Three botanicals are all that Beach Buoys Coastal Dry Gin needs: juniper, orange peel and grapefruit peel, distilled in Folkestone and bottled at 43% ABV. The aluminium bottle is reusable and fully recyclable, a choice that fits a gin named after the Kent shoreline.

Juniper carries the drink and keeps it dry. Orange peel gives the rounder half of the citrus pairing, grapefruit the sharper one, and together they sharpen the juniper rather than hiding it. With so short a list there is nowhere to hide: the gin is direct, bright and clean, closer to a sea breeze than to a fruit bowl, which is exactly what the distillery is aiming for. Three botanicals also means a gin that behaves predictably in cocktails, where a crowded recipe often fights the other ingredients.

The Folkestone Distillery was started by Peter Bracewell after he moved to the Kent coast with his family, and the Beach Buoys range has collected serious recognition since. At The Gin Guide Awards in 2025 this bottling won both the contemporary category above 42% and the coastal gin category, the only English winner in those two classes that year. Its sister recipe, the Coastal Aromatic, was highly commended in the same blind tasting.

Two garnishes echo the recipe without crowding it. Cut a strip of grapefruit peel and a smaller piece of orange peel, squeeze each briefly over the glass and tuck them among large cubes. A 4cl measure is the starting point; top up with Indian tonic, 10cl, straight from the fridge. Pour slowly, stir once, and leave the juice out: the peels carry enough citrus oil to do the work on their own. The half-litre aluminium bottle, along with 250ml and 50ml versions, also travels better than glass to a beach.