Averell Damson Gin Liqueur

Averell is an exceptionally bright liqueur—the fresh-pressed juice of heirloom Damson Plums married to a botanical gin marked by juniper, warm winter spices, bay leaf and ginger. Delicious with seltzer, sparkling wine or ginger beer, in both hot and cold black tea, or on its own, over ice.

The history of the Damson dates to the dawn of civilization. Prized by the Romans and Crusaders, its cultivation spread throughout Europe and later to the orchards of North American colonial settlers who appreciated its nervy character: rich, intensely tart and slightly bitter.

The turn of the 20th century marked what many consider to be the golden age of fruit and vegetable propagation in the United States—by 1915, over 7500 new and unique varieties were introduced and also catalogued as watercolors by government-commissioned artists. This progressive era was short-lived as post-war developments in commercial farming and mass distribution forced the majority of these varieties into extinction.

The Damson stands today as an endangered variety from a bygone era, grown in limited quantities by stubborn farmers and one that flutters the heart of a farmer's market passerby.