Migratory Notes Gin is the result of a collaboration between Forthave Spirits, New York’s German cultural center, the Goethe-Institut, and Nigerian-born, Berlin-based artist Emeka Ogboh. Ogboh’s one-night multisensory exhibition Migratory Notes: New York Edition (2026) explored migration and diversity in contemporary urban life through food, drink, and sound, and Forthave’s Migratory Notes Gin was central to this experience. All seven botanicals were thoughtfully selected to represent a migration stream that has shaped New York City; from endemic North American wild mint to European juniper to African grains of paradise, each act as a vehicle to represent the cultures and history that have defined the city.

In their own words:

THE NEW YORK GIN [Migratory Notes: NYC edition]

Seven Botanicals. Seven Migration Currents. One City.

New York City is a place defined not by a single heritage, but by the constant movement of people. It is one of the most diverse cities in the world: 38% of its residents are foreign-born, and migrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe have transformed every corner of its five boroughs. Streetscapes from Jackson Heights to Flatbush, Astoria to the Bronx, reveal a city built through layered migrations, multilingualism, and the fusion of global cultures into new forms.

The New York Gin is distilled from this contemporary reality.

Rather than replicate the clichés of New York, this gin captures the global sensory architecture that defines the city today - its brightness, its rhythm, its warmth, and its grounded, unmistakable character. Using only seven botanicals, each selected from a migration stream that has shaped New York’s population, the gin embodies the city’s living mosaic in a way that is minimal, elegant, and deeply meaningful.

Each botanical was chosen not for symbolism alone, but for its strong aromatic output, historical relevance, and ability to contribute to a clean, modern flavour profile. The result is a gin that feels global without being cluttered - precise, structured, contemporary - mirroring the pace and clarity of New York itself.

THE BOTANICALS & THEIR MIGRATION STORIES
1. JUNIPER - The Foundation
Juniper is the essential backbone of gin - crisp, resinous, architectural.

In this project, juniper does not represent a culture, but a structure: the clean line, the grid, the frame upon which the entire city rests. Just as New York’s identity is built on a shared foundation that holds countless cultures, juniper forms the neutral base into which global Flavours converge.

Flavour: pine, resin, clarity
Symbolism: structure; the grid; the city’s underlying form

2. CORIANDER SEED - Europe / Mediterranean

Coriander seed has deep roots across Mediterranean, Southern European, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern cuisines. It brings a lemony-spice brightness that bridges citrus and botanical warmth.

It represents the historic and ongoing presence of European and Mediterranean communities in New York - Italian, Greek, Jewish, Balkan, Spanish, and Eastern European populations who shaped the city’s neighborhoods, labour networks, and cultural foundations.

Flavour: citrus-spice; connective; balanced
Symbolism: the bridge; the thread linking multiple migration streams

3. LIME PEEL - Latin America & The Caribbean

More than half of New York State’s foreign-born residents come from Latin America and the Caribbean. These communities - Dominican, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Haitian, Trinidadian, Mexican, Colombian, Ecuadorian - have transformed the city’s food, music, language, and street culture.

Lime peel captures their brightness and energy, delivering the gin’s most uplifting top note. Flavour: fresh, zesty, vibrant
Symbolism: arrival; energy; the Caribbean and Latin American pulse of the city.

4. CARDAMOM - Asia

Cardamom spans a vast geography - South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, East Africa - making it one of the world’s most globally shared spices.

Its aromatic lift reflects the immense diversity of Asian migration to New York: Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Korean, Filipino and more. From Flushing to Jackson Heights, Asian communities shape the city’s culinary, linguistic, and cultural landscape.

Flavour: floral, aromatic, bright
Symbolism: global Asia; aromatic diversity; the fragrance of migration.

5. GRAINS OF PARADISE - Africa

Native to West Africa, grains of paradise deliver a warm, peppery depth used across West African and Afro-Caribbean cuisines. Their aromatic punch reflects the African and African diasporic presence in New York - from West African migration to Afro-Caribbean cultural heritage to African American influence in music, foodways, and social life.

Flavour: peppery, gingery, grounding
Symbolism: African and Afro-diasporic presence; warmth; depth

6. BLACK LIME - Middle East / Gulf

Black lime (loomi) is a defining ingredient of Gulf and Iraqi cuisine. Its smoky citrus complexity connects the gin to New York’s Middle Eastern migrations, from the Yemeni and Palestinian businesses of Atlantic Avenue to the Egyptian and Maghrebi communities of Astoria and Bay Ridge.

This botanical brings depth, acidity, and a subtle fermented darkness to the base layer.

Flavour: smoky citrus; tart complexity; earthy depth
Symbolism: the Middle Eastern and North African currents woven through New York

7. WILD MINT - North America (Local Terroir)

Wild mint represents the local layer - the green edges of New York: community gardens, rooftop farms, parklands, and the Hudson Valley.

It adds a cooling freshness that anchors the global botanicals back into place, grounding the gin in its physical home.

Flavour: cool, green, refreshing
Symbolism: local identity; the breath of the city; North American terroir THE FLAVOUR PHILOSOPHY
The architecture of the gin mirrors the rhythm of the city:

Bright (Latin America / Caribbean)

Aromatic (Asia / Mediterranean)

Warm (Africa)

Grounded (Europe + local North America)

The flavour is clean and modern, built from a small number of botanicals that harmonize rather than compete. This keeps distillation straightforward and ensures that each continent’s contribution is detectable, meaningful, and beautifully balanced.

CONCLUSION

The New York Gin is not an attempt to bottle every culture in the city. Instead, it captures the movement - the arrivals, the intersections, the convergences - that continue to shape New York into the world’s most dynamic cultural mosaic.