Tayēr Yuzu Gimlet

A Gimlet is gin and lime sharpened to a point. Swap the lime for yuzu and it changes character completely: yuzu carries the acidity of a lime but wears a floral, grapefruit-and-mandarin perfume on top, which is why Japanese bartenders have built so much around it.

This is Berg and Kratena's version, bottled at Tayēr + Elementary on Old Street. Gin, yuzu, and just enough sugar to stop the acid cutting too deep.

Pale gold-green in the glass, and the nose is almost entirely yuzu — bright, aromatic, a little herbal. The palate is razor-sharp and short on ceremony. Citrus first and hardest, gin's botanicals holding the line underneath, the sugar barely registering except as balance. The finish is long and somehow cold-feeling, which makes more sense once you have drunk it.

The most refreshing thing in the range, and the bottle to open when the weather is doing something unreasonable.

How to Serve

Very cold, straight from the fridge into a chilled coupe. A twist of lemon or a thin wheel of lime. It does not need ice.

Where to Drink It

Tayēr + Elementary, where it started. Artesian at The Langham, for something equally precise.

Food Pairings

Sashimi, or anything raw and cold. Tempura works too — the acid does the same job a squeeze of lemon would.