Böser Kater Handcrafted Blackberry Gin

At the Schleihauf fruit distillery in Germany, third-generation distiller Adrian Schleihauf has built the Böser Kater range around handmade spirits and a soft spot for cats, sending part of every sale to cat protection in honour of his cat Rüdiger. This Blackberry Gin keeps things honest: juniper, blackberries and elderflower, bottled vegan with no added flavourings or sugar, so what reaches the glass is the fruit itself rather than a sweetened approximation.

It pours a dark violet, the nose full of ripe blackberry and a floral elderflower lift. The palate stays true to that, classic juniper underpinning the bramble fruit with elderflower softening the edges, into a long close. It is made for a Mediterranean-style gin and tonic: build it over ice with a dry tonic and a few fresh blackberries so the fruit can stretch out.