Organic Dry Gin

Organic Dry Gin from Kakuzo with Yuzu and three black teas

The Organic Dry Gin from Kakuzo is a certified organic dry gin with 44 percent alcohol, in which juniper meets Asian citrus fruits and a tea infusion. Not a flavored gin and no play of colors, but crystal clear distilled in the classic London Dry style.

Organic Dry Gin is the latest creation from Kakuzo in Berlin and the brand's only bottle in organic quality. Paul Meinert and Marc Bergmann took a particularly long time with it, because a gin reveals the signature of a house faster than any other spirit. Anyone who places the 0.7-liter bottle next to the other three will see the development since 2017 at a glance.

It stands completely clear in the bottle, even though it contains tea. This is because it enters through distillation rather than maceration, which is why it releases its aroma but retains its color.

Juniper from Europe, citrus from Asia

Juniper and coriander form the familiar framework, against which fruity yuzu, sweet and juicy satsuma mandarin, tart grapefruit, and lemongrass step forward.

Added to this is the tea infusion of Sencha, Keemun, and Assam, which gives the gin a subtle tannic note and makes it appear more mature than most of its kind. Juniper and tea are closer than you might think, as both provide that dry spiciness against which citrus can contrast.

With a neutral tonic and a grapefruit zest, exactly that remains in the foreground. Served neat over ice, it becomes rounder, and in a Martini, it provides much more resistance to the vermouth than you would expect.

Two koi and a smile on the bottle

On the label, two koi carp swim through a bright wave, and in Japan, they stand for strength, endurance, and ambition. One bears a red pattern, the other is dark, and together they create exactly the balance that the brand is about.

“Inspired by the subtle fusion of German and Japanese culture, it puts a smile on our lips," says Marc about this gin, "and a smile is worth a hundred words." The sentence is written in characters on every Kakuzo bottle.

So, those who give the gin as a gift are including a little story without having to enclose a card. The glass remains on the shelf afterward because no one wants to put it away.

Distilled in the Black Forest in the London Dry style

It is distilled at Schladerer in Staufen, where they have been distilling since 1844 and working with fruit is part of the craft. After distillation, nothing is added, as required by the London Dry style.

The botanicals come from certified organic cultivation, for which the organic inspection body DE-Öko-003 vouches. For a gin with so much citrus peel, this is more than a formality, because the peel is exactly the part that one would otherwise prefer to wash.

The IWSC jury awarded it bronze and described "an earthy character with fresh juniper and bright herbal notes". It shares its tea base with the Earl Grey Vodka; all four bottles are in the Kakuzo Collection and further juniper spirits are on the Gin shelf. Two carp, a smile, a clear gin.

Organic control number – DE-Öko-003 EU/non-EU agriculture