Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin

Beefeater has been distilling in London since 1820, the only internationally shipped gin still made entirely in the capital, its bottle guarded by a Yeoman Warder of the Tower. Beefeater 24 is Master Distiller Desmond Payne's tribute to the teahouses of the East: after eighteen months experimenting with teas and herbs, he built a bill of twelve botanicals around grapefruit peel, Japanese Sencha and Chinese green tea. The name marks the 24-hour maceration that lets them fully unfold.

The nose is fresh citrus and classic juniper with coriander, angelica and a green-tea note threading underneath. The palate is smooth and complex, exotic citrus over juniper, closing long with coriander and angelica. It makes an elegant, slightly grassy G&T, especially with a twist of grapefruit to chime with the peel in the bill.