If your gin memory is a harsh, piney shot from a student house party, you’ve been judging the whole category on its loudest member. This World Gin Day, here’s why the beer, wine and tequila crowd should give gin another shot, starting from what you already love to drink.
Roku Gin, the Japanese premium craft gin from House of Suntory, is a different expression of the category altogether. Roku means “six” in Japanese, a nod to its six native Japanese botanicals: sakura flower, sakura leaf, yuzu peel, sencha tea, gyokuro tea and sansho pepper. Each is harvested at shun – the Japanese principle of peak seasonal harvest, when every botanical is at its most expressive, before being layered over eight traditional gin botanicals. The result is a gin shaped by seasonality and precision, where every layer is deliberately balanced rather than dominant.
World Gin Day falls on Saturday 13 June, and the gin lovers don’t need convincing, they’ll be celebrating regardless. This one’s for everyone else. The people who tried gin once, and never looked back. Here are six reasons to reconsider what you thought you knew about gin.
1. “Gin is too harsh” – if you drink vodka soda, this is your gin
The drink that’s quietly taken over bars isn’t a cocktail at all, it’s the highball: spirit, soda, ice, done. If your go-to is a clean vodka soda because you want something crisp and not too sweet, a gin highball is the same easy format with actual flavour behind it.
Build it like a Vodka Rickey you’d never send back: tall glass, full of ice, 60ml Roku Gin, 30ml simple syrup top with chilled soda, and a twist of lime juice. Refreshing, bubbly and effortlessly easy to drink, it lets Roku Gin’s bright citrus botanicals shine without overwhelming the palate.
2. “I’m a tequila person” – then you already like bold and citrusy
If margaritas and palomas are your order, you don’t actually dislike strong, citrus-forward spirits, you like them. Gin’s reputation for being “too much” is really just a reputation for having character, which is the same reason you reach for tequila.
Try a Gin Paloma: 45ml Roku Gin, fresh grapefruit juice, a squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt, topped with soda. The sansho pepper in Roku gives the same lively kick you chase in a good tequila drink, while the yuzu plays straight into that citrus-and-salt territory you already love. It’s a familiar drink wearing a new jacket.
3. “Wine’s more my thing” – gin is closer than you think
Wine drinkers chase aromatics, balance and a sense of place – the floral lift of a riesling, the herbal snap of a sauvignon blanc. That’s botanical territory, and it’s exactly what a craft gin is built on.
Roku Gin is made from six Japanese botanicals harvested at the peak of their season – cherry blossom and leaf, yuzu peel, two green teas and sansho pepper, layered for balance the way a winemaker blends for structure. Served long over ice with a light tonic, it drinks like an aromatic white: floral, citrusy, food-friendly. If you judge a wine by its nose, you’ll find a lot to read here.
4. “Gin feels fancy and complicated” – it’s the most casual thing you own
Somewhere gin picked up a white-tablecloth, pinkies-out image. Ignore it. The most modern way to drink gin is also the most relaxed: pour it long, keep it cold, and let one good garnish do the talking. No shaker, no syrups, no bartending diploma.
Case in point – the Roku Gin Ginger G&T. Ice, 30ml Roku Gin, 90ml premium tonic, and a single garnish that quietly changes everything:
– Bentong ginger (preferred) – vibrant, spicy warmth that bridges Roku Gin’s floral citrus notes into a layered, balanced serve
– Fresh ginger matchsticks – the bright, clean House of Suntory serve
– Candied ginger – softer and a touch sweeter, for anyone who finds gin too dry
– Dried ginger – warmer and deeper, an easy “grown-up” twist for the evening
5. “There’s never a right moment for it” – actually, there’s every moment
It takes two minutes and meets you wherever your taste is. That candied-ginger version, in particular, is the one that tends to convert the “I don’t like gin” crowd.
Beer has the match, wine has dinner, tequila has the night out and somehow people decide gin doesn’t fit anywhere. In reality it’s the most flexible bottle you can own: light and low over ice on a weeknight, dressed up with friends on the weekend, or stretched long and sessionable over a lazy afternoon.
That’s the quiet argument for keeping a bottle of Roku Gin in the house. It doesn’t demand an occasion the way a bottle of wine commits you to a whole evening – a single, well-made highball is a complete moment on its own. This World Gin Day, that’s the invitation: not to become a “gin person,” just to pour one good drink and see where it lands.
6. “Gin only belongs in a glass” – it can live on your shelf, not just in your drink
If you’ve only ever thought of gin as something to pour, you’re missing half the story. A bottle of Roku Gin is designed to sit as naturally in your home as it does in your glass – a clean, minimal object that reflects the same Japanese precision and seasonal craft inside the liquid.
Beyond the pour, it becomes part of your space. On a bar shelf, dining table or even repurposed as a vase, Roku Gin carries an understated aesthetic that extends the experience of the drink into everyday living, not just what you serve, but what you choose to keep in view.
Roku Gin is available at major retailers and select bars nationwide. Please enjoy responsibly.