The Illusionist Dry Gin

Indigo in the bottle, pink once the tonic goes in. The colour changeColour-changing ginGin tinted with butterfly pea flower, whose pigments shift from blue to pink when the acidity of tonic or lemon lowers the pH.Glossary is the first thing anyone notices about The Illusionist, and it is not a trick of the lighting: butterfly pea flower, Clitoria ternatea, gives the gin a natural blue that shifts towards pink when it meets something acidic, whether tonic water or citrus juice.

Citrus · Organic · Floral · Fruity · Herbal

Behind the colour sits a long, carefully layered recipe. Orange, grapefruit and lemon give brightness; rosemary, lavender and chamomile add herbal and floral definition; cranberries bring a fruit dimension that most dry gins do without. Cranberry and chamomile are the unexpected pair; most of the rest belongs to the classic gin repertoire. The spice comes from mace, warmer and more delicate than the nutmeg it grows around, supported by the depth of liquorice root and the green freshness of lemongrass. Juniper frames all of it in the classic way, and the spirit is certified organic.

The recipe was a long time coming. The founders began work on the concept in Munich in 2015 and ran extended trials before settling on the final profile, bottled at 45%. That strength matters for a gin this layered: it gives the citrus, the herbs and the spice enough weight to stay separate once diluted. Served neat, the gin remains dry and botanical, with a lingering finish shaped by herbs and spice.

A classic quinineQuinineAn alkaloid from cinchona bark that gives tonic its bitterness. The British in India drank it against malaria and added gin: the gin and tonic was born.Glossary tonic such as Fever-Tree Indian Tonic WaterIndian tonicThe classic tonic: sparkling water, bitter quinine and sugar. The name recalls colonial India, where quinine warded off malaria.Glossary does two jobs here: it carries the interplay of citrus, herbs and spice, and its acidity turns the drink pink. Garnish with a lightly singed rosemary sprig and an orange zest twist, one echoing the herbs and the other the citrus of the recipe. Pour the gin over the ice first and add the tonic in front of your guests, since the colour change is the whole point.