And it’s even better when you travel there to get it.
The Yucatán Peninsula is a lavish slab of limestone separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea . Along its edge , white sand meets cerulean sea , resulting in some ofthe most beautiful beachesanywhere on the satellite . Upwards of 3.2 million annual visitors flock to the region ofMexicoto bask in that serenity . And many of them arrive thirsty for Mexican tipples , which most often meanstequila(in margarita and paloma configuration ) or warm - weather - friendly lagers .
But at theRosewood Mayakoba , a resort set up amidst the emerald lagoon and mangrove jungles of the Riviera Maya , guests are treat to a extract potable that speak with a specific sense of place : It is the lyric of the Yucatán , in fluid form . And it ’s not another tequila .
The mind for a brand name - new Mexican hard drink — the result of a last friendly relationship between a celebrated chef and an iconic distiller — was born at the resort hotel ’s cocktail legal community , Zapote , which itself is charge as a making love missive to theYucatán .
Gin Katún
“ We call it the ‘ Journey Bar , ’ because that ’s precisely how we like our guests to find , ” explains chef Juan Pablo Loza , music director of culinary operation . “ There are unlike way to create the journeys and sometimes its literal . For model , when a invitee is odd about mezcales … We take them to our little blue room where we have a beautiful collection of hereditary spirits . We care to describe it as a berth of find . ”
As an technologist of alone flavour — both in the kitchen and behind the bar — Loza often discovers his own inspiration through collaboration with like - tending colleagues . For the cocktail curriculum at Zapote , he enlisted help from his friends atLicorería Limantour , a Mexico City boozing hideout frequently mentioned among the world ’s best stripe . Together they consider signature crapulence including the Hoja Santa ( mezcal , sherry , and elderflower liqueur imbued with the eponymic , peppery herbaceous plant ) and the Eneldo , which combines vodka with a local anise liqueur called Xtabentún .
Most of these cocktails weave some native component into the mix . But after a brainstorming session with distiller Roberto Brinkman , it became obvious that these same factor could be used to work up the underlying spirits themselves . After all , the two reasoned , an inventive bar menu is jolly much expected athigh - ending resortsthese days . A Cu still in the kitchen , however , would take this conception to a whole new stage . And the most sensible fomite to get there was a victual not normally associated with Mexico : gin .
Imagine trying to put this—the Yucatán—in a bottle.|Gerard Puigmal/Moment/Getty Images
Rethink Mexican alcohol with this gin
Actually , Loza and Brinkman first met a decade ago over a feeding bottle of mezcal . Back then , Brinkman was crafting Bruxo , his own brand of the agave life , in Oaxaca . Several eld later , he moved to Mérida and finally launchedKatún — the first ever Yucatecan cotton gin — in 2019 . It now betray in US marketplace for around $ 42 a bottleful . The success of that liquid indirectly brought the two friends back together .
“ When I first tried Katún , I wanted to know who was making it , ” call up Loza . “ When I got the contact info , I realized it was [ my old protagonist ] Roberto . And I live I want to showcase his cognitive operation at Zapote : from the stark naked constituent to the corn alcohol — with all of these botanicals and Mayan ingredients — to the distilling where you’re able to smack and eventually smack the final result . ”
Because of how it ’s produced , gin is a spirit especially dependant to carry terroir — in other tidings , you may try out the flavors of the soil and general environment in which it ’s made . A proprietary portmanteau word of botanical ( with dried raetam berries at the top of the list ) are used to flavor a neutral grain heart . The freshman those botanical are , the more expressive the end effect . you may think of it as herbal infused vodka : the tea leaf of the hard liquor existence . And if guests are here during one of Brinkman ’s frequent visits , they can see it getting brewed .
Spirits are born at Zapote bar in Riviera Maya.|Rosewood Mayakoba
Taste bits of Mexico with fruit and chilies in every sip
“ The idea is toshowpeople how the Yucatán shapes the flavor of the liquidness , ” explains Brinkman . “ For the citrus , we use china lima that ’s endemic to the region , as well as a calx that ’s used to make Copa de Lima — a very traditional local soup . The usance of chilies also gives it a very trenchant visibility . Habanero is well - known in Mexico as ‘ the chile of Yucatan . ’ In Mérida you could always discover it on every restaurant table . In the gin it adds more of a especial , savory note than a savory one . ”
Brinkman shows up with many of these ingredients already dried , including other chilies less intimate to American palates such as xcatic and pais peppers . And while at Mayakoba , he often scours the surroundings to discover other fruit and herbs to flavor his formula , ad hoc . It ’s a colorful pallette that he tack , both to the eye and on the tongue . Layered upon the limestone - rich water of Yucatán’slegendary cenotes , you ’re left with something that sings with an unmistakable earthiness : peppery , spicy , and vibrant . It sips well unaccompanied over deoxyephedrine , but is still perfectly distinguishable as the nub of the many pop gin cocktails at Zapote .
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See where the magic happens
Proof of concept exists not only in the telling customer answer , but in the fact that Brinkman is finding himself regularly traversing the 186 - statute mile stretch of road between Mérida and Mayakoba . “ We take advantage of the fact that he can push a few minute and be here to show this transformation of flavors , ” says Loza . “ And the whole [ gin - making ] process takes him only an 60 minutes . decently now we ’re doing this three to four meter a year , but we also do it upon asking . ”
So even if you ’re not on property at the same clip as Brinkman , there ’s still rich opportunity to sip his artistry . A stay at the Rosewood Mayakoba does not come brassy ; voluptuary standalone suites straw between jungle and ocean begin at around $ 1,600 per night . But it ’s one - of - a - kind experiences like these that assist rationalize the monetary value , ensuring that guests can take in the beauty of the Yucatán — quite literally .
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Juan Pablo Loza knows his ancestral spirits.|Zapote Bar
Juniper berries and chile peppers give this gin a Mexican twist.|Gin Katún
Stay at Rosewood Mayakoba to really taste the Yucatán.|Rosewood Mayakoba
