Opinion | Weird gin flavours are trending – beef, oyster or elephant dung, anyone?

Gin has come a long way from the London gins of old, and distillers are adding all kinds of strange flavours to stand out from the crowd

Traditionalists want the classic juniper to remain, but new gin makers are putting everything from truffle to dry-aged beef in their spirits

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Victoria Chow

Published: 4:45pm, 6 Sep 2022Updated: 3:20pm, 7 Sep 2022

All rules are off when it comes to gin these days.

Green ants, dry-aged beef, elephant dung and truffles – these are a few of my favourite … weird gin botanicals!

So how did we get here – from the humble London Dry gins such as Beefeater that our grandfathers used to drink, to this Harry Potter every-flavour-bean assortment of ingredients?

Let’s start at the very beginning.

Gins have evolved from the juniper-flavoured London gins (above) our grandparents used to drink. Photo: Shutterstock

What is gin exactly? By definition in European Union and United States law, it is a spirit that “must derive its main characteristic flavour from juniper berries”. For those unfamiliar with it, juniper has a distinct piny and resinous aroma.

Opinion | Weird gin flavours are trending – beef, oyster or elephant dung, anyone?

Gin has come a long way from the London gins of old, and distillers are adding all kinds of strange flavours to stand out from the crowd Traditionalists want the classic juniper to remain, but new gin makers are putting everything from truffle to dry-aged beef in their spirits

Gin has come a long way from the London gins of old, and distillers are adding all kinds of strange flavours to stand out from the crowd

Traditionalists want the classic juniper to remain, but new gin makers are putting everything from truffle to dry-aged beef in their spirits