Based mostly in South Africa, Abstinence Spirits makes quite a lot of non-alcoholic spirits and ready-to-drink merchandise, with a heavy concentrate on numerous NA gins. The corporate’s course of is described as follows: “We extract flavours by small batch distillations with out using alcohol, by utilizing maceration, vapour infusion and hydrosols. Every batch is individually blended, tasted and examined earlier than being bottled.” It’s unclear what Abstinence makes use of to provide its merchandise “chunk,” however as we’ll see within the overview of three merchandise arising, I’ve some theories…
Abstinence Cape Floral Non-Alcoholic Spirit – A “premium distilled non-alcoholic spirit,” made with the botanicals of South Africa’s Cape Floral Kingdom. Botanicals embrace juniper, rose geranium, angelica root, coriander, and lemon. Tons of citrus on the nostril right here, with a hearty however secondary floral high quality beneath, undoubtedly rose-adjacent. It’s clearly vinegary, however not overwhelming in sharpness. On the palate, the drink is somewhat skinny with these vinegar notes turning into dominant and floral notes citing the rear. The daring lemon peel notice helps make for a pure pairing with tonic, however juniper character is surprisingly missing, making this come throughout extra like a flavored vodka than a gin. Extraordinarily delicate, however very nice. Devour inside 3 months of opening. B+ / $35 [BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON]
Abstinence Blood Orange Aperitivo Spritz – A surprisingly on level recreation of a Spritz, boldly carbonated, heavy on the quinine, and backed up with ample orange peel and natural components that evoke rosemary and thyme. The bitterness is just a little heavy at instances — as is the hyper-orange colour, courtesy of some beta-carotene — so think about a wholesome squeeze of orange to assist deliver issues into higher steadiness. B+ / $18
Abstinence Lemon Aperitivo Spritz – Boldly yellow in hue, there’s an applicable burst of lemon up high right here, giving issues a fruity assault as a substitute of the heavy upfront bitterness of the Blood Orange expression. Because it develops on the fizzy palate, the script is flipped, with the quinine notice turning into stronger and extra forceful. Once more there’s an natural rush on the end, nevertheless it’s saved in test by sufficient of that lemon fruit to maintain issues attention-grabbing. I prefer it marginally higher than the Blood Orange… however mixing the 2 collectively makes for a enjoyable twist as effectively. A- / $18
Abstinence Cape Floral Non-Alcoholic Spirit
$35
