At X-Beverages in Belgium they produce an alcoholic Gin and Rum. At the company they mainly want to launch innovative products and keep up with the latest trends. Therefore, it is not surprising that they thought it was the right time to respond to the alcohol-free trend of recent years. With Adam & Eve, they immediately launched not one, but two non-alcoholic drinks. Two new products to taste and use in some recipes.
Snake venom?
The names of thes two drinks are probably inspires on the creation myth. A good move, because Adam and Eve stand for purity and innocence, something these two drinks must also stand for. The two drinks are quite innocent, because completely alcohol-free, but where some non-alcoholic distillates do not contain any calories at all, you have to count about twenty calories per 100 ml for these two. That is definitely not that much when you us 5 cl. in a 15 cl. G&T. The drinks will add just ten calories to those of the Tonic. Negligible.
Adam & Eve comes in bottles of 50 cl. and on the back of the label you will notice the print of a snake skin that is visible when you look through the bottle. Is this a sign that the Adam & Eve are not as innocent as they seem at first sight? Should the taste remind us of the venom of a dangerous snake? Or should the nice print just ensure that the bottles look nice in the bar? There is only one way to find out. Do a taste test.
Adam
First we open Adam’s bottle. He was also the first who was created by God, thousands of years ago. On Adam’s bottle we read ‘Spicy & Citrus’. When smelling the bottle, the smell of citrus is particularly dominant. We also smell that other herbs are present, but they are somewhat pushed to the background by the smell of the citrus. We do not know exactly what herbs have been used here and we are not able to pinpoint them all. We suspect the presence of some kitchen herbs such as thyme and rosemary, you can also smell a little juniper. As usual, we start with a tasting of the pure drink. It is immediately noticeable that there is enough flavour in this Adam, so we are sure that he will be able to stand his ground in the mix with a tonic. Also in the taste it is mainly the citrus that dominates. The herbs used can certainly be tasted, but also stay a bit more in the background. The Adam is slightly sweeter than we are used to from other non-alcoholic distillates. Perhaps that sweetness is responsible for the fact that the spicy taste is slightly less present.
On the site of the innocent spirits they recommend to us 5 cl. of the drink in combination with 10 cl. tonic, a 1 to 1 ratio is recommended on the bottle. We choose to follow the advice of the site and use 5 cl with 10 cl. neutral tonic. What we thought was true, the Adam stands his ground in this mix and can certainly be noticed. Here too it is mainly the citrus flavor that stands out, although it seems as if the spices can be tasted a bit more in combination with the tonic.
Eve
On Eve’s bottle we read ‘sweet & floral’ and the drink should taste fruity and floral. The Eve smells relatively sweet, somewhat like candy, mixed with rose water. We can smell juniper after bringing the nose to the bottle a second or third time. When we taste the Eve pure, the rose water stands out the most. We feared a really sweet taste of some candy, but that is not true. Even though this Eve is relatively sweet, you can taste the spices and the sweet touch seems to come from a little red fruit.
Adam stood his ground in a mix with tonic, Eva will prove to be a strong woman in a neutral tonic. And we would definitely recommend using this Eve in a very neutral tonic or possible in a tonic with a floral taste. This floral taste will only be enhanced by the Eve, the neutral tonic will become a little bit fruity and floral. If you use a very spicy tonic, or for example in a ginger ale or ginger beer, Eva may have a bit too little character to be really dominant.
Conclusion
The philosophy behind the Adam & Eve innocent spirits is great. They are indeed innocent drinks, the Adam is likely to appeal to a slightly more masculine audience, the Eve will probably be more popular with women. We expected a snake bite with a corrosive venom as an extra spice in the mouth, but we missed that a little bit. The drink could also have been slightly less sweet for our taste. These drinks are mainly used in combination with tonic, and for us the sweetness may come mainly from the tonic, not from the distillate. To broaden your collection of non-alcoholic distillates, these are two nice drinks though. If you like a slightly sweet taste, or if you want to have a distillate in the house with which you want to please those who want it a bit sweeter, these two should certainly have a place in your bar cabinet.
