Drink of the Week: Second Sip Low-Proof Spirit

It’s a generally accepted truth that the only thing better than a Martini is a second Martini. (To be fair, this rule also applies to Negronis, Gimlets, and many other members of the cocktail club.) It’s also a generally accepted truth that with any cocktails past that first couple, that original beauty and goodness turns blurry and hazy. Which is a shame, because cocktails are a delicious experience begging to be repeated. So how do you balance these competing truths? One option is Second Sip, this week’s Drink of the Week.

Second Sip is built in the manner of a London dry gin. It’s got classic gin botanicals: juniper, coriander, angelica, and orris, along with almond, licorice, bergamot, lemon, and bitter orange. It’s distilled in a copper-pot still at New York Distilling Co. in Brooklyn. 

But here’s where the paths diverge: A typical gin is designed to be at its flavorful best when diluted down to around 40 percent alcohol for bottling. Second Sip, however, supercharges the botanicals in the still. Post-distillation, there’s the addition of an extra dose of organic juniper (extracted using a fancy CO2 process), along with Maldon sea salt and an umami extract from seaweed. With these touches, the spirit can retain its character as the dilution drops down to 20 percent alcohol. The result: A spirit that tastes like gin, and functions like gin, but with half the alcohol. 

It’d be easy to dismiss Second Sip as just another in the wave of low- or no-ABV spirits now flooding the market. But in addition to its process, Second Sip has a pedigree. It’s created by a team composed of British bartender and distilling creative Nick Strangeway (Hepple Gin), James Beard Award–winning bartender Leo Robitschek (Eleven Madison Park, NoMad), and DRY Botanical Bubbly founder Sharelle Klaus. 

On its own, Second Sip comes across delicate and citrusy, with gentle brushes of juniper and spice, and a resonant depth of umami and licorice. In a Martini, it’s less sharp than a standard London dry gin. And its bright complexity engages well with the botanicals in vermouth, successfully scratching that Martini itch. My favorite application of Second Sip so far, though, is in a classic Negroni. There, its flavors hold their own against the robust characters of Campari and sweet vermouth.

With its reduced ABV, Second Sip requires a little extra attention when mixing to avoid over-dilution. This hurdle is easily cleared, though, by shaking the cocktail for a few seconds less, using it in simple builds like a Negroni, or by reducing the amount of tonic water poured into your G&T. 

For a Martini, Robitschek suggests taking total control of the water volume by batching it as a Freezer Martini. It’s simple, straightforward, and tasty enough to have another. secondsip.com, $39.99