An excess batch of freshly picked grapefruits from Curly Flat Wines in Macedon planted the seed for Animus’ exciting new Elements range. The offering was simply too good to pass up for this creative group, and keen to expand past their Gin horizons, the idea for a Grapefruit Triple Sec was born. From there, the seed grew: a Mandarin-Cello and Coffee Noir were added to the line-up, forming the first premium and versatile liqueurs under the Elements label. As with all this boutique distiller’s spirits, the word shortcut is not part of the vocabulary. Getting the recipes and methods right took months, rigorous trials and benchmarking sessions. Fortunately, Animus had plenty working in their favour, not least the unique quality of the Macedon Dry and Ambrosian Gins used for the Coffee Noir and Mandarin-Cello. Each provides a tightly honed and balanced flavour foundation to complement and accentuate the quality fruit and coffee used. Then there is the access to premium local produce and the talented bench of distillers and bartenders at their disposal to bounce ideas and trials off. In a category full of internationally scaled products, Animus Elements provides a refreshingly simple and transparent approach to production; top shelf, locally sourced ingredients, and small batch runs with minimal waste. As with all Animus’s drinks, quality and consistency are always front of mind. The fruit is carefully peeled by hand (usually in teams to stave off potential madness), the sugar syrup is made in-house, and each batch is tasted by a panel before bottling. Crafted with premium cocktails in mind, the Grapefruit Triple Sec is intense and richly flavoured, providing a great local alternative to Cointreau and shining in a Margarita, while the Coffee Noir’s potent and citrussy fresh flavours are sure to dial any Espresso Martini or Irish Coffee up a few notches. The intense Mandarin-Cello is best served over ice after dinner, or try in a delicious and refreshing spritz.