We present you our new, There Will Be Blood Orange Gin, the second gin in Monachus’s collection, and an expressive combination of blood orange and rooibos. Our master distiller Luka will guide you through the process of making this gin, from the initial idea to the final product.
Where did the idea for the new gin come from?
Since we managed to get fantastic blood oranges from the organic producer Mandarinet (the same one that produced the mandarines for our Monachus Dry Gin and First Citrus), I wanted to use those oranges for our new gin. Rooibos is my favorite tea, and besides its wonderful sweet and floral, honey and tobacco taste, I was fascinated by this plant: it grows in the Cederberg mountains of South Africa, and changes its color from green to red by fermentation, after the harvest. This is where the name, which would translate to “red bush”, is coming from.
To me, it was interesting to combine blood oranges and rooibos for a couple of reasons. First, I think that their tastes complement each other: when I drink rooibos, to give it a kick, I often add orange peel to my cup. Second, rooibos gets its rusty red color by being cut, watered, and left to oxidize (ferment) in the air. On the other hand, blood oranges in the Neretva valley in the south of Croatia turn red only when the difference between day and night temperatures becomes big enough. So, we have one that changes its color on the hot African sun, and the other on the cold Croatian nights. Third, I wanted to emphasize that intense blood orange taste with a similar color- I think that the visual impression can sometimes really help out the senses of smell and taste.
Except for the blood oranges and rooibos, what other ingredients did you use?
We wanted to get as much flavor as possible with fewer ingredients because we believe that the sophistication comes from simplicity. As with our original Monachus Dry Gin, we stuck to the five ingredients, and in this gin they were: juniper, coriander seeds, fresh blood orange peel, rooibos, and angelica root. I wanted to keep the same base as with our original gin, the classic juniper-coriander combination that is often used for dry gin. I think it is the most interesting base for every gin. Since the blood orange is so intense and bursting with citrusy flavor, rooibos gave it sweetness, wooden and honey notes. To finish the taste I used the distillate of the angelica root that I made two years ago, but never used before- it just wasn’t interesting enough in any combination. I looked for a way to tone down the intense flavors of this gin and remembered angelica, tried it out in one of the test versions, and loved the smoothness and the balance that it brought.
Is the color of the gin coming from rooibos or orange?
Rooibos macerated in the gin after distillation gave this beautiful deep orange, sort of cognac color- there are no artificial colorants, nor aromas or sweeteners for that matter.
Can you tell us a bit more about the aroma of There Will Be Blood Orange Gin?
This is a real juniper-forward gin with a proper dose of bitterness coming from both the juniper and the blood orange. The name itself suggests that orange has the leading role. You recognize it immediately, it cannot be confused with anything else, and besides bitterness, it gives a solid citrus note. Floral, tobacco, honey notes are coming from rooibos. It is a very expressive, full-bodied gin.
Why does it have a different label shape than Monachus Dry Gin?
Since this is not a dry gin, we gave it the pebble-shaped label that we use for all of our limited editions. We changed the color of the seal as well- with our original gin it is burgundy red, but for this one we mixed the cardinal red and the marigold by hand, to mimic the flesh of the blood orange.
