Gin Cocktail Recipes With a California Twist
Jan and Marsh Mokhtari believed they have been living out their California Dream. Jan labored as a multi-award-successful creative director for some of the world’s largest manufacturers, and Marsh hosted food items and experience displays on Nat Geo, Travel Channel, and the Foods Community. In spite of their qualified success, they planted seeds for a new gin-based mostly venture throughout a family members vacation alongside Big Sur’s iconic shoreline. With couple distilleries really running in California, they noticed their chance to create a uniquely California spirit that would convey joy to other individuals and assistance sustainable causes—and maybe in the course of action develop anything that would make their daughters happy.
“It’s humorous that we started off a distillery to make our youngsters happy, but which is just what occurred,” Jan states of what became the Golden State Distillery. The relationship among sunny California and the gloom related with the ordinarily British spirit could not appear clear at very first. Marsh, nonetheless, argues that “there’s just one spirit that embodies the full condition of California––it’s gin,” citing its special taste based mostly in “those gorgeous botanicals,” which their distillery can source from the full Golden State.

The pair dedicated to the prospect and sold their home to start the distillery, as Jan place it, “just taking tiny minimal child steps, every one day, to manifest this into happening.” To discover the art of distilling a distinctly California gin, nonetheless, Marsh had to head out of condition, touring the world to analyze the craft, whilst Jan centered on refining their branding, inevitably landing on their title: Gray Whale Gin.
“We just believed that if we’re going to create a spirit that states, ‘I enjoy you, California,’ let us call it the Gray Whale Gin,” states Jan. “It’s a celebration of the two this gorgeous condition and the majestic creature that actually hugs the full shoreline.”

Making very good on that first guarantee to market sustainability and make their youngsters happy, Jan and Marsh have centered on producing a significant influence for gray whales. This consists of standard donations to the two Oceana and one% for the Earth, and also partnering with Oceana on a specific initiative to successfully ban drift gill nets off the coast of California––a significant threat to the migratory journey of gray whales and their calves.
That exact migratory journey also served as inspiration for what goes within every bottle. Just about every of the six botanicals present a special style of California and are sustainably sourced from organic farms or wild harvested alongside the gray whale’s migratory route.
Their juniper berries are foraged from Big Sur’s rugged shoreline, fir tree needles impart the freshness of Northern California’s coastal pines and Kombu Seaweed adds a contact of Pacific spray into every bottle. Gray Whale Gin also leans into California’s happy agricultural record with a sleek infusion of clean lime, mint and almonds.

Perfecting this seven-times distilled recipe took two several years, 152 batches and plenty of tasting sessions. The ultimate consequence is a gin that hits your nose with refreshing aroma and leaves your palate with a silky-sleek almond finish––a quintessential Californian spirit from start out-to-complete. Their endeavours have paid out off with many awards and constructive market recognition.
Here’s how you can benefit from all they’ve realized alongside the way with couple of Jan and Marsh’s preferred gin cocktail recipes.
A few refreshing gin beverages with a California twist.

Oceanside
“Like an Eastsider, it is an extremely refreshing minty and lime consume which is served in a tall collins glass. But this just one has salted uncomplicated, which adds a minimal oceanic taste and elevates some of the botanicals. It is definitely anything you want to sip on all during the gorgeous summer season months, but it is fantastic all-yr-spherical.” -Marsh Mokhtari
Components:
+ 2 oz gin
+ .75 oz Salted Very simple
+ .75 oz lime
+ 6 mint leaves
+ soda water
Directions:
Combine mint, lime juice, gin, and salted uncomplicated into a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake for three to 4 seconds. Strain above clean ice in a collins glass, best with soda and garnish with a mint bouquet.
Gold State Gimlet
“It’s a minimal bit extra of a boozy cocktail and the Chareau Aloe Liqueur adds a stage of mintiness. The normal gimlet is lime juice and gin, but we’re employing lemon juice, gin and Chareau. It is a very compact amount of money of Chareau, which is this gorgeous spirit from California, but it is incredible.” -Marsh
Components:
+ 2oz Gray Whale Gin
+ .75oz lemon juice
+ .5 pieces Chareau Aloe Liqueur
+ .5 pieces uncomplicated syrup
Directions:
Shake all substances together and pressure into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Whale Hello There
“We call it, ‘summer in a glass.’ It is very similar to a skinny Margarita recipe, so it is just lemon juice, limes, agave and Gray Whale Gin. The botanicals definitely occur out for the reason that the recipe is so uncomplicated and you just come to feel like you’re sitting down upcoming to the ocean, on the seashore. It is a group preferred, we have it at every event.” -Jan Mokhtari
Components:
+ 2 parts Gray Whale Gin
+ one/2 portion clean lime juice
+ one/2 portion clean lemon juice
+ one/2 portion agave syrup
Directions:
Incorporate all substances into a shaker, fill with ice and shake to mix. Strain above clean ice in a rocks glass and garnish with a lemon peel.
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