Juniper No 1

Stella Strüfing stopped drinking in 2018, could not find a gin and tonic she actually wanted, and started distilling in her own Berlin kitchen. Juniper No 1 is what came out of that. Eight botanicals including juniper, cardamom and rosemary are steam distilled individually, using a process the company adapted from French perfume distillation rather than from spirits production. That approach shows up in how the drink behaves. It is thin and aromatic on its own and only really opens up in a glass, which is why Laori says to mix it rather than sip it neat. A Laori and tonic is the obvious build. The numbers are unusually lean for the category, 3 calories per 100 mL with no sugar and no carbohydrates, and under 0.3 percent alcohol in the bottle, which drops to around 0.06 percent once mixed.