Excited to give this gift, but the packaging is cheap and things weren’t in their spots. I was surprised nothing was broken. Should have better packaging for glass products. For the price, it would also be nice if labels were applied. They seem cheap and had a difficult time sticking to the glass. If you send this directly to someone, be aware the labels are not pre-applied.

My son Matt sent me this kit about six years ago. So I sent him one in return. The recipes needed some serious updating and I was please when you re-wrote your instructions based on the best of my 50 gin recipes.
Contact me if you have questions.

Quality ingredients, great recipes, fantastic gin!

Second time buying the same kit 😬

My son got this for me for Christmas (or birthday - one week apart) and I happily made it. Best Gin ever - I'd sip it with a (small) cube of ice and enjoy it. I'd love to buy refills of just the Juniper/herb packs as I don't need multiple sets of the hardware. (NOTE TO MARKETING DEPT)

Got this for my husband for his birthday. He made 3 batches from the included recipes and now has branched out doing his own touches. He has made at least 15 different varieties. He has a spread sheet on the computer with the different names and ingredient lists for each one. He is really enjoying this. He has his friends doing it with him and has made some for gifts. Best money I ever spent!

So I was excited one year to get my dad his favorite vodka for his Martinis. Turns out he’s a gin martini guy. So the following year I got him a small bottle of his favorite gin as a joke and a large bottle of vodka for his real present. Again I switched it up the wrong way.

Well this brings us to this past Father’s Day. In front of my family I gave him yet another bottle of vodka to my family nicely making jokes at me. Luckily the base for gin making at your house is vodka. So after the laughs were done, actually while they still were happening I went over to a shelf in the room and grabbed the gin making kit. Salvation!

So my dad just made three batches and honestly the first one did not turn out as well as it could have. The second was perfect as well as the third. All different.

Thanks again man crates !

Have made two of the recipes and loved them both. Anxious to try more. GREAT IDEA

I love gin and dream about distilling my own. Since I don't like showering with men in federal prison this is a much safer route.

I got this as a the best V-tines day gift ever from my wife and couldn't wait to make the first batch. Which I did, and it's fantastic. With some starter recipes included to get you started it's perfect. Now some experimentation and I'm on my way to a signature gin that I'll never be out of!

I bought this for my boyfriend and he absolutely loves it. Loves it is probably an understatement!!! I am so happy to see that there is a refill kit available as we are going to need it.

After nine tries I was able to come up with a custom blend that I like even better than Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray which are my favorites. Let me give you some tips to speed up the process. Start with a mid price or better vodka. A rough vodka will produce a rough gin. Spend the extra $5.

Use only half the recommended amount of the herbs and you will still have a very strong flavor, stronger than most commercial gins. Start with only five herbs. Using more makes it very difficult to identify that one flavor that maybe you don't care for. Go real easy on the coriander and allspice, they can be very overpowering.

Make small batches until you find what you like. No need to be stuck with large batch failures that no one can drink.

Use no Star Anise unless you just love a strong licorice flavor.

You are on your way to a wonderful result.

received as a Christmas gift. just tried the first batch today. as a gin drinker, I have to say this is better than any mainstream store bought gin I have ever tried! started a second batch today as well. Do not think the first batch is going to make to the weekend!
Highly recommend, fun to make and tastes better than any gin I have tried. Can nto wait for my friends to try it!

I got my box as a gift from my son. He demanded that I open it before Christmas (I assume that he wanted a drink ready for him when he came to visit). I just happened to have a bottle of vodka ready to go.
First batch is infusing now and we can't wait! What a great way to make a personal and creative drink for friends and family.

This “crate” was far below expectations… First of all it does NOT come in a crate! This gift was shipped in a cardboard carton (nothing amazing or awesome) with minimal packaging. When my husband opened it all the contents were jumbled and tossed… it was amazing that neither of the bottles were broken (and the only reason we have decided to keep the kit at all). My husband is a gin aficionado, and thus the reason for purchasing this “crate”. The recipe book is not for flavoring gin, but to flavor VODKA to a gin! NOT what I was expecting at all! Needless to say this birthday gift was a let down. (unfortunately I was not able to upload the photo we took to the website)

Missed the little box that says it comes in a cardboard box. What a disappointment! I could have done this myself. Not sure what the point is if it isn't in a crate!!!

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Man Crates edit:

Lori,

I am so sorry to hear you are disappointed that your order did not come in a crate. We do have a few items that we sell which do not come in crates. The crates are our the base of our brand and excellent gifts. However, we choose not to limit such glorious gift-giving to just wooden boxes. We offer other legendary gifts such as our: fresh-from-the-front-lines Ammo Cans, or our insanely-delicious JerkyGrams, and most recently our line of (If-You Want-Something-Done-Right-You-Have-To-) DIY project kits.

We do try our best to make it clear that certain items do not come in crates. Repeatedly on the site we make mention of this, specifically under the "add to cart" button we have written "This product ships in a box (NOT A CRATE) " as well as including a picture of how the item ships. In the product description we also have listed "Delivered: In an awesome cardboard box (NOT A CRATE)" shown on the page. On the cart page before you process your order we have also included this message and another picture of how the items ships as well. Sorry if you missed any or all of these signals, we've done our best to try and give you a heads up!

Cheers,
James
Team Man Crates

I'm sorry for any confusion resulting from the purchase that was thought to be coming in a crate. As always, we have a very generous return policy and if you wish you can return the item for a complete refund for any reason.

When I received the package everything inside was just thrown everywhere and I'm missing at least 1 of the flavor enhancers. So I didn't even get my money's worth. I wasn't sure about ordering this from here. Now I see I shouldn't have.