Seedlip was founded in 2015 was a mission of improving the quality of drinks that bars were serving as an alternative to traditional cocktails. They have three offerings currently, all of which correspond to flavors common in gin and present on our flavor tasting wheel. If you’re a fan of spice-forward contemporary gins, Seedlip Spice 94 is designed for you.
Each ingredient is macerated for six weeks, separately before being distilled and blended. Seedlip also adds a preservative (Potassium Sorbate) and citric acid. Seedlip Spice 94 features six botanicals.
Oak is the most unusual, with the tannins imparting a bitterness that helps Seedlip Spice more closely resemble a spirit. The other botanicals feel straight out of a gin— lemon, grapefruit, cardamom, allspice and the somewhat unusual cascarilla. The latter is native to the caribbean and has some bitter, piney qualities which make it ideal in amaros and other bitter drinks.
Tasting notes
Color: perfectly clear
Aroma: Grapefruit skin sits atop powerful spice notes. Allspice is dominant, but there’s hints of white pepper, nutmeg and lemon pith. It’s rich and complex, only missing the heat of gin.
Flavor: Sipped on its own, you’ll be struck by the “watery” character of it. It doesn’t try to closely approximate the trigeminal mouthfeel of a spirit with additives like capsaicin.
Slightly bitter and earthy at first, it rapidly builds into an allspice led mid-palate. A slight tartness is present on the back half. Bitter lemon and grapefruit pith.
Finish: Extremely slight astringency with a breathy echo of freshly ground allspice.
Cocktails and suggested serves
Seedlip Spice 94— like most non alcoholic spirit alternatives is designed to be mixed. It compliments mixers like ginger ale and cola well; however, it tends to be easily overpowered. You’ll definitely taste the allspice. No matter how you mix it, you won’t miss it.
However, for me I found it best balanced with a sweet tonic water. I paired it with Owen’s Tonic Water and recommend adding a squeeze of fresh lime.
Mixing, bartenders may be wise to treat it like allspice dram, at least in terms of predominant flavor.
Overall, Seedlip Spice 94
Fans of spice-forward gins, looking for a non-alcoholic alternative will find a lot to like about Seedlip Spice 94.
Further, for gin drinkers it’s hard to find a better option. It’s botanically driven and it mixes like a gin without trying too hard to be a gin.
Now, to be fair, purists are right to point out that this is not truly trying to be a gin. It doesn’t have any juniper among its botanicals. However, for me in terms of flavor, mixing, and approximation to the experience of drinking gin, you rarely come closer than Seedlip’s line of drinks.
Highly Recommended
Seedlip Spice 94 is available from Amazon.
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