Broken Heart Rhubarb Gin

Organic green, pink and red rhubarb straight from the South Island's soil goes into this Broken Heart gin. The Queenstown distillery infuses its Original Gin with the three types of rhubarb with a strength of 40% ABV. The colour is a gentle pink, but the rhubarb flavour, as the distillery puts it, is anything but gentle. It comes in a 500 ml bottle.

Dry · Fruity

Broken Heart lists the profile as dry, rhubarb, tart, crisp, fresh and perfumed. The nose is fresh and slightly vegetal, with the sharp, fruity scent of raw rhubarb stalks.

On the palate, the tartness comes forward first, crisp and lively, before the juniper and spice of the base gin bring it back to dryness. Using green, pink and red stalks gives a fuller rhubarb flavour, from grassy to fruity. The finish is clean and perfumed, without the sweetness of many rhubarb liqueurs. Rhubarb is botanically a vegetable, but its sharp acidity behaves like fruit in a drink.

Broken Heart's story began with two German master distillers in Queenstown; after Bernd died suddenly, Joerg shared their gin with the world under a name that honours him. The distillery suggests this one for a summer's day, with ice, tonic and a slice of ruby red grapefruit, whose bitterness meets the rhubarb's tartness. It also suits a Collins or a spritz with sparkling wine. A splash of soda and a strip of grapefruit peel make a lighter version. Neat and chilled, the tartness is at its sharpest.

For the G&T, 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 ice and add 4 cl of Broken Heart Rhubarb Gin and 10 cl of Double Dutch Elderflower Tonic. Stir gently, then add a fresh rhubarb ribbon and a lemon twistTwistA strip of peel twisted over the glass to release its oils, then dropped into the drink.Glossary. Elderflower softens the tartness, and the ribbon of rhubarb echoes the fruit in the gin.