We first wrote about the Brooklyn-based Greenhook Ginsmiths Distillery back in March. At the time, they had one product in their soon-to-grow portfolio: an American Dry Gin. Lovely stuff, that gin. Well the company’s just introduced a Beach Plum Gin Liqueur, which they’re touting as the world’s first.
Steven DeAngelo, the founder of Greenhook Ginsmiths, originally set out to create a sloe gin. But he settled upon beach plums, rare wild plums that are close relatives to sloes and damsons. The finicky little fruits require low-lying sandy soil to grow and need a full two years to produce. Because of this, Greenhook Ginsmiths partnered with two local New York farms to grow enough of the actual plums to produce the Beach Plum Gin Liqueur.
Greenhook employs a whole-fruit-maceration process and steeps the entire beach plums in its flagship American Dry Gin. The process takes about 6-9 months, which is longer than the standard pressing method, but the end result should be a gin liqueur with a more complex flavor profile. After the maceration is complete, nothing is added to the infusion except a small amount natural cane sugar.
Greenhook says:
The final result gives off tart and sour cherry notes on the nose, along with aromas of juniper, citrus and cinnamon. At first sip a soft, silky mouth feel with bittersweet fruit fills the palate ending with a long, dry finish of beach plum notes subsiding to spicy coriander, chamomile, and bitter almonds.
