KIWI GENEVER

Gin is a spirit that originated in Holland. It was first named ‘genever’ after the Dutch word for the juniper berry. Today, the word has evolved to gin. It is a distilled spirit made from a fermented grain – malted barley, maize or rye – and flavoured with common botanicals such as juniper berries, coriander, angelica root, cassia bark, fennel, lemon peel and liquorice.

In Aotearoa, we have 21 official gin producers. Hidden World Gin recently released a Gin IPA using Simcoe, Columbus and Citra hops. It’s intense yet pure, with no mistaking the hop notes, and is a great sipping gin.

Launched in 2016, Christchurchbased Curiosity Gin is a specialist in distillation. A favourite of mine is its negroni – a barley-based gin that uses 11 botanicals. It is aged in new French oak for two months to extract a whisper of vanilla and wood spice.

Black Robin makes a high-quality gin and is well-known for the organic base ingredients, purity of flavours and raw deliciousness. It makes an excellent sipping gin, but it also key to the heightened flavour in many classic cocktails – perhaps the most exacting is the gin and tonic. Black Robin is also a go-to in our home for negronis.

Other producers of note include Martinborough labels Reid + Reid and Lighthouse Gin. Then there’s Riot and Rose from Marlborough. Its 1743 gin is named for the year in which UK distillers rebelled against government attempts to increase taxes on spirits.