Breakfast in Palermo Gin, Monachus
Scent and flavor: our new gin is truly different, playful, and exciting. In the aroma, there is orange, a little pine from the juniper, and chocolaty smokiness from coffee. The taste of this fully transparent gin is a fine balance of orange on the tongue and an aftertaste of coffee. Together they build an aroma and taste of Jaffa Cake- a welcome surprise!
Capacity (L):
0,5
About Monachus Breakfast In Palermo Gin
Breakfast in Palermo Gin 0.5L, second batch, limited edition of 200 bottles
Alc.vol.: 42%
Ingredients: organic juniper, organic orange peel, Perú Mayar coffee
Scent and flavour: this new gin is truly different, playful, and exciting. In the aroma, there is orange, a little pine from the juniper, and chocolaty smokiness from coffee. The taste of this fully transparent gin is a fine balance of orange on the tongue and an aftertaste of coffee. Together they build an aroma and taste of Jaffa Cake- a welcome surprise!
As with their first, Monachus Dry Gin, and their second, There Will Be Blood Orange Gin, Monachus was guided by simplicity, in this case with a bit of improvisation and playfulness added to the mix. They wanted to make gin with coffee for quite some time. Last year they met Erika and Matteo from the first Istrian speciality coffee roastery – Bora Nera, who source their coffee from small farmers, women’s cooperatives, and permaculture farming. They used their Perú Mayar coffee from permaculture farming, with chocolate, ripe fruit, honey taste and aroma, and some acidity.
Once distilled, the Peru coffee distillate is strong, smokey, and opulent, reawakening the images of black coffee brewed in grandma’s coffee pot. It needed something playful and fresh to counterbalance the flavours. Inspired by the eclectic Palermo, Monachus team remembered the scent and the atmosphere of a morning in the city. You’d start a day with coffee, a brioche, and spremuta, a freshly pressed orange juice in an old-school bar. Thus they added orange, a key part of the Sicilian breakfast, and citrus that grows everywhere on the island, even at the bus stops in the middle of the city. Once more, they used Mandarinet’s wonderful organic oranges from the south of Croatia.
There are no added sugars or artificial aromas in this gin: the natural aroma of freshly peeled and macerated orange and Perú Mayar coffee gives this gin its unique flavour.
For this special edition gin, Monachus decided to stain the labels with real coffee using grandma’s coffee cups. It’s an effect so often seen when drinking coffee in a bar, leaving a stain on the napkin. They also sprinkled the labels with some orange tint to reminisce the organic oranges used in this gin.
About Monachus Distillery
Monachus was founded as a channel of expression for passion and interest in flavours and aromas, the specific natural environment of the Istrian peninsula, and sustainability.
Only a year after launching their first product - Monachus Dry Gin - in the wake of the global pandemic in February 2020, they had their first export, and that to Japan in February 2021. The second shipment to Japan followed in November 2021, and Monachus distillates appeared on the menus of bars all around Japan, among which two are listed on the World's and Asia's 50 Best Bars. In 2022, they started exporting to Slovenia, and Monachus is being recognized by some of the best restaurants in Croatia and its surroundings. All of it is from their former garage in Premantura.
But let's rewind to the beginning when driven by curiosity, they travelled to some of the best European distilleries, from the big, renowned producers, to small family farms- tasting the finest of the European fruit brandy production and spirits obtained by maceration and distillation of herbs, flowers, and nuts (all of it spiced with the gin craze in the last 10 years). Educating themselves on the matter of fermentation and distilling, ingredients and flavours through books; going foraging, experimental fermenting, and distilling in a petit still that they ordered from a second-generation blacksmith near Zagreb, all led to packing their bags to Japan to learn hands-on about working with herbs, fruit, and alcohol to extract and capture the flavours at the Mitosaya Botanical Distillery in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo.
Mitosaya is one of the fastest-growing Japanese craft distillery brands, where Yuko Yamamoto and Hiroshi Eguchi stand for botanical discoveries and perpetual experiments with Japanese fruit and herbs. From them, Monachus draw inspiration and knowledge to work with citruses, uses fresh instead of dried herbs in the production, and always makes time for new ideas.
Monachus focuses on working with local, certified organic or low-intervention fruit and wild herbs, experimenting with fermentations and flavours, getting to know all the suppliers, and knowing exactly which orchard fruit is coming from. The human touch in production and transparent ingredient sourcing has been one of their core values from day one. Monachus flavour experiments often include the use of citruses and coffee, whose use has become their signature already. Fermenting citruses is an endeavour that not many distilleries embark on, as the yield is low. In their small, experimental production, Monachus value refined products from the best possible ingredients far more than the mere quantity.
Monachus avoids following the established rules of the industry, as they were always more interested in gastronomy and fair production than spirits competitions. What they define as a real success of their products is the fact that people want to drink and enjoy them, chefs want to have them on their beverage lists, and mixologists want to create flavour combinations with them. And that's what matters.