An aspiring game studio.

You rent a small workshop with a cane press, a 50-litre fermenter and a copper pot still.

Crush the cane, pitch the yeast and let it ferment for a day and a half. Then light the still and collect the run in jars, one after another, watching the thermometer and smelling what comes off the spout.

When the run is done you go down the rack, nose each jar and decide which ones go into the blend. The first jars are sharp and solventy, the last ones start to taste cooked. What ends up in the bottle is your call.

You fill and cork the bottles by hand, box them six at a time and sell them to buyers who each want something a bit different. The money goes back into the workshop: a second fermenter, then a hose and pump so you can stop carrying buckets. Over time the pumps turn into piping, controllers and schedules, and the rented workshop grows into a small spirits factory that mostly runs itself. You still decide what it makes and where the cut goes, and you’re free to invent and test any recipe that comes to mind.