Hamburg Zanzibar Tumeric No.1 Gin
Careful, it's spicy!
- Country
- Germany
- Alcohol
- 45%
- Bottle size
- 500 ml
- Producer
- Stadtrand & Co. GmbH
- In short
- Bold pepper
- Botanicals
- Juniper, Rosemary, Turmeric, Almonds, Pink peppercorns, Cinnamon flowers, Coriander seed, Cardamom, Conifer, Allspice
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Aromacode®
- 1 Pine, 23 of 100
- 2 Citrus, 4 of 100
- 3 Fruits, 9 of 100
- 4 Blossoms, 3 of 100
- 5 Grass, 11 of 100
- 6 Herbs, 50 of 100
- 7 Wood, 11 of 100
- 8 Spices, 32 of 100
- 9 Sharpness, 36 of 100
The Aromacode® shows how strongly each aroma comes through. The larger the wedge, the stronger the aroma. Numbers match the list.
Mixers tested with this Gin
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The Distillers' choice
Goldberg Tonic Water
That's how it should come across, say Yuka and Hauke.
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Balanced
Schweppes Dry Tonic Water
This works really well. Not too sweet, not too dry. Many sides of the gin come through: pepper, turmeric, juniper.
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Like it
Doctor Polidori Dry Tonic Water
Interesting. The bitter notes turn the pepper down a little here.
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Bitter agave
Gemellii Indian Tonic
Very sweet again, even with ice. The sweetness tips towards bitterness, with the pink peppercorns playing the bass line.
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Nope
Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water
Somehow, nothing fits here. The sweet lemonade notes and the gin are so far apart that you should simply leave it alone.
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For those who like it sweeter
Thomas Henry Tonic Water
This combination might not be perfect, but I think quite a few people will find the gin a little easier to drink this way.
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About this bottle
This gin shouldn't be viewed entirely on its own. Its base is Tumeric Raw Gin, to which fresh turmeric is added, giving it that golden colour. But one thing at a time.
The beginning
The original idea came from the two makers, Yuka and Hauke, wanting to bring something back from their travels, develop a product together and do something jointly. That wasn't immediately straightforward in their ‘actual’ professions as a yoga teacher and a biologist.
Then, one evening, the idea of gin came up. Distilling a piece of turmeric from a holiday in Zanzibar laid the foundations. And so the idea was born.
You can find out more in the podcast episode with the two of them.
Tasting
This gin is anything but mainstream. The two makers have found that at plenty of tastings too. Some people are bowled over by its unusual flavour; others are caught off guard. Hauke once put it like this in a conversation: ‘We've got real fans, and we've got people who can't warm to our gin. And that's okay, because it really is in a class of its own.’ There's little to argue with there. This isn't an ordinary gin in your glass. It's intense, with punchy, in-your-face pepper.
On the nose
Anything but a typical gin aroma greets you here. The first impression is earthy and dark. Not too much alcohol, gentle pepper notes and some herbs. The herbs aren't particularly complex; they're more of a side note. Few gins are this direct and dry.
Taste and finish
The flavour begins with a little freshness and builds slowly. Juniper makes itself known, along with the dryness from the nose. Then cucumber and pepper join in. The pepper grows more intense, and turmeric is part of the flavour profile too. The gin stays in your mouth after you swallow: dry, with pink peppercorns lingering for a long time. The aftertaste isn't very sweet; it's more punchy. The gin holds up well in tonic too, standing its ground quite nicely.
A gin that can see you through an evening, even with a second or third serve. It doesn't become too much for me in the glass.
What began as a little sideline and hobby suddenly acquired the label ‘best gin in the world’. Well, it wasn't quite that sudden. But the two makers, Yuka and Hauke, have since become full-time gin makers with their own small distillery and several other products. Here's a gin that divides opinion: fan or non-fan. There aren't many options in between.