Messina X Archie Rose 'Neapolitan' Spirit Set

August 20, 2021

A Messina inspired gin, vodka and whisky has arrived, from our friends at Archie Rose.

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Enter the Archie Rose Competition for your chance to win a Neapolitan prize pack, competition closes 1st October.

Neapolitan is arguably one of the all-time ice cream greats. We’re pretty chuffed to have collaborated with our friends at Archie Rose on a new spirit set which launches for pre-sale today.

Ever since both Archie Rose and Messina HQ have been open in Rosebery, we’ve been friends and have worked on multiple projects together (as well as us drinking copious amounts of Archie Rose Gin and Whisky in their bar on a Friday afternoon). We’ve always loved collaborating with other brands, especially when these collaborations lead us to creating products which aren’t just gelato. One day, we cheekily asked if they would ever make a Messina flavoured gin… and here we are.

With a big focus on using some of the amazing produce we use for our gelato production, rather than creating an ‘ice cream gin’, we collectively had a mini ‘ice cream epiphany’ and landed on the Neapolitan idea a few months back. At Messina, we have always been obsessed with making everything we can in-house and now even go as far as to grow and produce our own ingredients. We grow our own strawberries in Dural NSW, hazelnuts in Seymour VIC and work with an amazing vanilla partner in Tonga called Heilala who produce everything we use in our gelato in stores. Working with Archie Rose’s Master Distiller Dave Withers, we were able to supply him with our products in different variations, for him to distill into the perfectly formulated spirits. It took more than just a few attempts, but we’ve ended up with three knock out spirits in the set.

Read more about the creative process and how Messina Head Chef & Co-Owner Donato Toce and Master Distiller Dave Withers collaborated on the flavours on the Archie Rose Journal.

SO WHAT ARE THE FLAVOURS?

**Strawberry & Pink Peppercorn Gin** – for the gin, we supplied our own **Albion strawberries grown on our farm in Dural, NSW** which Archie Rose blended with locally foraged pink peppercorns and native river mint.

**Vanilla & Pandan Vodka** - This character-filled vodka features a mix of natural vanillin and Tongan grown vanilla beans from our Vanilla supplier Heilala Vanilla, perfectly paired with fragrant pandan.

**Cocoa Husk & Hazelnut Whisky** - this chocolate whisky is macerated with husks from a blend of rare cacao beans, paired with a specially roasted blend of hazelnuts from our farm in Seymour, VIC and from the Piedmont region of Italy, home to what are considered some of the best hazelnuts in the world.

Each limited edition set contains 3 x 200ml bottles and will be available to buy on the Archie Rose website, at independent bottle shops and as always at the Archie Rose Bar until stocks last. The official launch date is 7 September.

Strawberry & Pink Peppercorn Gin 40%, Vanilla & Pandan Vodka 40%, Cocoa Husk & Hazelnut Whisky 46%.