Mezzanotte Gin con Arancia e Cacao

Mezzanotte Gin con Arancia e Cacao is a contemporary London Dry GinLondon DryA style, not a place of origin: every flavour comes from distilling natural botanicals. After distillation only water and a trace of sugar may be added, with no flavouring or colouring.GlossarySee London Dry gins distilled in Pesaro on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Master distiller Alex Bartolucci created it in 2021, while art director Giacomo Bracci developed the bottle’s elaborate visual identity. Production remains at Distilleria Mezzanotte and uses both a Müller Aroma electric still and vacuum-distillationVacuum distillationLowering the pressure makes alcohol boil at around 30 to 50 °C instead of 78 °C, so delicate aromas are not cooked and stay fresher.Glossary equipment. Bottled at 45% ABV, the gin is built around juniper, cacao beans, sweet orange peel and kaffir lime.

Citrus · Spicy · Herbal

The recipe places familiar and unexpected ingredients in a clear sequence. Juniper provides the dry resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary framework. Sweet orange brings ripe, generous citrus, while kaffir lime adds a sharper and more exotic green-citrus note. Cacao beans do not make the spirit taste like a sweet chocolate liqueur. They deepen the later stages with roasted bitterness and the darker aromatic quality of cocoa, giving the finish contrast and persistence.

The nose begins with orange and kaffir lime over a firm juniper base. On the palate, sweet orange creates breadth at the front, then the kaffir lime tightens the centre with fresh, slightly leafy citrus. Juniper keeps the progression dry. Cacao arrives later, initially as a faint roasted note and then as a more lasting dark-chocolate impression in the finish. At 45%, the gin has enough concentration to keep citrus vivid and cacao precise.

The bottle itself recommends Mediterranean tonicMediterranean tonicA tonic with less bitterness and sugar, scented with herbs and citrus (rosemary, thyme, lemon). It leaves more room for the gin's botanicals.Glossary for the citrus side of the recipe. Fill a balloon glassCopa glassA large stemmed balloon glass, popularised by the Spanish gin and tonic: it stays cold for longer and gathers the aromas above the drink.Glossary with clear ice, pour 5 cl of Mezzanotte and add 12 cl of Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water. Finish with a broad orange peel, expressed once above the glass. The peel reinforces both citrus botanicals, while the tonic leaves room for cacao to appear naturally in the final sip.