DRAGON SPIRIT GIN
May 30, 2019
Dragon Spirit Gin is an amazing, enticing gin. A chance conversation inspired the Stark Spirits creation of a recipe based on the Five Spice philosophy used extensively in Chinese cuisine. The result is a synergy of flavors sweet, bitter, pungent, sour and salty. Tasting is believing! Of course, it contains juniper, and most of the other botanicals that are frequently used in gin. It’s the balance of proportions that creates unique Dragon Spirit Gin.
Sweet is the presenting flavor, followed by an earthiness and leading to warmth in the finish. But then it changes! Heat becomes tingling, sour and salty make their presence known on the sides of the tongue, sweetness reasserts itself, tempered by a touch of bitterness, and then all the discrete taste vanishes. A harmony of flavors is what lingers.
Dragon Spirit is intense and does very well all on its own, neat or straight. Orange liqueur or Drambuie are great complements, and a Dragon Spirit Martini with dry vermouth and a twist of orange is a new take on an old standard. The intertwined flavor elements of Dragon Spirit present myriad opportunities to choose to emphasize any one of them. This is a gin that challenges a mixologist’s creativity and rewards amply.
Delicious, unique Dragon Spirit is named for dragons associated with the Five Elements of Chinese philosophy. Each element has its own taste. Earth: sweet; fire: pungent; wood: sour; metal: bitter; and water: salty. The traditional balance of tastes representing the Five Elements, also happen to present the traditional tastes of several western winter holidays. Dragon Spirit Gin brings old and new, traditional and innovative, East and West into balance and harmony, a benevolent gift for our time.
In Chinese philosophy, dragons are far different than western ideas of dragons. A foundational belief is that all life has yin and yang aspects, so, of course, there are both female and male dragons. In Chinese lore dragons are superior beings, living between heaven and earth, with specific personality characteristics associated with either wood, earth, fire, metal or water, the Five Elements. Although essentially uninterested in human affairs, if they do take an interest, it is benevolent. In fact, in depictions of Chinese dragons, what they are breathing out is not fire—it is clouds!
Tasting Notes:
Nose Chinese five spice, angelica.
Palate White jasmine, peppercorn.
Finish Light cassia, lingering spice, juniper and a touch of heat.
Awards:
2019 Los Angeles International Spirits Competition – Gold Medal, 90 points
Cocktails:
Batch Information:
Batch 1 : 6/8/2019
