D.I.T.A (Death in the Afternoon) Absinthe
Tasting note: Bright and fresh with a herbal fragrance of organic wormwood, sweet greens, anise and citrus. Gently bitter, smooth and balanced. Natural colour from wormwood, melissa and pineapple sage, evolving to a golden hue over time. This is a sign of quality, not detrimental to taste.
Serving note: Dilute 3 to 5 parts with ice cold water. An excellent addition to many cocktails.
HASTINGS DISTILLERS
Throughout our careers we’ve made wine in many parts of the globe. We’ve created wine brands – ‘Alluviale’, and the avant-garde ‘DaDa’, a bottle of which sits in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. We raised a family, formed our wine consultancy company and spent years perfecting the art of growing, harvesting, fermentation, extraction, aging and blending.
In 2015 we took a break and travelled to Europe, where our curiosity for distillation was reignited. For David it had always been there. As a child, time spent with his grandfather while he was distilling, studies at university in Bordeaux and quietly bubbling away while he was visiting friends in Cognac and Armagnac. For Kate it was the opportunity to further explore an interest in therapeutic herbs - and so, Hastings Distillers was born. Extensive travel followed with David learning from some of the best in France, Germany, UK and North America. Meanwhile Kate embarked on a 3 year project, growing, foraging and distilling anything of interest resulting in the creation of an olfactory library of over 300 botanicals.
Building on our winemaking skills, we set out to create sophisticated, unique spirits and liqueurs. Classics given a modern interpretation. To find the purest expression of our collection of botanicals, the choice to use only organic and biodynamic ingredients was evident.
Great thinkers and artists inform our craft: Tolstoy, Steiner, Hauschka, Shauberger, Tuwhare, Baxter. We love what we do, the eternal quest for beauty following our guiding tenet: Natura enim est Mensura - Nature is the measure.
– Kate Galloway and David Ramonteu