Emerald Finger Lime Gin with Vickie from Marvick Farms

Experimenting with Australian botanicals has always been part of our process at Archie Rose. We do so for a few reasons, the first of which is that Australian botanicals lend themselves really well to complex and interesting flavour profiles that reflect the diversity of our native flora. Sourcing local ingredients and partnering with local farmers are also key to our operation as a sustainable business. When we first started producing gin, there weren’t as many groups in Australia working with native ingredients. Today, we’re proud to say that there are, and the uptake has been driven by the great work and advocacy of Australian producers. Appreciation for these ingredients has grown, which means our industry has more space to keep pushing the possibilities of Australian botanicals in spirits even further. This brings us to our last reason: since day one, we’ve been chasing the thrill of challenging traditional gin-making conventions.

When it comes to Australian flora, we’re especially compelled to seek out the rare, the weird and the beautiful, to inspire our distillations as well as the art on the bottle’s label. For our Harvest Gin Range, we’ve featured exquisite ingredients such as Poorman's Orange, Sunrise Lime, Lemon Scented Gum and Raw Honey, with label art by SQUAD (previously called Squad Ink) and artist Heidi Willis.

But no Australian flora fits the brief of “rare-weird-beautiful” quite like our Australian native citrus—the finger lime—which is the star ingredient of the newest release from our Harvest series, our Emerald Finger Lime Gin, with a label created by our own Design Manager, Jodi Hooker.

To celebrate the launch of the Emerald Finger Lime Harvest Gin, we speak with our produce partner, Vickie, from Marvick Native Farms in Western Australia, to learn more about what makes this Australian citrus so unique.

Finger Limes have had a huge moment recently and are appearing more prevalent across the Australian culinary landscape. What do you think it is about native Finger Limes that makes them so unique?

The Australian Finger Lime is unique. There is no other fruit like it in shape, flavour varieties, or their unique poppy little flavoursome vesicles: Citrus Caviar.

You’ve spoken before about how the growing environment at Marvick Farms has a coastal influence on the produce, how does the Emerald Green Finger lime thrive in such environments? Does this produce a more intense flavour? How/does this flavour differ from the limes we’re all familiar with?

Finger Limes grown at Marvick produce different characteristics than the eastern states because of the climate, soil conditions and grafted rootstock. This can produce variations in flavour and colour intensities.

Can you speak to the harvesting process for Emerald Green Finger limes? Are there any particular conditions they require?

The harvest process is extremely memorable. The Emerald Green variety has excessive nasty thorns! They are literally a pain as the fruit is hand-picked. Welding gloves required! They are by far my least favourite when it comes to harvest.

How many varieties of Finger Limes do you grow at Marvick Farms, and do you have a favourite variety?

We grow five varieties and are looking to add two more commercial varieties. Current varieties include Rainforest Pearl, Rainforest Jade, Byron Sunrise, Judy's Everbearing and the Emerald Green. Rainforest Pearl is our favourite because of the mix of pink and white vesicles. The colour contrasts look so pretty in a glass of gin and tonic.

Where do the different names come from?

The Finger Lime (Citrus australasica) are usually named according to location plus lime characteristics. Rainforest Pearl, Rainforest Jade, Rainforest Garnet all come from the same rainforest location. Jade is a green lime, Garnet is a red lime, etc.

Can you speak to the importance of Australian makers utilising native, local ingredients grown here on home soil?

Australian native/grown products are unique and different. They produce flavours found no were else on the globe.

What is your favourite way to use Emerald Green Finger limes?

I would think some emerald green caviar-like vesicles dancing in the emerald green gin and tonic would be pretty special and one I can’t wait to taste.

In your experience, is there anything that pairs particularly well with emerald green finger limes?

The Emerald Green limes pair with most Asian dishes. Just a sprinkle of bubbles on top of the dish to add that zingy burst of flavour.

Is there a certain uniqueness that Marvick Farms Finger limes have over others here than anywhere else in Australia?

Finger Limes grown at Marvick produce characteristics different from those of the eastern states because of the climate, soil conditions, and grafted rootstock. This can produce variations in flavour and colour intensities. We at Marvick are also aware of certain fungal sprays' impact on the distilling process. We are fortunate that this is a dry season for us and have no need to spray during the fruit development. Our fruit is free of chemical sprays.

How does seeing your produce featured in the Emerald Finger Lime Gin and broader harvest series make you feel, how does it reflect your ethos?

We feel that Archie Rose is a part of and an extension of us. We go back many years before the time of the ‘Big Still’. Archie Rose was using the Red Centre when I introduced Sunrise Limes to Dave. I remember receiving a call asking if I grew finger limes. He had been playing with some finger limes from somebody's backyard. We discussed the huge variety of finger limes and that there was a vast difference in the flavour profiles of various finger limes. We then provided the five different varieties that we grew for Dave to play with and see which variety produced the best flavour. I was lucky enough to be in Sydney and meet with Dave to taste the outcome. It was an interesting experience as the outcome was not as I had expected. I didn’t expect the Emerald Green to be the shining star. It was great working with Dave and I felt we were part of the process of collaborating to make a great product.