Don’t want to over-indulge in chocolate and eggs this Easter? Well there is an exciting new gin created by 78 Degrees in collaboration with Loving Earth – Chocolate Gin is available just in time for Easter.
Loving Earth is a fair-trade chocolate maker based in Melbourne, and 78 Degrees has taken the waste cacao husks, and steeped them in high-proof gin to extract the chocolate character and colour.
Once optimum extraction is reached, distillates of sweet local orange are added, along with roasted wattle seed. With its rich nutty character, the wattle seed further elevates the husks’ flavour and gives the gin a uniquely Australian style.
Sacha La Forgia, 78 Degrees’ Founder and Head Distiller said: “We have repurposed the waste from the chocolate-making process to create this new and innovative gin.
“We worked with Loving Earth, whose passion for regeneration is aligned with our ‘Crafted for Bette’” philosophy. We take a closed loop approach when making our products so collaborating with Loving Earth and using their cacao husks just made sense.
“We respect the fact they buy cacao beans directly from the Ashaninka community in Peru, and have helped the growers establish their own co-op to ensure fair pricing and guaranteed volume each harvest season.”
Speaking about the gin, he added: “It’s quite different to how you might imagine. It’s delicate, sophisticated and surprisingly light on the palate, with a lingering spiced finish.
“This is our first collaboration with Loving Earth, but we hope that this special limited edition will become an annual release.”
Loving Earth’s co-founder and creative director Martha added: “When it comes to sustainability, 78 Degrees look at things the way we do. We love with the gin Sacha has created using our leftover husks.
“It’s rich and smooth with notes of dark chocolate, roasted nuts, vanilla and jaffa…it’s the perfect complement to our chocolate.”
The first batch of 500 bottles sold out in record time, so the team produced another 500 bottles which are available from the 78 Degrees website with free shipping Australia-wide.
Here are some recipes for using the Chocolate Gin:
Signature Serve
Ingredients:
- 45ml Choc Gin
- 180ml Light tonic
Directions:
- Garnish with a chocolate dipped dehydrated orange wheel.
Chocolate Martini
Ingredients:
- 50ml Chocolate Gin
- 20ml Cocchi Americano
- Barspoon sugar syrup
Directions:
- Stir with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass or coupe
- Garnish: Chocolate orange buttons on the side
Chocolate Sour
Ingredients:
- 50ml Chocolate Gin
- 30ml lemon juice
- 25ml Orgeat
- 2 dash chocolate bitters
- Dash of egg white/Aquafaba
Directions:
- Shake without ice
- Then add ice and shake hard for 10 seconds
- Strain into a stemmed glass with ice
- Garnish: Choc dipped orange wheel and bitters drops.
