Livewire is a line of RTDs that are collaborations with a specific bartender. This Honeydew Collins is created by Los Angeles bartender Joey Bernardo.
On the surface, it’s an unusual riff on the Tom Collins— gin with coconut, honeydew, makrut lime leaves and elderflower. Canned at 7.5% ABV, the Honeydew Collins comes across as half Thai inspired and half… well gin and honeydew? Is that a thing?
Joking aside, it stands out as an example of how RTD creators have been pushing the envelope with gin to make more than just the expected gin and tonics.
Tasting notes
Color: Nearly perfectly clear.
Aroma: Bright elderflower sings above all the rest— but there’s a slight Pina Colada undertone that lends the Honeydew Collins a bright, almost tropical nose.
Flavor: Elderflower early on the tip of the palate. Mid-palate the melon contributes slightly more of its vegetal side— combining with the coconut to create some hints of roasted Poblano pepper. Late, peppers, coconut flesh and the dewy haze of blooming elderflowers contributes to create a complex and unusual flavor profile.
Finish: Clean and crisp, but some of the vegetal and elderflower notes linger for a long time on the back of the palate.
Overall, Honeydew Collins
I could quibble over the name— it shares little in common with a Collins other than that is served long and contains fizz.
But if you sip the Honeydew Collins with no prior expectations and evaluate it just as the drink in the glass— it’s an impressive combination of flavors that simultaneously feels tropical and roasted-pepper season in the desert.
The only aspect I might call disappointing is that if you saw the word “gin” on the label and expected some gin character— you’re not going to get a whole lot. Juniper is completely obfuscated below a melange of delicious, beautiful co-starring ingredients that while they work well together, it brings to the fore that classic question. “Is it gin?”
But tasted and evaluated as its own thing, the Honeydew Collins is delicious.
Recommended.