Key Botanicals:

•  Native Juniper or Boobialla (myoporum insulare)

•  Desert Limes (citrus glauca)

With so many of the botanicals used to make gin coming from overseas or sub-tropical regions, I wanted to make a gin that was more like the terroir of the mallee – in other words dry and arid☹.

Myoporum insulare grows in dry sandy soils. It grows really well in the garden at Lameroo and was the inspiration to use local botanicals. It has a sweet little flower that attracts birdlife and then the berry which is bright purple and used in the gin.

Citrus Glauca is the native lime of the Australian desert. It grows to a maximum size of 12mm. It packs a real citrus punch and we were lucky to find a commercial grower in Loxton – only an hour from home.

Tasting Notes

Immediate zesty citrus on the front and mid palate – yuzu sharp tartness and juicy

lime.

Subtle cardamom warmth

Balance from cassia bark and liquorice root

The perfect G&T

30ml Mallee Spirit Native Citrus gin

90ml Bickford’s Dry tonic

I like the simplicity of the Bickford’s tonic

As a distiller, I spent so much time making the gin flavoursome - it don’t want to confuse it with a complex tonic (see my blog on tonic water) Pour over a large block of ice and garnish with 4-5 dehydrated desert limes – you can buy these on line from Natif

Alternate mixing Options

London Lemonade

45ml Mallee Spirit Native Citrus Gin

125ml Bickford’s Cloudy Lemonade

Fill your serving glass with ice

Pour in your gin

Top with cloudy lemonade

Garnish with fresh herb (we love thyme, but mint and rosemary are divine too!) and a lemon twist

Cocktails

PS like the background to this snip – visit the cellar door and you can get a true appreciation

Native Gimlet

60ml Mallee Spirit Native Citrus gin

30ml fresh squeezed lemon juice

15 ml lime cordial – or Santulum Grove Wild Lime Syrup if you can get it.

Try the Adelaide Central Market / Jaggers Fine Foods

Rim your glass with crushed dehydrated desert limes

In a mixing glass add lots of ice, gin, juice and syrup. Stir well and strain into the rimmed glass.

The lime rim gives this smooth cocktail a tangy twist.

Ron’s Bloody Margaret

When we have friends over, this is Ron’s staple for Sunday morning (after) Always served with bacon, eggs and grilled tomato on sourdough. It’s not overly alcoholic but the use of citrus gin gives it the edge over the contemporary Bloody Mary.

90ml Mallee Spirit Native Citrus Gin

1l tomato juice

25ml Worcestershire sauce

30ml hot sauce (Ron likes Stinger from Diemens, Tasmania)

2.5ml Tabasco sauce

½ tsp pepper, hickory spice mix

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

Rim your glass with a blend of salt and spice mix. Combine all ingredients into a

glass pitcher and stir well. Pour into your rimmed glass and garnish