Fallen Angel Blood Orange Gin

Blood orange is a harder fruit to work with than it looks, because its appeal is as much bitterness as sweetness. Fallen Angel puts it at the front of this flavoured ginFlavoured ginGin with flavourings, often fruity, added after distillation. It may be coloured and lightly sweetened.GlossarySee Flavoured gin gins, keeping a wholly classical foundation below it - juniper, coriander seed, angelica, orris root and lemon peel - and bottles it in the United Kingdom at 40% ABV. The ceramic bottle it arrives in is unusual enough to be part of the proposition.

Citrus · Fruity

The fruit announces itself instantly and reads as the whole orange rather than the juice alone: sweet at the top, with the deeper, slightly bitter note that distinguishes a blood orange from an ordinary one. Lemon peel sits beside it and sharpens the citrus without competing, adding a cleaner, brighter line above the fruit. Underneath, the classical botanicals are doing exactly the job they were chosen for. Juniper keeps the green resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary frame in place, coriander seed adds a warm spice that links fruit to root, and angelica with orris draws the base dry so the sweetness never settles.

The palate is juicy at the front and considerably drier at the back than the aroma suggests.

That contrast is what the serve should preserve. A plain, briskly carbonated tonic keeps the bitterness alive, while anything sweetened turns the blood orange into squash. Build it over a well-iced glass and finish with a slice or a wide peel of orange, which restates the headline without adding a competing fruit. It works well in a simple spritz and takes to soda for a lighter version. Flavoured gins are usually accused of hiding their base; here the classical botanicals are audible right through. It closes citric, faintly bitter and dry, the orange fading a little before the juniper does.