THREE CITRUS GIN

Although the dominant flavour of gin should be juniper (the ingredient that makes gin, gin) citrus flavours and aromas have become inextricably linked to the enjoyment of gin cocktails, whether as a component of the gin itself, in the mixers and garnishes used in the making of the drink, or in other spirits like Bitters or citrus liqueur blended in for variety.

The wide range of citrus varieties today are actually hybrids of three ancestral species of citrus: the mandarin, the pomelo and the citron, giving orange, grapefruit and lemon flavours respectively. But citrus fruits hybridise quite readily with each other – so a pomelo and a mandarin that grow close together may mix reproductive material to create a wholly new type of fruit with characteristics of both.

The popularity and availability of citrus coincided with gin’s boom years in England, and was readily used as a flavourful and aromatic botanical in early gins, (most notably Alexander Gordons eponymous and class-defining gin), because of aromatic oils found in the skins which dissolves readily in alcohol. Many of the ingredients used in gins, like roots and berries, create quite sombre and subdued flavours, so citrus can add bright top notes and a lively refreshing nose or flavour. The diversity of modern descendants of the humble mandarin, pomelo and citron can be used to create nuances so that a gin made with sweet clementines is recognisably different from one that is made with ruby grapefruit, or aromatic Thai limes.

Citrus flavours and aromas are not only derived from citrus fruit. Citrus oils extracted during ginning can be a little bitter and can also cause louching (clouding) when the gin is diluted with tonic (as happens in ouzo or Pernod), which is not a fault in the gin, but merely indicates a high citrus oil content. Other ingredients that can add citrus flavours to gin include lemongrass, lemon thyme, lemon basil, lemon mint, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon bergamot as well as lemon-scented pelargoniums that grow natively in the Cape Peninsula.

Deep South Three Citrus Gin is made from a careful blend of dried peel and fresh zests from oranges and lemons grown in the Western Cape, mixed with aromatic Thai lime peel, locally grown lemon pelargonium and lemongrass to add lemon candy notes to create a lovely, fragrant, refreshing gin.