Bombay Sapphire East. Most people are relatively familiar with the classic blue bottle of Bombay Sapphire. For many of us (myself included), it was one of the first bottles of quality gin we owned.

Now, here we have the East version, which has the addition of 2 botanicals on top of the 10 in the original Sapphire – Vietnamese black peppercorn and Thai lemongrass – for an Asian influenced twist of the classic.

Black pepper is a fun ingredient. I’m always amazed at the floral flavors (as opposed to spicy) that come from it. Interestingly, black pepper is actually the fruit from a vine. When unripe, the fruit is green, turning red upon ripening. Black pepper is made by heating up and drying the unripe green berries – the dark color resulting from the drying process. Meanwhile, white pepper is actually the SEED inside the red (ripened) skin-removed peppercorn berries.

Back to this gin. I find the difference between the original and the East quite subtle. The East definitely still maintains the bright clean flavors associated with Bombay, though I’d say it’s a bit more fragrant than the original, likely owing to the floral notes from the peppercorn. Do you need both? No. Which do I like more? Probably the East.