While you might have seen this gin knocking around before, its label design is exclusive to you – our gin club members! AND it won’t be available anywhere else which means you’ve bagged yourself a true collectors bottle. While a New Year brings with it hope and new beginnings, the Chinese New Year 2023 is focused on the Year of the Rabbit and that’s exactly what inspired this month’s label artwork which just happens to be the icing on the cake for this liquid nectar – Operations Director, Johdi’s favourite Batch tipple!
First released to our gin clubbers in 2018 (the very first year of Batch Innovations – seriously, how are we 5 years old already?!), Buddha’s Hand is an exploration of Chinese ingredients, with distinct botanicals such as sichuan pepper, galangal and star anise. It’s balanced with traditional gin botanicals meaning it’s very well-rounded. The addition of buddha’s hand (or finger citron as it’s also known) complements this gin’s bold aromatic notes, adding juicy, sharp citrus.
The label artwork
LadyJane has produced all of the artwork linked to Buddha’s Hand Gin, and of course worked on this limited edition Year of the Rabbit label. Jane said “The Year of the Rabbit is focused on good fortune, longevity and prosperity – the colour pallet is opulent with rich greens and golds. Forest Green is seen as a lucky colour in Chinese culture, so it was a perfect fit to represent all that we hope 2023 brings!”.
Buddha’s Hand Gin
Buddha’s Hand Gin is inspired by classic Chinese flavours. The juicy fruits of buddha’s hand and pomelo, along with sweet jujube, are balanced with the fragrant notes of sichuan pepper, star anise, ginger and chrysanthemum. An exceptional blend of botanicals results in a remarkably refreshing gin.
Distiller Ryan felt a touch of nostalgia working on this recipe as as he says “It was the first gin we ever sent out as part of the gin club, back when club numbers were really small and each month, members got the same batch bottle number”.
“I love the mix of botanicals in this gin – finger citron (buddha’s hand) doesn’t look like a fruit but it’s really tasty. I also had no idea what a pomelo was until we first made this gin. Some well-known supermarkets have fresh ones in at this time of year – I highly recommend buying one as popping a bit in your G&T as a garnish! I also love the smell of the distillery after I’ve made this gin – it’s just like a Chinese takeaway or the spice isle in a Chinese supermarket 😍
Perfect Serve
Serve over ice with Indian tonic and garnish with grapefruit and a sprig of thyme.
Lychee Gin Mule
To make this aromatic cocktail…
You’ll need:
50ml Buddha’s Hand Gin
50ml lychee liqueur
Bar spoon of simple syrup
Lime juice
Ginger beer
Ice
Lychees (fresh or tinned)
Mint
To make:
Combine all the ingredients except the ginger beer in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a wine glass filled with crushed ice and top with ginger beer Garnish with the lychees and mint.
