Beaver secretion, scorpions and elephant dung are just some of the outlandish ingredients used in spirits. We take a look at the brands that have taken bold moves when it comes to selecting weird substances for production.

This vodka brand contains a scorpion that can be eaten once the bottle is finished

Daring producers are taking spirits production a step further by infusing bodily fluids and whole insects into their products.

From a gin featuring botanicals extracted from elephant dung to critter-based bitters, some producers are using some of the most unlikely – and, on the face of it, unappealing – ingredients in their spirits.

Click through the following pages to discover what unusual ingredients have been used to form the very core of these unusual spirits. 

Ibhu Indlovu Gin

South African gin brand Ibhu Indlovu uses essential ingredients sourced from elephant dung that have been washed and dried.

To create the gin, Ibhu collects fresh dung from foraging elephants, which is then dried, crumbled and sterilised. Once processed, the botanicals extracted from the dung are infused into the gin, giving it “unique African flavours”.

For its first batch of spirit, the brand collected dung from the elephants of Botlierskop Game Reserve, South Africa.

Anty Gin

The result of a joint venture between gin producer Cambridge Distillery and Nordic Food Lab, Anty is a 40% abv gin containing the essence of approximately 62 wood ants.

Also known as formica rufa, the red wood ant is found in large colonies all around the northern hemisphere. The ants defend their homes from invaders by producing formic acid in their abdomens which is sprayed at their enemies.

The carboxylic acid is a reactive compound found in alcohol that acts as an agent for producing aromatic esters.

The formica rufa used in Anty gin were sourced from the forests of Kent, England and combined with botanicals including wood avens, nettle and alexanders seed, as well as Bulgarian juniper.

Critter Bitters

This cocktail bitters range also experimented with insects, using toasted crickets to add a “sweet, nutty note” to drinks.

Critter Bitters currently comprises two flavours – Toasted Cricket Bitters and Pure Cricket Tincture.

Founders Lucy Knops and Julia Plevin successfully launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise US$21,000 to bring their bitters to a wider audience in October 2015, and exceeded their target by reaching US$25,477.

According to the campaign, more than two billion people globally already eat insects on a regular basis, known as entomophagy.

Scorpion Vodka

The scorpions bred in southern China (which have been farm-raised and had the poison removed), apparently add smoothness and an additional woody flavour to Scorpian Vodka.

They are put through a three-month detoxification process before the vodka is released to the public to ensure that it is not poisonous. When the bottle of vodka is finished, the scorpion can be eaten.

Lait de Romalea Bourbon

Earlier this month, US spirits producer Tamworth Distilling unveiled a grasshopper secretion-infused Bourbon.

Lait de Romalea Bourbon – which means ‘milk of grasshopper’ – is said to be a “surprisingly delightful Bourbon”, with a “floral, rosy and fruity” nose that leads to flavours of plum, berry and “subtle” tobacco on the palate.

The romalea exudate from the eastern lubber grasshopper is extracted in a similar fashion to how snakes are “milked” for anti-venom, using “tactile stimulation” of the grasshoppers’ abdomen with the thumb and forefinger to extract the secretion discharge.

Post-extraction, the ‘milk’ (or foam) is fermented with black tea leaves. The liquid is then refluxed in acidic ethanol to create the final chemical arrangements, before being dehydrated and infused into the Bourbon.

Eau de Musc

Tamworth Distilling has also released Eau de Musc, a limited edition whiskey infused with beaver castoreum, a secretion from the castor sacs of the North American beaver and European beaver. It is used by beavers, along with urine, to mark their territory by scent.

The “full-bodied” two-year-old whiskey has a “bolstered mouthfeel with a vanillin nose and notes of spice”.

The beaver castoreum has been combined with birch oil, raspberry and Canadian snakeroot, a woody spice similar to ginger.

Anton Kaska, a professional trapper and outdoor skill instructor, provided the distillery with the castoreum sacs, which would have otherwise been discarded.