Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/3815
24 Martini created by Dan Warner 5 parts Beefeater 24 1 part Lillet Blanc 2 dashes orange bitters Stir ingredients and serve up with a grapefruit twist A Spot of Tea Taking its name from a 24-hour steeping process, BEEFEATER 24, a contemporary take on London gin utilizing a rare blend of teas, makes its debut Desmond Payne is considered the world's most experienced gin Mas- ter Distiller. He spent 18 months perfecting a gin that would be ideal for modern cocktails. W hen Desmond Payne fi nally had the op- portunity to create his own recipe for a new Beefeater gin, he turned to tea. "To be perfectly honest," the Master Distiller, told THE TASTING PANEL, "tea worked—I didn't use it as an ingredient to be fashionable." Instead, drawing on his 40 years of distilling ex- pertise, Payne used it as an inspiration. After travel- ing to Asia about fi ve years back, Payne would relax after a long day with his favorite tipple: gin and tonic. "There was no quinine in the tonics in Japan, so I began adding iced lemon green tea." As serendipity plays a role in this story, Beefeater founder James Bur- rough was a tea merchant in the early part of the 19th century. Payne, guiding us with the notion that what he does is more an art than a science, explained that he actually spent an entire day with Stephen Twin- ing of Twinings Tea in London. "The syn- ergies were great." "I did not aim for a tea-fl avored gin," Payne noted as he tasted us on his new expression, Beefeat- er 24. We sat togeth- er in the courtyard of Greystone Mansion, during a celebration held to launch the brand in Los Angeles in September. "Instead, the tea acts as a botanical, as would juniper or citrus peel. Tea changes the relationship with the gin, and I do believe we have reached a wonderful balance of fl avor." Juli Falkoff is Brand Director at Pernod Ricard USA. Here, she launches Beefeater 24, which includes rare Japa- nese Sencha and Chinese Green teas, along with hand-prepared grapefruit, bitter almond, orris root and Seville orange peel among its 12 botanicals. october 2009 / the tasting panel / 81 Launch Pad