When hand-crafted Japanese gin sets the theme for an exquisite six-course dining experience at local restaurant Azabu, it literally feels like you have been transported to Japan.
Using six Japanese botanicals, Roku Gin creates a flavour that sets it apart from many other gins. The sansho pepper, sencha tea, yuzu peel, sakura leaf, gyokuro tea and sakura flower are all used in accordance with the concept of Shun – this means all these ingredients are sourced and harvested in Japan in their ideal season. Pretty impressive when you learn the sakura flower can only be harvested for one week of the year!
But what about the taste? It’s fresh, clean and complex; it’s interesting enough to have neat, delightful with soda water, but truly comes alive when mixed as a gin Martini, Gimblet or Negroni. When iconic chef, Yukio Ozeki, of Azabu in Ponsonby designed a six-course degustation menu inspired by the six botanicals found in Roku, it was truly like being whisked to Japan.
The flavors of each of the exquisite dishes were heightened by sipping a range of Roku Gin cocktails.
Azabu has Roku Gin and Roku Gin cocktails currently on the menu and with the Rugby World Cup in Tokyo in full swing, mixing a Roku Negroni or Roku Gin Martini at home might be just the way to get into the spirit of the tournament. It could be just like being there with the guys in Japan.
You can buy Roku Gin locally from any Glengarry store, Liquorland Boutiques in Grey Lynn and Herne Bay and Liquor King in Ponsonby.
Kampai!
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