DAVID T. SMITH
Getting a taste for ‘meaty’ gins
Our contributing editor explores a new carnivorous trend
The beginning of the year is home to Veganuary, an event that encourages people to try a vegan diet for a month. As part of this, an increasing number of food outlets have been creating vegan-friendly versions of popular dishes, whether that’s a Gregg’s sausage roll or Subway’s “Meatless Meatball Marinara” sub.
Given this trend, it is perhaps surprising that a small but growing number of gins have decided to indulge their carnivorous side and release spirits made using animal products. Some of these inclusions are more obvious than others. White sugar, used to sweeten some gin and liqueurs, often uses bone char from cattle bones as a decolourising filter. Red colouring in drinks often comes from the dye carmine or cochineal (also known as e120), which is made from the crushed scales of insects. It is worth noting that Campari decided to use an alternative source of dye back in 2006, although oddly there is a suggestion that it may still be used for Campari in Sweden.
The first spirit made using meat as a botanical that I tried was a leaf-cutter ant distillate at a bar in Leicester Square. It tasted oily and slightly peppery, reminiscent of cubeb berries or grains of paradise. Since then half a dozen ant gins have been released, most notably Anty Gin from Cambridge Distillery, which is made using wood ants and costs around £200 a bottle. Adelaide Hills of Australia makes a Green Ant Gin that actually includes some ants in the bottle à la the mezcal worm. This led to some raised eyebrows when I served it at a blind tasting, especially as I prefaced it with the query, “Before I pour the next glass, is anyone vegetarian?”
Ants and crushed bugs are one thing, but what about gins that are even more meaty? In 2017, Portobello Road released its limited-edition Distiller’s Cut No. 3 Pechuga Gin, taking inspiration from the mezcal practise of placing a piece of meat in the still during distillation.
As for more “prime cuts” of meat, there was an almost mythical gin by Monkey 47 – Meat Gin – produced exclusively for subscribers of the German publication Beef! Magazine. Monkey 47 also made a gin that was washed in Kobe beef fat as part of a recent experimental series. Butcher’s Gin from Belgium was produced in conjunction with luxury meat emporium De Laet and Van Haven and is based on the mix of herbs and spices (botanicals) used to make its acclaimed Secreto No. 7 dry-aged beef. A little of the beef is also thrown into the still for good measure.
There are also a number of gins made using shellfish. Lobstar, created by chef Kristof Marrannes, is a combination of gin and spirit in which a lobster has marinated, which helps bring out “sweet, briny aromas and flavours”. Last year a collaboration between Gin Foundry and South Western Distillery, Treth Ha Mog, also featured lobster that had been cooked on a beach barbecue. Oyster is another popular crustacean; it has been used by Hardware Distilling in Washington State, Oakland Spirits in California and the Wright Brothers in the UK.
Having tried many of these meaty gins, I was struck by how subtle the inclusion of meat is. It is primarily about creating a richer, thicker texture rather than the gin’s flavour and, with the high price tags often involved, some may ask, “Why bother?” In part this is because, in an ever-competitive gin market, this sort of innovation captures the world’s attention and helps to promote a gin’s overall brand. It did, however, leave me wondering about the potential for exploring meaty flavours in gin and with the help of a distiller friend I set about designing some of my own.
“Having tried many of these meaty gins, I was struck by how subtle the inclusion of meat is”
First up was smoked salmon. This was not a great success; even though it was paired with dill as a botanical, the result was rather unpleasant and glue-like in flavour. My second attempt used a bone-in sirloin steak. The resulting gin had distinctive aromas of meat and bone marrow and a particularly oily texture. Finally, we tried a venison gin. This was undisputedly the best of the three; the game flavours of the meat were well-captured in the gin and complemented the other botanicals.