Beefeater 24 is a premium gin expression from Beefeater that is made from 12 different botanicals, including a rare blend of Japanese Sencha and Chinese green tea leaves that have been steeped for 24 hours in the spirit before being distilled. This expression was inspired by then-Master Distiller Desmond Payne's travels in Japan, where he tasted Sencha and fell in love with its vegetal, nutty properties.

Beefeater's then-Master Distiller Desmond Payne, who created Beefeater 24. 

The process of creating Beefeater 24 took Payne over 18 months. Previously, Payne also experimented with other tea leaves, including Darjeeling and Assam teas, but concluded that those varietals winded up tasting too bitter when distilled. Sencha tea, on the other hand, was able to withstand the 24-hour maceration period without losing its lightly grassy and refreshing properties.

One alteration that Payne did have to make to accomodate the addition of green tea leaves in the botanical bill was to "cut" the tails of the resulting distillate much earlier than he normally would, as the astringency from the sencha did start to come through near the end of each distillation run. Payne estimates that this results in almost one-third of the distillate being unusable, but maintains that this helps to ensure that the Beefeater 24 expression remains high-quality albeit smaller volume in nature. 

During distillation, the resulting distillate from each distillation run has to be "cut" by the distiller. First to separate the foreshots and the heads (which often contain harmful compounds and off-flavours and will be discard), then the hearts (which is what is bottled for consumption), then the tails (which, like the heads, often contains unwanted flavour compounds and will be discarded). In the case of Beefeater 24, Payne makes a much earlier cut off at the tail to prevent tannicity from the tea leaves to influence the final gin. 

Apart from the Sencha tea, Green tea and grapefruit peels, the other nine botanicals would be quite familiar to those who have tried the original Beefeater gin, and includes juniper, almond, angelica, coriander, lemon, licorice, orange and orris root. 

Let's get to it! 

Beefeater 24 - Tasting Notes

Aroma: Very bright and zesty with a mix of grapefruit peels, orange zest and crisp, piney juniper. There's a gentle suggestion of gyokuro tea leaves on subsequent snips, imparting a slightly umami, earthy edge to the aroma. 

Taste: Fresh and zingy with a flourish of lime zest and lemon peels that gradually evolves into that of candied lemon drops. There's a bit more noticeable heat in this compared to the original Beefeater, which takes the form of coriander seeds, white pepper and some cardamom flavours. Juniper's presence in this gin is slightly mellow but nonetheless felt throughout, imparting a subtle earthy undertone to this gin that is well complemented by the grassy qualities of the tea leaves in this gin. 

Finish: Long and dry, with mellow, lingering notes of juniper pine and freshly cut grass. While not apparent on the palate, there is a mild astringency from the green tea leaves that now comes through in the finish. 

Beefeater 24 in a Gin & Tonic:

I paired this one with an Elderflower and Blood Orange tonic and was pleasantly surprised to see how the tonic brought out a more roasted quality to the tea leaf flavours. That said, this gin still feels very classic in application, with juniper holding its ground, and still coming through despite the interplay of earthy and citrusy flavors at the fore. In the tonic, the finish is longer with slight bit more astringency. 

Overall Thoughts

What struck out to me about this gin is how bouncy and bright its aromas and flavours were - delivering a nice orange citrusy zestiness, while expertly avoiding taking on a more bitter, tannic profile as is the risk when working with tea leaves as a gin botanicals.

This gin still walks and talks like a very mixable London Dry though, so don't expect something that diverges too far in flavour profile from the original Beefeater. It retained a similar crispness and an ever-present pine backbone of juniper berries, except, it was a tad bit more nuanced with an added grassiness and apparent zingy heat. It's differences are best appreciated toward the finish, where a dry roastiness of the tea leaves finally comes through with greater finesse. 

Overall, a delicious, layered gin that's just as mixable as the original but also a gin I wouldn't mind sipping neat. 

With juniper and joy,

@lotusroot518