First Impressions
Gerry Calabrese — East London drinks maverick, operating from the Hoxton Pony bar — created this tropical gin before the flavoured gin boom made such experiments commonplace. The production method is distinctive: botanicals steep for up to six weeks to extract maximum flavour before distillation in 150-year-old copper pot stills. Six weeks of maceration is extraordinarily long by gin standards, and it shows in the intensity of the tropical character.
Tasting
Six botanicals: coconut, grapefruit, juniper, ginger, tarragon, and orris root. The nose is unapologetically tropical — vanilla cream soda, desiccated coconut, lime cordial, with a waft of eucalyptus. On the palate, bitter grapefruit and ginger arrive first, pine from juniper develops on the late palate, coconut provides creamy sweetness, and tarragon adds unexpected herbal complexity. The finish is bright and tropical with lingering citrus and ginger warmth.
The Bottom Line
Hoxton earns a 6 — a polarising gin that you will either love or dismiss. The six-week maceration produces genuine flavour intensity, and the combination of coconut and grapefruit is inspired: sweetness and bitterness in constant tension. But juniper takes a back seat, arriving late rather than leading, which will frustrate purists. Best in a Piña Colada riff or a tropical G&T with pineapple. At £36, a conversation piece that rewards the open-minded.
