Step aside, pink gin, because a spirit that’s much more relevant to 2020 has entered the game in Australia – black gin. Finally, a drink I can sip knowing that it aligns perfectly with the colour of my soul, nail polish, and undying emo phase that started approximately 15 years ago.
Scapegrace Black Gin is quite possibly the first-ever inky-coloured gin out there at the grog shop, after finally making the leap across the pond from New Zealand.
Each bottle holds a strange concoction of perfectly-distilled botanicals that give it the ominous colouring. Much like pink and purple gins, this one also has butterfly pea extract in it, so when you add in tonic the whole bev changes colour.
But don’t think this one turns into a pretty little pink drink, either. Nope, the black gin goes from that midnight hue to a bright red or purple when tonic gets added, changing its vibrancy depending on the PH levels in the tonic. Science baby, it’s delicious and boozy.
The gin sold out of three months worth of stock in around 24hrs when it was launched late last year in NZ, so I’m absolutely sure it’s gonna go like hotcakes over here too. I mean, even just watching it change colour is mesmerising. I want a bottle just to make a gin & tonic and go “oooooh” as it changes colour. Let me have this, I’m very bored in lockdowns here in Melb, ok?
The Scapegrace Black Gin is lurking around in the shadows at select independent bottle shops right now, and a bottle will set you back a neat $79.99.
I’m calling it, this is the one booze that perfectly encapsulates this year: dark, ominous, and perfectly capable to knock me flat on my ass.
