Viva Lewes Issue #145 October 2018

DRINK
Sussex Blue Gin
Turning Sussex pink
It’s fair to say
Harley House
Distillery
are strong
contenders in
the local spirit
game. Not only
do they distil
their gin just
down the road
in Seaford from
a mixture of 15 botanicals, one of which
grows right here on the South Downs,
they even produce their own base alcohol
– which is rare for a small distillery – using
locally-sourced water. But with new Sussex
distilleries popping up all the time, how can
one make sure it stands out from the rest?
Harley House have come up with a unique
idea: Sussex Blue Gin. In the bottle, the
spirit is a deep, inky blue – which already
catches your eye on the shelf. But the real
magic happens when you mix it; the acidity
of the tonic turns the blue gin to a bright,
flamboyant pink. I pick up a bottle from
Symposium (£35) to bring with me to a
dinner party.
To prepare, pour one measure of gin over a
few cubes of ice. (Hold the lemon because,
as the man at Symposium points out, the
acidity causes the colour to change before
you have a chance to add the mixer.) Then
pour over the tonic and watch as the drink
bubbles from blue to purple to pink. Spritz
with edible glitter (optional) and enjoy.
So it is a bit of a gimmick, but it’s a gimmick
that keeps us entertained with every pour.
We polish off that bottle and, although the
flavour is more on the floral side than I
would normally go for, I’d buy it again just
for the magic. Rebecca Cunningham
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