The Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin cocktail you must try at home this weekend
Gin isn’t just a summer drink — and local legends Four Pillars have a winter warmer cocktail you can DIY. Here’s how to make the cult release really shine.
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Four Pillars co-founder and distiller Cam Mackenzie didn’t get into the gin business to make another London Dry.
A winemaker by trade, Cam wanted to be creative with his gin making.
After launching the Healesville distillery in 2013 with co-founders Stuart Gregor and Matt Jones, he’s made some traditional and not-so-conventional gin styles.
Four Pillars has a rare dry, navy strength, spiced negroni and modern Australian drop (using native botanicals) under its belt, with other varieties made in chardonnay barrels and sherry casks.
But this Saturday, Four Pillars will release its 2019 vintage of the highly sought-after Bloody Shiraz Gin, made from local shiraz grapes steeped in gin.
“This time around we have learnt to make a better product,” Cam says.
“If you line up (the previous vintages), there’s a progression, more intensity and vibrancy of colour over the years.”
Cam says the vibrant red gin is quite versatile and can be enjoyed neat or in a cocktail. “Some people use it more as a sloe gin, in a classic Charlie Chaplin-style of drink,” he says.
“There’s also enough alcohol in it to sip neat — or warmed.”
Creative bartenders have also reinvented the classic Southside, using Bloody Shiraz Gin to create a Bloodside.
“We’re really enjoying having the freedom with gin.
I think in the gin space, we will see a lot more flavoured gins in the future,” he says.
“We have an incredible bar scene in Australia and theatrical bartenders. The cocktail scene has changed dramatically.”
Recently the boys made headlines when beverage giant Lion bought a 50 per cent share of the business.
But Cam assures us it was a positive move.
“This opportunity allows us to maintain momentum (in the drinks industry), allows us to hire more people and develop the staff we have,”
he says.
“It allows us to continue to grow. We weren’t a business that was broken, we don’t need fixing. This will just keep the momentum that we’ve got.”
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HOW TO MAKE THE BLOODSIDE
INGREDIENTS
60mL Bloody Shiraz Gin
22.5mL Kirsty’s smoked blood orange syrup (See below)
22.5mL lime juice
1 dash rhubarb bitters
4 mint leaves
1 dash absinthe
METHOD
— Combine all ingredients in a shaker and get your shake on
— Strain into a chilled coupette glass
— Garnish with a lime wheel, a mint leaf or a dehydrated blood orange wheel
KIRSTY’S SMOKED BLOOD ORANGE SYRUP
INGREDIENTS
6 blood oranges
Caster sugar
1/2 tsp citric acid or salt
Spices for smoking — juniper, star anise, coriander, cardamom
METHOD
— Peel the oranges, juice them, and then combine all juice (with pulp) and peel.
— Mix equal amounts of caster sugar with the juice-peel mix and the citric acid or salt in a pot.
— Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for three minutes, and then allow to cool before straining into a container that has a lid that seals properly.
— Smoke the syrup with the spices using a smoke gun and leave covered until the smoke has imparted.
This recipe makes about 1 litre of syrup, which should keep happily in the fridge for about a month, and longer if frozen.
Source: fourpillarsgin.com.au/drinking/the-bloodside/
Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin 2019 vintage is released on Saturday June 1 via: fourpillarsgin.com.au.
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