a customer that you've been listened to and heard, that's always a good feeling. Similarly, when a bartender picks up a bottle of Fords, we hope they see the measurements on the bottle and think "oh they’ve thought about me, this bottle is so easy to use.” And when they taste it, they can tell that’s its balanced and can work within their cocktails. In that sense, we strive to be a spirit that is not self-centered, and that is thoughtfully designed for the community.

88 Bamboo: Yeah, it's such a community driven spirit. In fact, we hear that a lot of bartenders were putting their savings into Fords Gin at the start to help this get this off the ground.

Simon Ford:  Our earliest investors were some of the most famous bartenders at that time, and I couldn't believe it! It was such a responsibility and weight on my shoulders. For a millionaire to give you some money is one thing, but for a bartender to give you their savings is another. There was a lot of pressure but it felt really good that they believed in the idea and I had to work very hard not to let anyone down. Now I can say on the record that all of those investors have been paid back so there is no one coming after me right this moment.

Many bartending greats, include Dale DeGroff "King Cocktail" and Sasha Petrosky, were early supporters and collaborators in the creation of Fords Gin.

88 Bamboo: You can breathe easy now! I wonder if it's the fact that Gin is a spirit that's very mixable, so there was a lot more applicability for the spirit.

Simon Ford: I always think that that is why the Gin was the one that was successful out of the four it. With the gin, we created it to be versatile in all cocktails. It wasn't too specialized, Fords Gin can really be your everyday gin – you could bring it home and trust that it could taste good in a Negroni, or a martini, or a gin and tonic without any surprises.

"For a millionaire to give you some money is one thing, but for a bartender to give you their savings is another."

88 Bamboo: What our readers might be interested is know is the year of Fords Gin’s launch was a really interesting inflection point for the UK Gin Distilling Scene. That was in 2012, when there was a sudden mushrooming of many new craft gin brands.

Most of these new craft gin brands had taken a slightly different approach to Fords Gin, choosing instead to use unconventional botanicals and unique flavour profiles that sort of deviated from the classic London Dry flavours. Talk us through what was happening then? And amidst all this, what was running through you and your team’s heads?

Simon Ford: I love that you've asked this question because its really a wider question about what was happening in the gin industry, while also being contextual to Fords and what was happening with us.

To understand what was happening with the gin industry at that time, you have to rewind even further back to the early 2000s. It was then that Hendricks launched to great success, and introduced this idea of having cucumber and rose flavors in a gin. This really started a paradigm shift of gin companies wanting their own cucumber and rose too. So at that point, the question for new gin makers was often “what is our unique botanical going to be?”

When conceptualising Fords Gin, Simon and his team broke down classic gin cocktails by flavour profile, then "reverse engineered" the kinds of botanicals that would be paired with the ingredients used in those cocktails.

Meanwhile, around 2008 when we were starting to conceptualize Fords Gin, we had no idea what our Gin was going to be. But we knew we wanted to make a gin that has all the flavors and components to complement those classic gin cocktails. And so, our approach was to first determine what our gin's ideal flavour would be, then reverse engineer the blend of botanicals that could help us achieve this. As opposed to beginning with few botanicals in mind, then distilling that to determine what the final gin flavour would be.

During our process of trial and error, we were very much heads down, not worrying about what was going on in the gin industry. And as the Fords Gin recipe started evolving towards more of a London Dry style, we started to get quite excited because most people were doing crazy botanicals while London Dry Gin as a classic style was starting to take a bit of a backseat. It was only a small group of people that still felt there was room for another London Dry Gin made for cocktails, and we thought this could be a unique space for us to be in.

In fact, our final recipe could easily have had crazy botanicals! Did we try crazy botanicals? We did. But they didn't quite work in the drinks we were trying to make sure our gin tasted good in.

Then around 2008, another seminal moment in the gin industry occurred with the launch of Sipsmith, which unleashed a world of craft gins. I’ve got to be honest, I was getting really excited - I’ve been friends with a Jared and the team at Sipsmith and I love what they do. But what came next was the launch of so many craft gins, which made me pause for a bit because when I set out to make Fords, there wasn’t as much competition. Then all of a sudden, by the time we were ready – because it took us two and a half years to actually develop our recipe – there were just so many new brands overnight. And I thought, wow, it might be a lot tougher than I thought.

"In fact, our final recipe could easily have had crazy botanicals! Did we try crazy botanicals? We did. But they didn't quite work in the drinks we were trying to make sure our gin tasted good in."

88 Bamboo: But now hindsight, we already know that Fords Gin has longevity and has managed to stay relevant over a decade later. To what do you attribute this to?

Simon Ford: I think the fortunate thing is, is a lot of those new craft gins weren’t dedicated to just gin, they were dedicated to craft spirits and making whisky or something else as well alongside it. So even though there were thousands of gins, you could narrow it down to two- or three hundred brands that were really, truly dedicated craft gins. So the pool was a bit smaller and it actually it started driving a lot of energy and excitement about the category again. Personally, I was loving it because I’m a gin fan, right? But professionally, I was panicking. *Laughs* Completely.

An article from 2015 detailing the Gin boom of the early 2000s, as modern gin brands like Sipsmith, Fords Gin and Hendricks drew more revitalised attention to the category.

It was really tough because the market was so cluttered, and there was so much to choose from. And even though we were made in a small distillery and in a craft manner, we never used that language of being a “craft gin” nor the language of unique botanicals, as we really focused on speaking in the language of being a bartender-tailored gin instead. So, we were kind of on an island of our own, and for a minute that was a little bit scary.

"Personally, I was loving it because I’m a gin fan, right? But professionally, I was panicking. Completely."

But as gins started getting crazier and crazier, there was a look backwards towards something a little bit more classic from the bartender community, and a yearning for something that was classic but also new. And so, Fords found its place eventually. As people were getting a little sick of so many flavored gins, all of a sudden here was a gin just saying “I’m a Gin.” We offered a modern version of an old-school gin.

I would say Fords has crafted its own unique position as a bartender’s gin. And that’s really exciting for me because that's my passion. And we’re really lucky that our gins are used by some of the best bartenders and most talented creators in our industry all over the world. And I get to meet them as part of my job.  To me, that’s the dream.

88 Bamboo: Because Fords Gin has always taken a bartender-first approach in its marketing and its product development, as someone who spends alot of time travelling to different markets and teaching bartenders how to use Fords Gin, you have been in the unique position of being able to experience and taste first-hand how different bartenders globally have utilised Fords Gin and put their own spin on it. 

Can you think of two or three cocktails you’ve tried, that were created by different bartenders with Fords Gin, that really surprised and excited you? 

Simon Ford: I would say I don't really teach bartenders how to use Fords, I simply show them how it tastes and how it works in cocktails, but I've always had this philosophy: At Fords Gin, we don’t believe that what is in this bottle is the final product. We believe that what you do with it as a bartender is the final product, and that's why we made it this way. And that’s how we’ve always seen Fords Gin, as a tool for bartenders to work with.

And of course when I travel around the world, I do get given incredible drinks by amazing bartenders that work with Fords Gin and its really inspiring. It’s usually the bartenders showing me.

Recently at Singapore's Origin Bar, I tried a cocktail by Adam Bursik where he had redistilled Fords Gin on a rotovap with tomato ketchup. It was really great – the lemon citrus and coriander in the gin was paired really well with tomato.

The Chocolate Negroni that they do at New York's Dante is excellent as well. It has just a touch of chocolate that plays well with the gin.

There is also this amazing drink at Katana Kitchen in New York which is the Shiso Gin & Tonic. 

"At Fords Gin, we don’t believe that what is in this bottle is the final product. We believe that what you do with it as a bartender is the final product, and that's why we made it this way."

88 Bamboo:  You used to work in the wine industry and you've often spoken about wine as your other great love. Has your time in the wine industry sort of impacted any lessons that you've brought with you to making Fords Gin and you know, is there anything that the gin industry you think could learn from the wine?

Simon spent the early years of his career working at Oddbins, a wine merchant in London.

Simon Ford: The wine industry was immensely inspiring to me. At the time we were creating Fords, the wine industry had managed to create wine labels that made consumers feel like they didn’t take things too seriously. The wine industry had always been very stoic and represented by this image of imposing Big Chateaus. But all of the sudden, you could walk into a wine shop and start seeing more whimsical labels, more artworks on the front. It communicated a sense of being more casual and approachable, while at the same time still being of a high-quality.

Storytelling through the Fords Gin labels - a strategy Simon picked up from the wine industry! 

And that inspired the way we approached the design of our own label. It’s the little details like us choosing to use matte paper, to eschew all this glossiness or those big medallions. The look and feel of Fords Gin was really modeled after a more rustic wooden farm-to-table vibe and atmosphere that was inspired by organic wines. We were hoping to communicate that we don't take ourselves seriously, but that we take the gin seriously.

And of course, the other thing you do learn when working with wine is the palate. When I taste gins today, I still think a bit like a wine person: What are the flavors? What is the mouthfeel like? What’s the dryness? Things like that. And that’s really informed how we think about flavours and recipe development.

88 Bamboo: Fords Gin has to date three main expressions in its core range: the original Fords Gin, the Fords Officers’ Reserve Gin and the Fords Sloe Gin. And all three convey a sense of intentionality. With the Reserve Gin that’s rested in sherry casks, it’s Fords version of a Navy Strength that’s rooted in historical provenance, given that traditional the gins kept on board navy ships were stored in barrels. And with the Sloe Gin, it’s a Sloe gin that’s made slightly drier such that it remains cocktail forward.

Could you share more about you and your team’s thought process when it comes to deciding which new expressions to launch and what makes sense within the context of your brand?

Simon Ford:  So obviously we didn't set out to at the beginning to make lots of gins. We set out to make the Gin. It’s like when a band releases their first album and they're think, “This is it! We’re going to put everything into it, right?!” And so that was us. We really did put everything into it - all of our thoughts, all of our energy. We were going to make the quintessential cocktail gin for mixing. And we were so focused on it. When the time came – and this wasn't until sort of five years later – that we were starting to breathe a little bit easier with the business, we starting to think it’ll be nice to get back to creating because we do love that creative process. At that point, we had to ask ourselves: what can we do that's going to complement our existing gin? Because we were telling everybody that the original Fords Gin would work in all your cocktails, so the natural question for consumers might then be: why would they need another gin?

A batch of Fords Officers Reserve Gin resting the sherry casks. 

But what has always guided us is that we’re absolute nerds for gin and we’re absolute nerds for cocktails. And so, Fords Officers Reserve Gin came about because when we looked back on the history of cocktails, we thought about how it would have been a Navy gin that traditionally went into the gimlet, or the original gin and tonics, and so on. Hence, we wanted to do something a little bit more specialized to that and have a historic reference, because no one else has been aging their Navy Strength in casks – and the original gins stored on navy ships were of course being stored in barrels. And hence, we really just wanted to make a Navy Strength that would work in cocktails, be fun and still have a historic reference. We didn't ever think it would be a huge commercial success - that was not why we were doing it.

Snippets from Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management that inspired the Fords Sloe Gin.

And meanwhile, we were also thinking about the Tiki gin drinks. And when it came to our Sloe Gin, we thought about all these classic cocktail recipes like the Charlie Chaplin that Sloe Gin used to be used in. In fact, we even traced it back to an 1861 book called “Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management”, which was a guide to running a Victorian era English household. And inside the book, there were two recipes for how one would make sloe gin, as well as a sloe gin cocktail that involved a wineglassful of sloe gin, some good unsweetened gin, and something like ten drops of bitters. With Fords Sloe Gin, we kind of tried to celebrate her and this uniquely English recipe. And we even made these T-shirts that said “Bring back the Sloe Gin Fizz”, because the point was to get people back to start working with sloe gin again.

So if you see what's going on here, we make classic styles with a modern input and a modern take on how cocktail culture is today with this nod to the past of where that spirit came from and the cocktails that made it famous in the first place.

"At that point, we had to ask ourselves: what can we do that's going to complement our existing gin? Because we were telling everybody that the original Fords Gin would work in all your cocktails, so the natural question for consumers might then be: why would they need another gin?"

88 Bamboo: Speaking of which, I think why Fords Gin has a really special place in the hearts of bartenders is that its always stayed consistent and faithful to its original ethos of being mixable and foundational. Does this reputation create a certain pressure to keep Fords Gins’ flavour profiles within a certain ballpark, even as your team might be exploring new forms of experimental gins?

Simon Ford: Of course we want to innovate! We as a team at Fords do want to make some crazy stuff in the future. But it's a bit like being a bartender, right? If you want to be a good bartender, learn the classics first before you start bringing out rotovaps and the sous vide machines. You’ve got to learn to walk before you can run. And so, with Fords, for ourselves and also for our friends, we wanted to create all of the classics first and do our best versions to garner trust that we are serious about our gin. And I hope we've achieved trust, and that when we come out with something crazy, people will know that we know our stuff and want to try it.

"We as a team at Fords do want to make some crazy stuff in the future. But it's a bit like being a bartender, right? If you want to be a good bartender, learn the classics first before you start bringing out rotovaps and the sous vide machines."

I can say that I think the next innovation we do will be something quite different, as opposed to a classic style. What does that look like? We've got ideas floating around, and with the new distillery being built,  I believe it will soon be a right time for a new expression of Fords Gin. And no matter what it might be, it will always be with the thought process of “how will it mix and in what type of drinks with it complement?” It's probably going to take us some time before you'll see anything in the market, but we're getting ready.

We're really excited to do our first innovation. With the first three expressions, it was really about earning our right of passage to make something innovative for the future.

From left to right: Simon Ford, Ockju Lee - new head distiller of Thames Distiller where Fords Gin is produced, and Charles Maxwell.

88 Bamboo: You’re someone that’s often taken the time to recognize and celebrate the people that have helped to support and encourage you over the years. Can you share what's the best piece of advice you've ever received? 

Simon Ford: This is a really hard one because I received so much great advice over the years, in business and in my personal life. So I’d share the few that stuck with me:

The first advice that really helped me was to never take anything personally. I've actually sat in bars and asked for a Fords Gin and they have said, “oh, I've got this other gin, do you want to try this instead? I think it's a bit better!” *Laughs* You can’t take things personally, though sometimes I still do.

Also, a good friend once said to me that there are good days and bad days. Sometimes, you make mistakes, and you might say something that you regret saying, or do something that you wish you hadn't done. But every day you wake up is a chance for you to be better – to improve on and reflect on yesterday and to start again. I love that idea of living in the present and that yesterday's failure is gone and passed. If you’ve watched Ted Lasso, right, you’d know the quote. You got to be a goldfish - you’ve got to forget and keep swimming.

And finally, another piece of advice I’ve received was that in business, everything's going to take twice as long and cost you twice as much as you thought it would. And they were absolutely correct. It’s going to be a roller coaster, every business owner has had to sleep on someone's couch at some point. You might go from having stability to instability, and it's really hard. It does take a certain kind of person. But the most successful people are usually the ones that persevere and can stick through the hard times.

88 Bamboo: Now, we can’t think of a more beautiful note to end on. Thank you for speaking with us and allowing us to share your story with our readers!

Fords Gin has just opened its new brand home and cocktail bar in South London, which will be open for on-trade events and tours from autumn 2024. The new bar will be based inside the newly relocated Thames Distillers in Bermondsey at 12 Ossory Rd, London SE1 5AN, United Kingdom. Guests can expect pre-batched Fords Gin cocktails at the bar, which will also be open t o bar trade for events, tours, and scheduled activities. For more updates and to plan your visit, follow Fords Gin at @fordsgin and Simon Ford at @simonfordsgin.

 

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