Midnight Sun

The Nordic coast is the reference point, and the botanical list reads like a foraging walk. Elderberries, seaberries, samphire, kelp, Icelandic moss, pine, alexanders and lingonberries, seven botanicals and seven natural flavours, aimed at pink gin drinkers willing to go somewhere stranger than strawberry. Salcombe Distilling Co steeps the botanicals in neutral grain spirit and water, then runs the result through a rotary vacuum still to strip the alcohol at low temperature, which is what keeps the fragile aromatics intact. Kombucha stabilises the blend afterwards. In the glass it is subtly sweet, with elderflower and fresh pine up front, berry through the middle and a herbaceous dill note underneath. The kelp and samphire register as a faint coastal salinity rather than anything obviously marine. Serve it long with light tonic, mint and raspberry. 70cl at 0%, no added sugar, around 49 calories a serve. It took a Beverage Testing Institute gold in 2022.