In part, Hong Kong owes this fragrant ingredient its name. If you look at what ‘Hong Kong’ actually means, it translates quite literally to ‘Fragrance Harbour’. This pays homage to the city’s long history as a port town and a place of trade for spices and fragrant goods from all over the world. This included Indian sandalwood! If you visit temples in Hong Kong today, they’re filled with the scent of this ingredient.

A historical memory of the aromatic woods that once flowed through our island harbour, leading to its name of the Port of Fragrance, and still used in temples around the corners of Hong Kong. We source our sandalwood from “Wing Lee 永利檀香”, providing incense sticks for over a century.

If you walk the streets of Hong Kong in the summer, you’ll see bunches of tangerines drying in the sun. As a common Chinese proverb says, aged tangerine peel is worth its weight in gold. Kit and Joseph source aged tangerine peel from a local family business called “Tung Cheong 同昌海味”. First opened in 1971, three generations of the Cheong family have worked there, treating tangerine peels.

Albert of Tung Cheong smiles, “We first opened in 1971, but my family has been in the business for over a century. Traditionally aged tangerine has been to infuse wine in China, but this is the first time it has been used to make a gin.” The aging process softens the bitterness of the peel, and through trial and error, the folk at Cheong have discovered that 15 years is the perfect length of time to cultivate the best citrusy fragrance and flavour. Albert explains, “People often have the misconception that the older the tangerine is, the better it smells. But that’s not always true! You can’t tell by just looking at the surface, you have to break a piece open to release the scent.”

Traditional gin contains citrus notes, often lemon or grapefruit peels. We selected a signature citrus ingredient from the east, aged Tangerine peel. The bitterness of the tangerine peel has been softened by its long aging process, leaving only the sweet citrusy flavour that has become a traditional seasoning with medicinal properties throughout southern Chinese culture.

Also known as the ‘dragon well tea’, longjing green tea is fragrant and sweet. Kit and Joseph source the potent botanical from ‘’Ming Heung Tea茗香茶莊’’. Michael of Ming Heung says, “I have been working in the tea industry for my whole life, ever since I could remember. The business started in 1963 with my dad selling tea leaves on his bike. My dad eventually met two teachers, who taught him to master the principles of making good tea.” He passed on that knowledge to his children, and today Ming Heung trades the very finest teas, including the longjing tea in your April gin. Michael smiles, “Our longjing tea is known for it’s freshness.”

As with everything in Perfume Trees gin, we have carefully selected a premium tea blend of Long Jing green tea from a traditional tea house of over 50 years old in Hong Kong to give a strong and flavourful foundation to the gin.

A lesser known ingredient that is traditional used in gin is western angelica, used to help fix the collective flavours. We have chosen instead to use Chinese angelica, a distinctive warm, earthy and liquorice has been used providing a longer after taste with a hint of Chinese herbal aroma.

It is important to us to work with small local producers and family businesses, especially those based in Hong Kong. These local botanicals require consistence, and these time-honoured vendors do give us confidence on that. Theses family business has spent many generations to preserve certain flavours, and we simply want to bring these flavours to the rest of the world. An olfactory journey through our beloved city.