Flavor Profile
Astraea Forest Gin is designed similar to other gins in the Astraea line— botanicals are macerated, and then distilled in the London Dry style. It goes in the direction of forest, specifically boreal forest, through the use of fir and spruce.
Tasting notes
Aroma: fresh pickled cucumbers, with some hints of dill and lemon. Hints of spruce buds, juniper and pickling spices.
Flavor: Bright and boreal, with spruce tips and pine blossoms. Juniper and grapefruit comes through mid-palate. The citrus holds throughout, as that notes of bread and butter pickles eases into a robust, pine-blossom finish.
Finish: Moderately long, with pine blossoms, green juniper and a moderate, radiating warmth
Cocktails and suggested serves
Astraea Forest is certainly for pine-lovers. But it doesn’t taste like a holiday season version of pine— it tastes like spring in the forest, just as the snow melts and the pine buds begin to emerge.
It pairs well with a wide variety of mixers. My favorites might be a gin and tonic with an Elderflower tonic or a gin and soda.
Cocktail-wise, the pine note is bright and fresh— this comes through but in many applications it might read only as “juniper.” My top recommendations include the Last Word or a classic Gimlet.
Overall, Astraea Forest Gin
There’s something beautiful about this gin. Pine might be my favorite flavor note— and Astraea Forest Gin executes it beautifully calling to mind favorites like Fillier’s Pine Blossom and 100 Mill St.’s Spruce Infused Gin.
Personal bias aside, what I love about this gin is how it embodies the traditional flavor core of classic, London Dry type gins— and then adds one well executed accord to it. In fact, I’d say this is the whole flavor approach of the gins in the Astraea lineup. They each accomplish this.
Astraea Forest Gin does this well. It’s perfectly pine and fir, with a core that while familiar, is masterly executed. Versatile behind the bar, and beautifully flavored, classic gin fans will find a lot to like about this gin.
Recommended in its category.
Awards
