SAKURAO GIN ORIGINAL

Six different citrus fruits from Hiroshima go into this gin, and naming them one by one is the only honest way to describe it: lemon from Higashi-Hiroshima, navel orange, sweet summer orange, dai dai bitter orange, yuzu from Akitakata. Each brings a different balance of peel oil and acid, and the dai dai adds a frank bitterness the sweet oranges never would, so the citrus half of the recipe ends up far wider than a lemon-and-orange gin could manage.

Citrus · Dry · Spicy · Herbal

Nine botanicals in all come from Hiroshima prefecture, with five imported to complete a list of fourteen. The local ones beyond the citrus are the interesting part: hinoki cypress for dry sawn wood, green tea from Fuchu for vegetal tannin, red shiso from Yamagata for its mint-and-anise edge and faint colour, and ginger from Jinseki for a clean warmth. Juniper berryJuniperThe one compulsory botanical: gin must taste predominantly of juniper. Its "berry" is really a small conifer cone, resinous and peppery.Glossary and coriander seed arrive from outside and do the classical work underneath, where they are felt rather than tasted.

Sakurao Brewery and Distillery combines two extraction methods, steeping some botanicals in the spirit and passing others through vapour. Steeping pulls the heavier, more resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary material out of roots and wood; vapour catches the light oils of peel and leaf without stewing them, which is how a fourteen-plant recipe stays legible rather than muddled. The bottling strength is 47% in 700 ml, high enough to carry that many aromatics without any of them collapsing into the others.

At this strength dilutionDilutionThe water added by melting ice. In the right amount it opens the aromas and softens the alcohol; too much flattens the drink.Glossary is not optional. Build it on hard ice: 4 cl of gin, then 10 cl of Indian tonicIndian tonicThe classic tonic: sparkling water, bitter quinine and sugar. The name recalls colonial India, where quinine warded off malaria.Glossary, a yuzu peel and a red shiso leaf on top. Ingredients cold, mixing short. Both garnishes repeat botanicals already in the bottle, which is what a garnish should do when the recipe is this crowded.