Holyfields, – Quarantini Winter Gin
After already releasing three different products in one and a half years, the folks behind Quarantini have launched their third gin. Obviously, there is no better time for their Winter Gin. On top of that, the gin combines the familiar papaya forward taste with seasonal spices. Quarantini also recently changed their good cause from supporting bars to providing clean water in Sambia.
First, a quick look at the facts of the Winter Gin: The Quarantini Winter Gin uses the regular botanicals like papaya, bergamot and bitter oranges, but also adds seasonal spices in the form of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and vanilla. You can also see a slightly golden hue, I guess comes from infusing the spices in the gin. In the end, the gin is bottled at 42 % ABV. As mentioned above, with every bottle of gin sold, Quarantini supports Viva Con Agua and one person in a developing country gets a year-long supply of drinking water.
Strong papaya and some spices
I guess it does not come as a big surprise that the Winter Gin stayed true to its origin. The papaya flavours of the regular bottling still dominate the taste. However, after a while you can sense some spices with cinnamon being the most prominent. Apart from that, you will find some bergamot flavours and additional spices, accompanied by some menthol notes. All in all, in my opinion the gin could have used even wintery spice flavour. Yet, this Quarantini Gin also will be fun to mix with.
Vegetarian Flavor Bible
As some of you may already know, I am a big fan of the Flavor Bible. This “cook book” is perfect for matching ingredients and flavours. However, I always lacked the second edition, the Vegetarian Flavor Bible. So, when I finally bought it, I realized that it was even better for coming up with drinks, because who really makes non-vegetarian cocktails? Apart from that, the book suggested pairing papaya with ginger and honey. So, I used ginger liqueur and honey mix in the recipe. Furthermore, I added wintery Rooibos vanilla tea and lemon.
1,5 cl Dwersteg Ginger Liqueur
2,25 cl Cold Rooibos Vanilla Tea
3 cl Lemon Juice
2,25 cl Honey Mix
Garnish: Dried Orange Wheel – Cinnamon Stick;
Song: Bon Iver – Holyfields,;
The “Holyfields,” starts with a mix of exotic fruits and spice notes, most prominently cinnamon and vanilla. Moreover, the Rooibos tea gives the drink a good backbone and structure and the lemon juice balances out the sweet notes. All in all, the drink is perfect for the colder days.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The gin was provided by Quarantini.
