Are Small Batch Craft Gins The Next Big Thing?

Halftone Trio

In the printing industry, the word “halftone” describes a style of layering different colors of dots on top of each other to create a composite effect. “That’s like how I make gin,” says Andrew Said Thomas, the co-owner and distiller at Halftone Spirits in Brooklyn, New York.  Instead of ink, Thomas uses a palette of ever-changing botanicals to layer new flavors into his small batches (one hundred bottles per) of gin.

Thomas describes what he makes as “modern gins for the modern drinker.”  Gin always features juniper, which contributes the piney notes that consumers either love or hate.  Like many producers, Thomas adds multiple types of spices, herbs, fruits, and flowers to his one hundred gallon column still (at differing stages, more on that later), which starts with a base of 100% New York grown corn. His flagship gin shows clean, dry, and spicy, with delicate notes of pink peppercorn and lemongrass. His more traditional London Dry offers a masculine expression of a trio of citrus peels, spice, and spruce tip that is robust and true to style.  Both are bottled at a vigorous 94 proof—perfect for mixing a nice strong cocktail.

3 Styles of Gin

The fun really begins with Thomas’s experimental gins, which he creates seasonally within 3 categories.  The Wavelength series presents gins based on color.  Last Spring’s Magenta reportedly reminded tasters of a dry rosé wine, its pink hue giving way to “full on fruit” flavors of the rose hips, raspberry, and hibiscus within. Next up: a black gin, earthy with tea and smoked peppercorns.  Just released: the even brighter pink 2021 version. Other new and notables include a black gin, earthy with tea and smoked peppercorns and a Mojito Lime packed with fresh mint in limited release for the company’s one year anniversary on June 12, 2021.

The Overlay series nods to Halftone’s partnership with Finback Brewery, combining hops with more traditional aromatics to great effect. In the opening version, cascade hops provide their classic grapefruit-y notes and Thomas’s addition of wormwood, licorice, and orris root, among other botanicals, creates a unique forest-y brew, with a slight haze from the hop oil. 

The third series, called Modular, features gins named with 3 letter international airport codes, represented by local flavors like genmaicha and shiso for last year’s HND (Haneda Airport in Tokyo), or the upcoming SVQ, with Seville orange, sea kelp, and olive leaf.

Thomas infuses these flavors at different stages in the process depending on the nature of the ingredient. Alcohol-soluble ones like citrus peels, juniper, and the unique hawthorn berry (a member of the rose family native to New England whose floral notes figure prominently in the flagship gin) are added to the distillate for maceration in the 55% alcohol. More delicate aromatics like sumac and lemongrass are placed in a gin basket to allow the vapor to pass through them, picking up aroma and flavor along the way. For a new distillery (the company launched production in Spring 2020 and will celebrate at their Brooklyn studio’s first Juniper Fest on June 12, 2021), experimentation can be exciting but costly. Says Thomas, “we aim to make 10-12 gins per year, but embossed labels are expensive, and getting the formulas approved by the federal government can take up to 4 weeks.”

Try Before You Buy

The lucky guests at Halftone’s Gowanus cocktail lounge (which they share with Finback’s taproom) get to test out Thomas’s latest recipes (or take them to go), both on their own and in creatively customized drinks.  “Our bartenders like to challenge drinkers with what they concoct—and that keeps our patrons engaged,” says Thomas. Currently, the gins are bottled in 375 mls—perfect for trying different styles at home, and distribution in New York State is slated to launch this month. Halftone Spirits is considered a farm distillery, a license that regulates production volume, but allows on-premise consumption, to-go bottles and cocktails, and in-state shipping.

More Experimental Gins

letherbee gins

Other prominent gin distilleries have seen great success in making experimental gins in limited quantity. Chicago’s Letherbee Distillers sells out of their Vernal and Autumnal gins (past versions include a complex green chile and charming strawberry vanilla) within weeks of each seasonal launch.  London’s Sipsmith shares their experiments via post with the members-only Sipping Society—just a few winners have made the cut and gone into larger production, like their chocolatey Orange and Cacao Gin.

Along with the aforementioned SVQ and Black gins and the return of Magenta, Halftone Spirits fans can look forward to several additions to the lineup in 2021, including a breakfast gin flavored with fenugreek and warm spice, and the next Overlay with Kashmir hops enhanced with tropical notes of pineapple husk and coconut. Stop by the cocktail lounge to try a frozen shot of the already popular Aquavit, a robust “caraway and dill forward” version of the traditional Scandinavian spirit, and get a taste of Halftone’s botanical prowess.