Amuerte Coca Leaf Gin Red Edition 70cl

Not only is there gin made with hemp leaves, but also gin made with coca leaves! Long before cocaine – the active ingredient extracted from the plant – became a widely feared drug, the coca bush was a highly prized crop in Peru, Colombia and other Andean countries. There, chewing coca leaves is a daily ritual amongst the indigenous tribes. When Jeroen and his wife Eveline first came across the leaves whilst backpacking through the Colombian rainforest, they knew straight away that this was the ideal ingredient for the gin they had in mind. They already had experience of distilling, as Jeroen comes from a Belgian family of distillers who have long been involved with gin and genever. To balance out the natural bitterness of the coca plant, ‘pineberry’ was also used in the production of the Red Edition. For those who don’t yet know: the fruit, known in this country as the ‘pineapple strawberry’, is a clone of the garden strawberry with a smaller diameter, a whitish colour, red seeds and a unique aroma reminiscent of pineapple. The pineberry was discovered in South America after the turn of the millennium and is now primarily grown in Belgium. It is not entirely clear whether any further ingredients have been added to the gin – in any case, the Amuerte Red Edition exhibits both tart-bitter and fresh, tropical-fruity notes. The designer bottle is adorned with an artistically drawn skull and 24-carat gold foil. Incidentally, the symbolism and the name are not intended to convey any negative connotations, but simply to remind buyers of the gin to live life to the full every day, before it’s too late.