78 Degrees has collaborated with Loving Earth to create its first chocolate gin, in time for Easter.
And you can feel good about receiving and giving it as a gift, says company founder and head distiller Sacha La Forgia.
“We have repurposed the waste from the chocolate-making process to create this new and innovative gin,” says Mr La Forgia.
“We worked with fair-trade chocolate makers, Loving Earth, a Melbourne-based company, whose passion for regeneration is aligned with our “Crafted for Better” 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.”
Taking the waste cacao husks from Loving Earth, 78 Degrees steeps them in high-proof gin to extract the robust chocolate character and colour. When 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.
“It’s quite different to how you might imagine,” says Mr La Forgia. “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 Butler says, “When it comes to sustainability, 78 Degrees look at things the way we do. We love the gin Sacha has created using our leftover husks.”
The best ways to drink 78 Degrees Chocolate Gin are either neat with ice and a slice of orange or with tonic and a slice of chocolate-dipped dehydrated orange to emphasise the orange and chocolate notes in the gin.
Only 500 bottles of the Chocolate Gin have been produced this year, and it is available for purchase from the 78 Degrees website with free shipping Australia-wide.
There is also an exclusive 78 Degrees Gin + Loving Earth Easter Gift Pack available, which includes a bottle of Chocolate Gin and an 80g bar of Loving Earth 72 per cent Dark Chocolate, which is Loving Earth’s signature bar and perfectly highlights the essence of its premium cacoa.
Bottle Size: 700ml
ABV: 42%
RRP: $90
