Never Never Distilling Co has again partnered with Italian flavour mixology maestro, Lorenzo Antinori, to create Coffee & Cacao Gin, an innovative and exciting gin that celebrates the classic Italian Tiramisu dessert experience.
The gin captures flavours that include roasted coffee bean, cacao nib, cacao butter and bergamot peel, and as with most of Never Never’s collaborative gins, it will only be available for a limited time directly through their website.
Never Never Brand Director and Co-founder Sean Baxter said: “We’re constantly inspired by the people we work alongside in our industry.
“Lorenzo’s new venue in Hong Kong is all about Italian football, flavour and fun, so when he approached us about making a gin that aligned to his vision, we of course had to get involved.”
And while this gin is described as tasting like standing in a bar in Rome with an espresso and sfogliatelle, Sean said it also works as a cocktail gin.
“If we’re making a gin aligned to the very best that Italy has to offer it better make a damn good Negroni,” he said. “We wanted to build a gin whose purpose was to create delicious coffee and chocolate forward Negronis and work with the dark earthy flavours found in Italian sweet vermouth.”
Lorenzo Antinori, founder of Bar Leone agrees, saying: “I love the nod to Italy – these flavours are truly representative of both food and drinks tradition, this gin excites me because it carries a big body with lots of layers of flavours: toasted ones, umami but also citrusy and floral.”
Coffee & Cacao Gin is also perfectly suited to complement a chinotto highball, garnished with fresh orange, the vanilla and citrus notes working beautifully with the natural bitterness found in Italy’s favourite bitter mixer.
Cacao butter is ‘washed’ into the gin to give a rich and decadent mouthfeel. The added palate weight allows the earthy tones of coffee and chocolate to linger and extend into darker spices and soft vanilla notes.
“Washing spirit with fats is definitely something very prevalent within the bar community,” says Sean, “however it’s still largely something that doesn’t occur as a production technique within gin.”
Innovation is an important part of why Never Never continues to collaborate with the best bartenders and venues in the world. This innovation extends from everything to ingredient selection, production technique or even the spirit category. The roasted coffee used in the gin was from local coffee purveyors Dawn Patrol who provided a Caturra varietal from Colombia. The dark Peruvian cacao that was used in the gin was sourced from local chocolatiers Hark.
Lorenzo was excited to work with Never Never once again, having already created the ARGO Gin with them back in 2020. Argo went on to win countless awards for excellence in international spirit competitions and is still a feature on the ARGO cocktail menu at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong.
“When it comes to gin Never Never make some of the best in class. I’ve developed a friendship with the team, because we all share similar visions; quality over quantity, creative but still approachable,” Lorenzo said.
And for those curious about the colour scheme, the bright colours of the label are a homage to not only the Bar Leone, but also the Roma football team, its orange yellow and red stripes aligning to the famous sleeves of the club’s vintage jersey.
“The colours chosen for the gin bottle have a very strong nostalgic feel, they make me feel at home and work so well with our brand and universe,” Lorenzo said.
