Cubebs

Cubebs sourced from Indonesia – (Piper cubeba)

It’s main role in our gin is to provide the pepper notes for Bloom and Berkeley Square gin

The Cubeb seed (Piper cubeba), or tailed pepper, is a plant in genus Piper, cultivated for its fruit and essential oil. It is mostly grown in Java, hence sometimes called Java pepper. The fruits are gathered before they are ripe, and carefully dried. Commercial cubebs consist of the dried berries, similar in appearance to black pepper, but with stalks attached — the “tails” in “tailed pepper”. The dried pericarp is wrinkled, its colour ranges from grayish-brown to black.

The seed is hard, white and oily. The odour of cubebs is described as agreeable and aromatic. The taste, pungent, acrid, slightly bitter and persistent. Cubeb came to Europe via India through the trade with the Arabs. It continues to be used as a flavouring agent for gins. Cubeb was thought by the people of Europe to be repulsive to demons, just as it was by the people of China. Even today, the formula for the incense is quoted by neopagan authors, some of whom also claim that cubeb can be used in love sachets and spells.