The gin of your dreams has made its way to the Mother City, this time all the way from New York. Locals can now sip and savour the zesty flavours of Brooklyn Gin brought to you by Truman & Orange.
Brooklyn Gin is the authentic super-premium gin that is handcrafted one small batch at a time, using traditional artisan spirit-making methods, with no compromises.
Explains owner of Truman & Orange, Rowan Leibbrandt, “It begins with selecting and preparing the finest natural ingredients for the carefully-honed recipe. No detail is spared: Juniper berries are hand-cracked. Unlike most gins, the Eureka lemon, Key and Persian lime, navel oranges and kumquats (so typical of Brooklyn) used are fresh, not dried. They’re then hand-cut to release essential oils and bring out the true essence and complexity of the ingredients.”
Besides being a delicate gin infused with floral flavours, Brooklyn Gin also comes with an inspiring story. Co-founders and distillers Joe Santos and Emil Jattne launched the gin in 2010, amidst the global economic crisis, so set were they on following their dreams of entrepreneurship and their passion for old-world craft and artisanship.
They took the plunge and broke free from a large spirits company to create their handcrafted gin. The gin also authentically of New York where it’s distilled and bottled at 80% proof, 43% alcohol by volume.
Explaining how this beautifully-packaged gin has come to feature in the best bars, restaurants and liquor stores in New York, Rowan enthuses, “Infused with juniper, lavender, cacao nibs, coriander and orris and angelica root, this gin is so superbly smooth, fresh and complex not only because of the time and effort that goes into crafting it but also owing to the fresh ingredients used to make it when most distilleries produce gin using dried ingredients. And the bottle is also handmade – it looks like an Art Deco perfume bottle! They’ve thought of every detail and spared nothing.”
They weren’t misguided in their leap of faith in creating the gin, inspired by the ‘do it yourself’ mentality and creative spirit of Brooklyn, New York – which Joe and Emil says has a significant influence on the gin. They speak of real kinship with their neighbours and local businesses, and the support Brooklyn Gin gets from the community.
Many spirits claim to be ‘handcrafted’ and ‘small batch’ nowadays. Brooklyn Gin is literally crafted with a hand-operated small Christian Carl copper pot still. The process starts with distilling neutral spirit – made from 100% corn sourced sustainably from small farms – four times. The fresh hand-cut herbs and botanicals are steeped in the neutral spirit before all the ingredients are distilled. Each batch is chill-filtered and then tasted before bottling. And not every batch is bottled: only those that the owners believe represents their quest to make their favourite gin. The bottles are filled, corked and labelled by hand.
To experience its fresh, flavourful, complex taste, superb smoothness and long, clean finish, Brooklyn Gin is good enough to drink neat. True to its New York routes, it also makes a great Martini and gives character to mixed gin cocktails.
Brooklyn Gin is available at high-end liquor outlets across South Africa and retails for R799 per bottle.
Try your first class of Brooklyn Gin in the classic New York style with a Brooklyn Gin Martini.
Brooklyn Gin Martini
74ml Brooklyn Gin
22ml dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
Stir over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a twist of lemon, or, for a Brooklyn variation, a fresh kumquat.
Also Read: Gins to try in 2019.
Pictures: Supplied/Brooklyn Gin