FFD High Spirits 2016-17

A S UPPL EMENT TO

2016-17 Edition

FEATURING • Over 40 British craft and boutique gins, vodkas & more • Quality mixers • Soft drink options • Cocktail snacks

FROM GIN LANE TO MALTBY STREET How the 17th century “mother’s ruin” became the foodie’s favourite tipple

MIX IT UP

Using tastings and cocktail evenings to cross-sell mixers and ingredients IN ASSOCIATION WITH

R O C K TA I L S THE ART OF MIXOLOGY

rocktails.co.uk

R O C K TA I L S

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T H E

A R T

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M I X O L O G Y

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T HE MOCKITO | AD D A DAS H OF TIP P L E 2

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THE GROWTH OF CRAFT SPIRITS A SUP P L E M E N T T O

EDITORIAL editorial@gff.co.uk Editor & editorial director: Mick Whitworth Deputy editor: Michael Lane Reporters: Andrew Don, Nick Baines Art director: Mark Windsor ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales director: Sally Coley Sales manager: Ruth Debnam Sales executive: Becky Stacey Cover: Jamie Coe Published by the Guild of Fine Food Ltd

GENERAL ENQUIRIES Tel: 01747 825200 Fax: 01747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom

Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa. © The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2016. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher.

Printed by: Monster Media Management, Dorset

WHAT’S INSIDE:

A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS - 7

COCKTAIL TASTING - 22

MIXERS & SOFT DRINKS - 27

COCKTAIL SNACKS – 31

SHAKEN AND STIRRED

From bars to farm shops, craft spirit sales have rocketed. Can it last? CHRIS MERCER reports.

B

ritain’s burst of new ‘craft’ distillers is an overdue tonic to the staid familiarity of big brands. But will it last and how can retailers, from food halls to farm shops, adapt?

Fifty-six new distilleries opened across the UK in 2015, and the total number has doubled within five years to 233, according to customs body HMRC. We’re more obsessed with gin, in particular, than at any point since the 18th century days of William Hogarth’s infamous ‘Gin Lane’ painting.

But, while Londoners back then were reportedly sinking two pints of ‘mother’s ruin’ every week, the new gin craze has a more respectable and nationwide flavour. Witness Mary Berry swooning over a gin & tonic drizzle cake on prime time television.

Gin sales alone are set to hit £1bn in the UK for the first time in 2016, according to the Wine & Spirits Trade Association.

There’s also small-batch vodka and rum, and some distillers are laying down spirit to mature for whisky, including Cotswolds Distillery and Glasgow Distillery. St George’s Distillery in Norfolk is already producing English whisky.

“Craft spirits have exploded this year,” says Terry Threlfall, Selfridges’ wine and spirits buyer in London. “Our sales are up 40%.”

Fiona McLain, assistant wine and spirits buyer at Fenwick in Newcastle, which revamped its food hall last year, says: “We now have over 60 gins in stock, with over half being small-batch. And we have an ever-increasing range of vodkas, rums and other spirits.”

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André Birkett, head of Chatsworth Estate farm shop in Derbyshire, adds: “It’s a real explosion.

We’ve now got about 20 different gins in stock and we’re looking to increase that.”

The pirits boom is part of a wider trend for ‘craft’ food and drink, primarily led by a younger generation looking for new experiences.

It’s also international. American hipsters are sipping small-batch whiskies distilled in little more than glorified kettles.

“We were very much inspired by what was happening in the US,” says Liam Hughes, who co-founded Glasgow Distillery in 2012.

However, like Brexit at the time of writing, ‘craft’ still means everything and nothing. There is no industry-wide definition of craft spirits.

“Many consumers are defining craft drinks according to their own criteria”, says market research group Mintel in a report this year.

Forty-seven % of adults told Mintel ‘craft’ means having a “unique flavour”. Around 40% also referenced high quality ingredients, small production volumes, high levels of human labour and not being owned by a large company.

Nearly 25% also said craft drinks can be defined by their higher price. Producers and retailers believe “local” is also important.

All of these cues mould a craft brand’s integrity, and image management is crucial.

“With more operators entering the market, consumers are likely to become even more demanding of craft brands to prove their credentials,” Mintel researchers add.

➨

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THE GROWTH OF CRAFT SPIRITS HOW TO TASTE SPIRITS A good guide is the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).

It runs courses around the country and its systematic approach to tasting for its Level 2 course includes:

APPEARANCE: Think about colour and its intensity – is the liquid clear?

PALATE: Think about sweetness. Is the alcohol harsh or soft? Is the liquid full or light bodied?

NOSE: Our sense of smell is much more acute than our tongue. What aromas do you get on the nose? Does this change at all? Again, think about the intensity.

You can find a detailed guide to tasting spirits (and one for wine-tasting) in the Knowledge Centre section of the WSET website.

www.wsetglobal.com

COMMON BOTANICALS Gin is essentially flavoured neutral spirit. Olivier Ward, co-founder of Gin Foundry (www.ginfoundry.com), has been keeping count of popular botanicals. His top five are shown here:

CORIANDER SEED: Most

gins have this. It tends to offer citrus and nutty aromas and a bit of spice on the finish.

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Where did all of these craft distillers come from?

None of the big distilling companies appeared to see the craft spirits revolution coming, even if several are now cashing in with small-batch labels.

Customs body HMRC was “deluged with applications and they weren’t ready”, says Alan Powell, co-founder of the British Distillers Alliance (BDA) and specialist consultant on excise duties.

“A decade ago, it was more like one distillery application every five years,” says Powell, who is pushing for lower duty rates for small distillers.

In 2015, Scotland had 119 distilleries, England 91, Wales 12 and Northern Ireland 11, according to HMRC. In 2010, there was only one in Wales, two in Northern Ireland and 23 in England.

Start-up money has come from a variety of sources, including savings, private investment, loyalty schemes and crowdfunding.

Cotswolds Distillery raised £1 million – double

its target – from 124 investors in January 2016 via a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdbnk.

Brewdog, the Scottish craft brewer, has sought financial backing from fans for its new Lone Wolf distilling arm.

Some distillers have strong family roots.

Bramley & Gage in the South West was making fruit liqueurs and sloe gin before launching its Six O’ Clock gin in 2010.

Not everyone has their own distillery.

Hawthorn’s London Dry Gin, launched a year ago, is made by Langley Distillery in Hampshire.

‘London’ gin doesn’t have to be made in the Capital, unlike Plymouth gin which must be made in its namesake city.

“When my business partner’s grandfather died, we found a piece of paper with a recipe for gin on it,” says Hawthorn co-founder Nick Masters. “We went to Langley’s and spent several years perfecting the recipe.”

Flavour is a big part of the craft spirits boom.

Botanicals form a gin brand’s DNA. There’s the A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

THE GROWTH OF CRAFT SPIRITS popular favourites [see sidebars] but it can also become quite elaborate.

For example, there’s Pinkster gin with raspberries and black peppercorn. Rock Rose gin, produced by Martin and Claire Murray in Caithness, Scotland, uses 18 botanicals, including five local ones, such as rose root that has links to Celtic folklore. Sipsmith in London uses Belgian Angelica root, Macedonian juniper berries and Seville orange peel among others.

Sheffield’s Sir Robin of Locksley gin includes pink grapefruit peel. Creator John Cherry says: “We wanted to offer a different gin drinking experience. To get that, we use a combination of sweeter ingredients. Our gin is equally good sipping on its own as it is with the usual suspects of tonics and mixers.”

More left-field styles have sparked debate in the industry about how much of gin’s base ingredient – juniper berries – should be present.

Sipsmith co-founder Sam Galsworthy praises the variety on offer and says it’s good for distillers to be open about botanicals they’re using. “If you’re spending £30 on a bottle, or even a bit less, you want every question answered,” he says.

Distinctive flavours can help retailers. “Our first criteria is always quality, but we did an exclusive pink grapefruit gin with Chase and it went like gangbusters,” says Selfridges’ Terry Threlfall.

Perhaps most important is variety – and listening to consumers. Chatsworth’s André Birkett says: “Some consumers want the juniper to come through, others prefer flowery styles and some want strong flavours. It’s a mixture.

“We’ve de-listed gins before only for five people to come into the shop and ask for that specific one. So, we’ve put it back on.”

Fiona McLain says Fenwick focuses on having a “wide range of local craft spirits”.

She adds: “People seem to be stocking a larger selection of gins at home, buying a few different styles rather than one favourite bottle at a time.”

Consumers will spend more on a craft gin but Birkett warned not to push it too far. “Our pricing is generally around £30-£35 for a 70cl bottle.

However, if we put it on promotion under £30 our sales increase significantly.”

Building the experience “You can never do enough tastings,” says Birkett.

“It’s about the supplier and the knowledge they can pass on. We make sure our staff go as well.”

Fenwick holds masterclasses at its Newcastle store. “These encourage people to sample, and then they become more adventurous with their purchases,” says McLain.

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

And many distillers now offer tours. All of this helps retailers and producers to learn about their customers.

Sipsmith’s Sam Galsworthy says he realised that craft gin isn’t just for Millennials. “It goes 40plus, 50-plus. We have people in their 60s and 70s coming on our tours.”

So, what happens next?

Is it sustainable to have so many distilleries?

It’s hard to know, says James Simmonds, partner at accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.

He has seen new distillers with “net liabilities on the balance sheets”, suggesting profitability is a work-in-progress. “However, I would not say this is reflective of the sector per se.”

“We’re making money, but it’s a very interesting question,” says Felicity Hall, director at Bramley & Gage. “We got in right at the start of this surge, and there were only 20 to 30 gins in the UK at that time.”

Consumer interest in craft spirits looks strong for now. “We do four tours per week and we’re sold out six months in advance,” says Sipsmith’s Galsworthy.

Hall adds: “Gin & tonic is now a much more youthful thing. That’s going to be with those young people for their whole lives.”

And other craft drinks are springing up. “We’ve launched sweet and dry vermouths this year with home cocktails in mind,” says Hall.

Craft whisky is hotly tipped too. “A lot of people are generating cashflow [from gin] while they’re building whiskies,” says Galsworthy.

Sipsmith won’t do whisky, though, he adds.

“We have been quietly laying down both peated and unpeated casks that will begin to appear in late 2018 early 2019,” says Glasgow Distillery’s Liam Hughes. Gin is quicker to release because whisky requires ageing.

McLain and Threlfall are eyeing the home cocktail market. After all, gin is rarely drunk neat.

Fenwick has expanded its tonics range, including with tonic syrups, and McLain says she’s encouraging consumers to experiment. “Bitters, blends and dried botanicals have all changed how people create their G&T.” Threlfall says that craft cocktails are now driving gin sales at Selfridges. “It’s like home cooking. People come to food halls for fine and rare ingredients.”

Forget the fad fears for now; it’s time to get involved and help your customers enjoy a new golden age for small-batch, local spirits.

• Chris Mercer is editor of decanter.com

JUNIPER: Romans used

juniper berries to treat stomach upsets and now they’re the base flavour of any gin to different degrees.

London Dry Gin should have prominent juniper aromas, which include pine tree notes.

ANGELICA ROOT: There are many varieties and Angelica’s influence is often subtle, adding a slightly earthy and herbaceous quality once distilled.

LEMON PEEL: Perhaps one of the easiest to spot. It can have a candied fragrance once distilled, and is zesty and crisp.

ORANGE PEEL: Dry peel

from Seville oranges is traditionally used, but some distillers opt for fresh peel from sweet oranges.

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Sipped, shaken or stir red; they’re sublime T he Wilkin family have been g rowing fr uit on

rang e of delicious Tiptree Fr uit Gin Liqueur s.

their estates in Tiptree, Essex, since the 1800s.

Enjoy sipped straight over ice, add your favourite

Each ber r y and plum is hand-picked, then rested

mixer for a rather fr uity Gin Spritzer, or add a

in locally distilled Hayman’s gin. T he result is this

dash to Prosecco for a cheek y Fr uit Gin Royale.

The preser ve of g ood taste

WILKIN & SONS LIMITED

TIPTREE

COLCHESTER

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2 8 % Vo l . Yo u m u s t b e 1 8 y e a r s o r o v e r t o p u r c h a s e a l c o h o l .

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27/09/2016 15:32

A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS

DISTILLATION NATION

Your guide to more than 40 UK producers & blenders of small-batch and boutique spirits and liqueurs The invention of West Dorset dairy farmer Jason Barber, BLACK COW is claimed to be the world’s first pure milk vodka.

The milk of grass-fed cows is separated into curds and whey, and the latter – which contains the sugar needed to produce alcohol – is fermented using yeast into a ‘milk beer’. This in turn is distilled and treated to Black Cow’s “secret blending process”.

The vodka (RRP £28.00, 70cl, 40% abv) is triple filtered and finished before being hand-bottled.

Despite its origins, Black Cow is suitable for those with lactose intolerance, because all the lactose has been converted into alcohol. www.blackcow.co.uk

THE SPIRIT OF SPUDS A pioneer of British boutique spirits, CHASE DISTILLERY grows, ferments and distils its own potatoes to produce Chase Vodka (RRP £38), a World’s Best Tasting Vodka winner at the San Francisco Spirits Competition.

Set up by William Chase – who made his millions from the sale of his Tyrrells potato crisp brand – this claims to be Britain’s first singleestate distillery, with its products made entirely on the farm in Preston Wynne, Herefordshire.

Chase had been farming potatoes for 20 years, mostly supplying the commodity market, before supermarket price pressures persuaded him to change direction and focus on provenance and pedigree.

When he began distilling, Chase says his initial shock was how many potatoes it took to create a modest volume of spirit – with 16 tonnes of potatoes making just 1,000 litres.

Now, having proved itself on the international stage, Chase Distillery has gone on to produce a range of other premium options, including Williams Elegant 48 gin, pink grapefruit gin, aged sloe mulberry gin, marmalade vodka, rhubarb vodka and limited edition English oak smoked vodka.

The company’s Williams GB Extra Dry Gin (40% abv) features 10 botanicals that ensure “the biggest, driest gin possible”. It uses the buds as well as the berries of juniper berries, for example, and adds infusions of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, almond, coriander, cardamom, cloves, liquorice and lemon to give its distinctive flavour.

After 20 years of producing a distinctive spirit distilled from malt whisky, Isle of Man-based Kella Distillers changed direction two years ago to produce the ultrapremium vodka BIFROST MANX VODKA, distilled from aged VS Cognac.

The process turns honey-coloured spirits aged in oak casks into a clear spirit with “a long fruity aftertaste and deep aromas of raisins, chocolate and vanilla”. www.bifrostvodka.im

BRITISH CASSIS, well

known in farm shops and delis, has been relaunched under the umbrella of White Heron Brands – a new company set up by the cassis-maker’s founder Jo Hilditch.

Made with blackcurrants from Hilditch’s Whittern Farm in Herefordshire (Whittern means ‘white heron’), the cassis has gained a newlook bottle and branding.

The new premium bottle, with an etched filigree design, is available in three new sizes: 50cl (RRP £20), 20cl (RRP £12) and 5cl (RRP £5). www.thewhiteheron.co.uk

BRIGHTON GIN, one of The Sunday Times’ top three gins of 2015, is distilled using organic British grain.

Botanicals include juniper, fresh orange and lime peel, locally-grown coriander seed and milk thistle indigenous to the South Downs – known for its liver-cleansing properties.

Each 70cl bottle (RRP £40, trade £25 + VAT) is filled, waxsealed and labelled by hand. The colour of both wax and label are the same as Brighton’s distinctive seafront railings.

Producers Kathy Caton and Helen Chesshire (below) are believed to be the UK’s only female distilling double-act. www.brightongin.com

www.williamschase.co.uk

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Award winning liqueurs & flavoured gins

Blackcurrant Vodka Liqueur

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Strawberry Vodka Liqueur

www.thelittleredberry.co.uk info@thelittleredberry.co.uk 01765 602335/07974 076094

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A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS A key botanical in Rock Rose gin from Scotland’s DUNNET BAY DISTILLERY, run by husband and wife team Martin and Claire Murray, is the Rhodiola rosea – a rose in the rocks – that was discovered on the producers’ first forage for gin ingredients along the Caithness cliffs.

The Murrays weren’t the first to exploit the rock rose: Vikings apparently pillaged the plant too, believing it would make them live to 200.

Other botanicals in Rock Rose gin include juniper and rowan berries and sea buckthorn, with many ingredients hand-foraged from the cliffs and forests of the far north of Scotland.

Recent launches from Dunnet Bay include Holy Grass vodka and seasonal gins.

The RRP of Rock Rose Gin is £34 for 70cl (41.5% abv). www.dunnetbaydistillers.co.uk

CONKERING HEROES Dorset’s first gin distillery, CONKER SPIRIT, produces Dorset Dry gin in 60-bottle batches.

It is made from British wheat spirit, New Forest spring water and 10 botanicals, including gorse flowers, samphire and elderberries.

The Southbourne business was launched in April 2015, the brainchild of chartered surveyor Rupert Holloway.

His plan was for Conker Spirit to handle every aspect of production itself – from botanical foraging to distilling, bottling and labelling – with a focus on quality and no shortcuts.

Holloway describes his Dorset Dry as “a classic gin that is true to juniper, with the subtle incorporation of the Dorset notes of marsh samphire, elderberries and handpicked New Forest gorse, bringing bright and refreshing lighter notes”.

The RRP for 70cl bottles is £35 (£23 + VAT trade) and the 37.5cl stubby is £20 (£12 + VAT). www.conkerspirit.co.uk

GET IN THE CUE CUCUMBER GIN is the first spirit from the creative minds behind Qcumber soft drinks, collecting a two-star Great Taste award and silver in the 2016 International Wine and Spirit Competition.

The premium dry gin is made using 100% British grain and uses cucumber in the distillation process, which delivers its pronounced flavour alongside its aromatic juniper base.

“It hits you on the nose as soon as you open the bottle,” says founder Graham Carr-Smith.

“We set out to deliver an authentic cucumber gin rather than merely a gin flavoured with cucumber.”

Described as “the quintessential essence of an English summer”, Cucumber Gin is available in 70cl bottles at a trade price of £20.68 (RRP £35).

www.englishdrinkscompany.co.uk

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CITY OF LONDON DISTILLERY produces

five gins, using artisan techniques to make its small-batch connoisseurs’ variants.

The 70cl bottles range from RRP £32 for No 4 City of London sloe gin to £45 for No 5 City of London Square Mile gin.

Others in the range are No 1 City of London dry gin (RRP £35), No 2 Christopher Wren gin (RRP £42) and No 3 City of London Old Tom gin (RRP £38).

Jonathan Clark set up the company four years ago when he installed a micro-distillery in his Brick Lane bar. www.cityoflondondistillery. com HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

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A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS Brothers Pete and Danny Cameron launched DYFI DISTILLERY in March 2016 with their Pollination Gin Bottled at 45% ABV without chill filtration, it is made using 29 botanicals, 20 of which are wild foraged within the UNESCO Biosphere of Dyfi in Wales.

Dyfi Distillery also plan to release Hibernation Gin, which will be barrel-aged in a white port pipe and feature autumnal botanicals of crab apples and lingonberries.

Pollination Gin is available in 50cl bottles with an RRP of £34.95-£39.95 www.dyfidistillery.com

THE FINE COCKTAIL COMPANY offers ready-

GRAPPA FROM DEVON After moving into a dilapidated barn on a rural farmstead in South Devon at the start of 2012, Cosmo Caddy set up a micro-distillery aptly named DEVON DISTILLERY, to produce the UK’s first and only version of grappa.

Renamed Dappa, this is a refined spirit with a flavour profile reflective of traditional Italian grappa but very British, making use of locally sourced grape skins.

Caddy made a 3,000-mile round trip to collect his hand-crafted, custom-designed copper still to create an authentic spirit, and construction of the still was completed only weeks before the all-important start of the grape harvest.

To ensure the best flavour was extracted from the grapes, Caddy and his copper still had to be ready to start the distillation from within 72 hours of the grapes being pressed at the winery. of fellow Devon producer Sharpham Vineyard.

Three years on, Devon Distillery has seen a flurry of UK and international awards, ranging from Taste of the West and Great Taste to the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Caddy is now in talks with a number of new British vineyards to expand his current list of grape skin suppliers: Sharpham, Bolney, Three Choirs and Biddenden.

He also plans to extend his catalogue of products with the prospect of other after-dinner and cocktail drinks to come out of the distillery in time for the festive period. ”

www.devondistillery.com

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to-drink cocktails made from fresh, natural ingredients and premium spirits with no additives or preservatives. The chilled 200ml bottles come in a variety of flavours, including raspberry, vodka, lemongrass & agave; mango, whiskey, mint & agave; and lychee, gin, elderflower & ginger.

The cocktails are produced in Agen, France and come in cases of 12x200ml bottles with an RRP of £4.99 per unit. www.thefinecocktailcompany.com

EDINBURGH GIN is the flagship

brand in the Spencerfield Spirit Company portfolio, bought by Ian Macleod Distillers in September 2016.

The range includes thee London Dry-style gins – Original, Cannonball and Seaside, distilled with native Scottish botanicals.

There are also several gin-based fruit liqueurs, including raspberry, elderflower and rhubarb & ginger, which include Scottish-grown fruit.

Husband and wife Alex and Jane Nicol launched Edinburgh Gin in 2010 with an ambition to produce a premium gin with a Scottish twist.

An expanded distillery opened in 2014, which doubles as a shop and visitor centre.

A second distillery began production in Leith this spring. www.ianmacleod.com www.edinburghgindistillery.co.uk

Makar Glasgow Gin is a premium gin distilled in small batches in Annie,

GLASGOW DISTILLERY’s

copper pot still.

It is a juniper-forward gin with seven other botanicals that are shipped to Glasgow from around the world, including coriander, angelica, fresh lemon peel, black peppercorns, cassia bark, liquorice and fresh rosemary.

Makar has recently extended its range to include Makar mulberry wood aged gin; Makar oak aged gin and Makar Old Tom. Makar is available in 70cl bottles (RRP £35). www.glasgowdistillery.com

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Amélie

Selection fine de claire

“La perfection”

huitresamelie.com

Best Imported

Food

“ Probably one of the best oysters in the world ”

Indication géographique protégée. Marennes Oléron.

FRANCE

Handcrafted, handmade, hand-poured

Raspberry Pitchfork Muddled Raspberries, Vodka, a splash of Framboise Liqueur, topped with Heartsease Farm Raspberry Lemonade.

Award winning gins and liqueurs from our award-winning Bothy nestled in the Angus glens of Scotland

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DAPPA The UK’s first and only version of grappa Award winning and Produced in South Devon “Deep and mellow flavours. A clean distillation.

Packed with fruit” - Great Taste judges “A drink to sip and savour” - IWSC judges

www.ginbothy.co.uk | 01575 560718 12

HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

E: info@devondistillery.com T: 01803 812 509

/devondistillery

@devondistillery

www.devondistillery.com

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A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS The first bottle of LAKES DISTILLERY’s The Lakes Malt is due in 2018 and will become the Cumbrian business’s signature spirit.

The maturing whisky is described as light in character, using unpeated malt.

It will join the Lakes Gin, the Lakes Vodka and THE ONE, a blended whisky which the business says is “remarkably smooth but full of character, giving a wellrounded balance of flavours”. The RRP is £29.95 for the 70cl bottles. New 20cl bottles retail at £15.

It also sells mixed miniature packs – three 5cl bottles for £13.95. www.lakesdistillery.com

KINGSBARNS DISTILLERY’s New

Make Spirit (63.5% abv) is produced with locally farmed Fife barley mashed with aquifer mineral water from 100m beneath the distillery, which is used to slowly ferment with two yeast strains.

The wort is twice distilled into a “fruity and floral” spirit in which the taste of peaches, apricots and pears are mixed with “light cereal notes” for added complexity. RRP is £14.95 for a 20cl bottle. www.kingsbarnsdistillery.com

LINDSAY’S STILL ROOM’s most recently

launch is its collection of contemporary ready-to-drink cocktails using “quintessential” English fruits and herbs.

They come in Raspberry & Mint Martini, Elderflower & Cucumber Mojito, Cherry Cosmopolitan, Rhubarb & Rosemary Sour – all 12% abv in 25cl and 75cl glass flint bottles.

Lindsay’s also makes Mulled Port (15% abv) – a blend of Ruby Port and Christmas spice infused with orange zest – as well as Classic Mulled Wine and Mulled White Wine (both 10% abv). www.lindsaysstillroom.co.uk

KÖLD COCKTAILS offers a range of readyto-drink alcoholic cocktails made using pure spirits such as triple-distilled grain vodka and barrel-aged rum.

Packaged in single-serve pouches, the cocktails are designed to be frozen prior to serving and are retailed in a boxed two-pack. Current flavours include Mojito, Lychee Martini, Elderflower Martini and Cosmopolitan.

Kold Cocktails are distributed through Cotswold Fayre, Cress Co and Blakemore Fine Foods. A box of 2x225ml pouches has an RRP of £6.99 www.koldcocktails.com

LYME BAY WINERY’s Reserve Liqueur range includes a raspberry variety made from fruit steeped in 40% abv vodka.

The Devon-based business says the liqueur delivers a “luxurious taste of summer”, making this a perfect after-dinner digestif, but it can also be used in a refreshing raspberry granita. www.lymebaywinery.co.uk

Based at Trossachs Distillery in Callander, Perthshire, MCQUEEN GIN launched this summer with four flavoured varieties – mocha, sweet citrus, smokey chilli and chocolate mint – and plans to continue developing new gins which it will release in limited batches.

Its botanicals include Bulgarian juniper, grapefruit, lime, lemongrass and kaffir lime.

All the 50cl, 42% abv gins (trade £20 + VAT) are sold in dark blue, hand-finished, ceramic bottles from Wade in Staffordshire. www.mcqueengin.co.uk

BORN IN BEDALE MASONS 42% abv Dry Yorkshire Gin, launched three years ago, is distilled using the traditional London Dry gin method in a small copper alembic still.

Available in 20cl and 70cl bottles (RRPs £13.49 and £39.99), this is a smallbatch craft gin, with each bottle carrying its own hand-written batch and bottle number.

Bedale-based Masons describes it as a smooth spirit with malty, grain notes reminiscent of gin made with a white whisky base.

The producer also sells a Lavender edition, made with herbs from the Yorkshire Lavender Farm, and a Yorkshire Tea edition, with nine boxes of the region’s favourite brew going into each distillation.

A Yorkshire Vodka completes the line-up from the distillery, launched by owner Karl Mason on World Gin Day 2013. www.masonsyorkshiregin.com

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A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS Black Shuck, a legendary hellhound said to stalk the East Anglian coastline, has lent its name to the latest product from liqueur-maker THE NORFOLK SLOE COMPANY, run by Patrick and Sarah Saunders.

Black Shuck gin (43% abv, 70cl, trade £22) is distilled with Norfolk lavender and locally sourced sea buckthorn, as well as traditional botanicals including juniper, cassia bark and bitter orange peel.

Other products from The Norfolk Sloe Company include raspberry vodka, damson port and plum brandy. www.thenorfolksloecompany.com

PICKERING’S GIN is produced in tiny batches at the Summerhall Distillery in Edinburgh – said to be the city’s first exclusive gin distillery in 150 years.

The product is based on an original Bombay recipe, handwritten on a fragment of paper dated July 17 1947 and kept as a family secret since then.

It is now heading for its 100th batch.

Other products include a Naval Strength edition and Pickering’s Original 1974 Gin, but Pickering’s Gin (70cl, trade £20, RRP £29.50) is the company’s flagship. This is also available in 5cl bottles (trade £3.20). www.pickeringsgin.com

Avva Scottish gin, released this autumn, comes from MORAY DISTILLERY, based in the old cathedral city of Elgin, on Speyside, and one of the smallest distilleries in the region.

It combines Speyside, Highland and traditional botanicals which the company distils slowly in small batches in a 250-litre traditional copper still and then hand-bottles in its distillery.

Striking label graphics

by Pocket Rocket Creative press home the local heritage. www.moraydistilleryltd. co.uk

PUTTING POTATO VODKA IN THE MIX Scotland’s OGILVY SPIRITS has launched a new range of cocktail mixes as the potato vodka producer, based in Forfar, diversifies to fit with market trends.

The Perfect Pour range (50cl, 20% abv, RRP £20) can be blended with tonic, lemonade, ginger beer or Prosecco to create what Ogilvy says is “the perfect home-made cocktail”.

Three blends are currently available in the range, which will change seasonally: 001 Milton Mule, which is a mix of Ogilvy potato vodka, Scottish raspberry juice and lime; 002 Ogilvy Orchard, a mix of potato vodka, apple and elderflower; and 003 Cottarhouse Cooler, a mix of potato vodka, lemon, lime and mint.

Graeme Jarron, owner of Hatton of Ogilvy Farm, a few miles from Glamis Castle, began researching how he could diversify in 2012 and came up with the idea of producing spirit from its surplus potato crop.

It launched its signature Scottish vodka in January 2015. Since then, Jarron and his wife Caroline have self-funded a custom-built, bespoke distillery and created a Scottish craft spirit brand that boasts 100% traceability.

It has already won recognition beyond the UK with three awards at the International Wine & Spirits Competition 2015 in San Francisco. www.ogilvyspirits.com

Coxy’s Kent Liqueurs are made with whole fruit and honey from small farmers and producers around Faversham.

They’re supplied by MIGHTY FINE THINGS, which produces a range of small-batch liqueurs, condiments and confections made predominantly with Kentish ingredients.

The nine-strong Coxy’s range includes lavender gin, raspberry & rose, honey & ginger, and blackcurrant & liquorice.

Coxy’s liqueurs use UK-produced vodka and gin or French brandy as their base, blended with spices. They come in cases of 6x20cl bottles, priced £9 each (trade), and there are plans for a 50cl bottle in 2017. www.mightyfinethings.co.uk

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A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

Craft ale but not as you know it!

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Available direct or through Cotswold Fayre

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

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NEW from Raisthorpe

Distilled Dry Gin and Oak-Aged Dry Gin Lovingly handcrafted by master distillers in the traditional way using water from the ancient chalk underwater Gypsey streams beneath Raisthorpe on the Yorkshire Wolds. Each has its’ own unique character!

Our Distilled Dry Gin (40%) has the right balance of Juniper and 7 botanicals including watercress to give a unique peppery finish, while our Oak Aged Dry Gin (42%) is rested in whisky barrels to give a smooth, mellow flavour with a hint of vanilla and spice.

TRADITIONAL LIQUEURS, JAMS AND MARMALADES FROM THE NORTH OF PORTUGAL

“Scented liqueurs, tasteful jams and other delicious specialties made with our own-grown herbs & fruit” • High quality naturally flavoured liqueurs • Pleasant blend of bitter and sweet orange peels • Apéritif and digestif • Versatile in cocktails • 100% natural • Handmade

It is available in four sizes 5cl £4.50 – 25cl £13.50 – 35cl £23.00 – 70cl £42.00

Buy online from : www.raisthorpemanor.com or call us : 01377 288295 16

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Contact Cláudia Maia: + 351 934 566 062 www.casadeencosturas.com /CasaDeEncosturas A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS THE WHISKY OF WALES PENDERYN DISTILLERY’s Madeira-finish single malt whisky (46% ABV) is the flagship of a range of single malts including Myth (a red wine bourbon finish), Sherrywood, Portwood and Peated.

The Madeira finish single malt (RRP £41.40, 70cl) is distilled in a copper pot still, matured in bourbon barrels, finished in rich Madeira wine casks and bottled at premium strength.

Madeira 46 was awarded the Chairman’s Trophy at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge 2015 in the Whiskey – Single Malt Welsh Whisky category and Gold at the 2014 International Whisky Competition for Best Cask Finish Whisky.

All Penderyn’s spirits are premium or super-premium and produced in small batches. They include Brecon Reserve gin, Brecon Botanicals gin, Brecon FIVE vodka, and Merlyn cream liqueur. www.penderyn-distillery.com

R&B DISTILLERS is offering a taste

of things to come with two whiskies: Borders Highland single grain and Raasay While We Wait single malt.

R&B is currently building two distilleries – one in the Scottish Borders, the other on the Isle of Raasay in the Hebrides – and meanwhile is “handcrafting” two representative styles of whisky while it waits to go into full production.

The single malt is a blend of two expressions from one distillery – one peated, one unpeated and finished in French oak Tuscan wine casks.

The Borders product is the only single grain Scotch to contain 50% wheat and 50% malted barley from one Highland distillery, finished in Oloroso sherry casks to represent the style of R&B’s future Borders distilling. www.rbdistillers.com

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

Described as “cocktail-focused and versatile”, PORTER’S GIN (41.5% abv, 70cl, RRP £35) was conceived in one of Scotland’s top cocktail bars, Orchid in Aberdeen, and developed using a novel process with help from Professor Andrew Porter at the city’s university.

Some of its lighter, fresher botanicals are extracted using a “cold distillation” in a modern rotary evaporator, based in a microdistillery near Orchid, while traditional copper pot distillation takes place at the world’s oldest distillery, G&J Distillers, in Cheshire.

The combined methods are said to result in a bright, lively but smooth gin with refreshing citrus notes but a “solid juniper backbone”. www.portersgin.co.uk

LICENSED TO DISTIL POETIC LICENSE , producer of Northern Dry Gin, Old Tom Gin, and Graceful Vodka, has launched a seasonal spirit and a range of limited edition products it has called The Rarities.

The first seasonal product was Picnic gin, a strawberries-and-cream-flavoured concoction that was available throughout summer 2016.

This has made way for an autumn/winter edition which, like its summer sibling, takes inspiration from the season for its flavours.

The Rarities are single-batch distillations, each about 400 bottles in size. Distillery owner Mark Hird says: “Our Rarities are one-batch runs of whatever we happen to fancy making.

We love indulging our creative side and this allows us to continually do that and excite the taste buds of craft gin enthusiasts with new offerings on a regular basis.”

Poetic’s three flagships (RRP £34.95, trade from £22.40) have changed their look with new packaging, a year on from launch.

The new bottles are translucent with a matte black finish, which has an almost chalkboard affect, but so you can still see the volume of liquid remaining in the bottle. They’ve also kept their natural cork stopper, but that now has the added touch of a Poetic License logo stamp.

Launched in 2015, Poetic License’s Northern Dry Gin is a London Dry style, renamed to reflect the new distiller’s roots, and was specifically crafted to stand-out in many ginbased cocktails. It uses a mix of 13 botanicals to produce “seriously punchy flavours of juniper, cardamom and citrus”. It is available in 70cl (RRP £32.50), 20cl & 5cl bottles.

Old Tom Gin is sweeter and more peppery in comparison to the Northern Dry Gin, and gains colour by resting in oak sherry casks.

Graceful Vodka is distilled seven times from British wheat and was named to reflect its “gloriously smoothness”. www.poeticlicensedistillery.co.uk

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Award-winning Gin Distilled in the Heart of the City of London

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info@cityoflondondistillery.com | www.cityoflondondistillery.com 22-24 BRIDE LANE, LONDON, EC4Y 8DT

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A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS SIPSMITH was London’s first copper distillery for nearly 200

years and was a pioneer in the thriving gin revival.

It began life in a Hammersmith garage back in 2009, where Sam Galsworthy, Fairfax Hall and Jared Brown began distilling their London Dry Gin in a copper pot still named Prudence.

Described as “the quintessential expression of a classic, traditional London Dry Gin”, the spirit is considered smooth enough for a Martini but sufficiently rich and balanced for a G&T. Sipsmith’s London Dry Gin (70cl, RRP £28) has stacked up over 30 international awards including golds at both the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the International Wine & Spirit Competition.

The Sipsmith range now also includes sloe gin, damson vodka, sipping vodka, London Cup – a punch made with gin, Earl Grey, borage and lemon verbena – and a VJOP Gin (Very Junipery Over Proof). www.sipsmith.com

Two new spirits – distilled dry gin and oak aged dry gin – have come to fruition at RAISTHORPE MANOR after two years in development.

The Raisthorpe oak aged dry gin is rested in whisky barrels to give a smooth, mellow flavour with a hint of vanilla and spice.

The new spirits, available in three sizes, join the company’s portfolio of liqueurs and fruit vodkas.

The RRP for both new lines is £42 for a 70cl bottle, and the trade price is £25 + VAT for cases of six.

Raisthorpe Manor gins are made with water from the Gypsey Race, a chalk stream that runs under the Manor Gardens in the Yorkshire Wolds. www.raisthorpemanor.com

Proving that the spirits can be produced with the most unlikely of ingredients, SACRED GIN’s 40% abv Christmas Pudding Gin (70cl, £21.69 trade) is, as the name suggests, distilled using festive fruit puddings.

The recipe originated with co-founder Ian Hart’s Great Aunt Nelli. She would make 30lb puddings, steam them for eight hours, macerate them with English grain spirit for two months and then redistill the resulting mixture.

Other products include gin, organic gin, seven botanical-specific gins, London dry vodka, amber vermouth, extra dry vermouth and bottle-aged Negroni. www.sacredgin.com

IT’S 6 O’CLOCK: TIME FOR A TIPPLE? Edward Bramley Kain and Penelope Gage started their spirits and liqueurs business in their Devon farmhouse kitchen back in 1988, focusing initially on fruit liqueurs and sloe gin.

The company is now based in Thornbury, near Bristol, and run by Penelope and Edward’s children, Michael and Felicity.

In 2010, it released 6 O’CLOCK GIN, a refined version of the spirit long produced by Edward Kain for use in Bramley & Gage’s fruit gins.

The family firm describes this classic London Dry gin as having “a carefully considered balance of pine, citrus, floral, woody, spicy and herbal notes”.

It is produced in a specially designed 200 -litre still, named Kathleen, which has a unique twin-sphere head. Along with the use of high quality botanicals, this is said to contribute to the smoothness of 6 O’Clock Gin, which was listed in the Top 50 Foods in Great Taste 2016.

There are also sloe and damson gins in the 6 O’Clock range, together with a wide choice of fruit liqueurs under the Bramley & Gage banner, and in Spring 2016 the company launched its first sweet and dry vermouths.

Paola and Stuart Leather set up the first licensed rum distillery in the South West of England – RATHLEE DISTILLING CO – to develop the recipe for their “smooth, lightbodied” Revolver Rum. Trialled on a small, handmade copper still, Revolver (£24.60 trade) is now produced for the company in Latin America and imported in white oak barrels, before being blended and bottled in Cornwall. www. revolverrum. com

www.bramleyandgage.com

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

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A-Z OF CRAFT SPIRITS Claiming to be the first UK-based producer of its kind, THE SWEET POTATO SPIRIT COMPANY has developed a range of spirits and liqueurs based on sweet potatoes imported exclusively from Scott Farms in northern California, US. The range, said to “push the boundaries of taste and texture”, comprises Moonshine, spiced rum, Orangecello liqueur and raspberry liqueur.

They are available from Cotswold Fayre. www.thesweetpotatospiritcompany.com

Slingsby Rhubarb Gin (70cl, 40% abv), Slingsby vodka and Slingsby Navy Strength gin are the latest launches from SPIRIT OF HARROGATE, which launched its London Dry gin a year ago.

Slingsby rhubarb gin (RRP £39.99) is made with Yorkshire rhubarb, while the vodka uses Harrogate aquifer water. The Navy Strength Gin (abv 57%) is a stronger and richer version of the firm’s London Dry. The business works closely with Langley Distillery to make its gin, which is bottled by Spirit of Harrogate sister company Intercontinental Brands. www.wslingsby.co.uk

Wilkin & Sons has launched

TIPTREE GIN LIQUEURS (28%

abv) made with fruits from its own farm. They come in English Damson, Little Scarlet Strawberry and English Raspberry.

Scott Goodfellow, director, said: “Our artisanal Tiptree range offers authentic, deep fruit notes with a crisp background of juniper.”

The company linked with Hayman’s Gin, which shares a similar family heritage.

Hayman’s use a trusted blend of 10 botanicals to create its classic London Dry in a copper pot still, ‘Marjorie’, named after founder Christopher Hayman’s mother.

RRP is £19.99 for 35cl. www.tiptree.com

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Kim Gail describes herself as an “accidental gin maker”. After setting up as a small-batch jam-maker in a converted bothy at Peel Farm in rural Angus, she moved into infused spirit as a means of using up surplus berry juice.

THE GIN BOTHY offers gins infused with local raspberries, blueberries, cherries, rhubarb and sloes, and even with chilli from Scotland’s first chilli farm, in Fife. But it also distils its own Bothy Original gin (70cl, trade £28), made with Scottish botanicals including heather, milk thistle, hawthorn berry and Scots pine.

This is produced in a 200-litre copper still, hand-bottled and handlabelled, in batches of 300 bottles. www.ginbothy.co.uk

THE BEAST OF EXMOOR WICKED WOLF Exmoor Gin (70cl, RRP £34) is a premium craft gin made from 11 botanicals, distilled and blended on the banks of the River Lyn, North Devon.

Cardamom and kaffir lime leaves are blended with traditional aromatics, each of which is prepared by hand, infused and separately distilled, resulting in 11 individual distillates which are then blended.

Husband and wife team Pat Patel and Julie Heap, who launched the venture a year ago, say this allows complete control over each flavour and gives consistency across each batch.

Exmoor Gin is filtered at each stage of production to produce a 42% abv “smooth, fullbodied and elegant spirit”.

October 2016 saw Wicked Wolf launch a 57% Navy Strength gin in a limited edition of 300 bottles. www.wickedwolfgin.com

WARNER EDWARDS’ Harrington Dry gin (70cl, 44% abv) is described as a luxurious spirit with a well-rounded and complex palate.

It has strong notes of cardamom and nutmeg – suitable for gin and tonic but smooth enough for a martini, according to the company.

Each batch is small, and every bottle is carefully hand-crafted by the Warner Edwards team, from the filling to the wax seal and label finishing.

The brand is listed by Booths, Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason, 31 Dover and Whole Foods among many others. The RRP is £33. www.warneredwards.com

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

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HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

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THE MIXOLOGY SHOP

Spirits cry out to be cross-sold with cocktail ingredients. We asked Hayman’s Gin mixologist Zane Chiswell-Rivas to show how it’s done during a tasting at top Essex store The Food Company. MICK WHITWORTH reports.

B

ars, restaurants and clubs might look like the natural sales channel for higher-end spirits.

But speciality food stores have one advantage over on-trade outlets – a huge opportunity to cross-sell with ingredients already found on the shop shelves.

With clever merchandising, instore demos and supplier-led tastings, retailers can encourage customers to think way beyond the standard G&T and to develop a whole new repertoire of cocktails and long drinks.

Which also means a chance to sell citrus fruit, juices, fresh herbs, salts and spices, pepper sauces, and even fine coffees alongside that big-ticket bottle of gin, vodka or rum.

With every UK region now boasting its own small-batch distilleries, it makes sense for shops to team up with their local brands for tasting events.

That’s exactly what Essex speciality store The Food Company has done this year, tying up with Witham-based Hayman’s – a family firm with a 150-year heritage in gin distilling – to run gin tastings and cocktail nights led by the producer’s own mixologist Zane Chiswell-Rivas.

“

Asking customers to part with a substantial amount of money for something they’ve never tried is too much of a risk for some

”

Miranda Hayman, Hayman’s Gin

The Food Company charged £25 per person for its Hayman’s Gin evening, including food and tastings of five gins

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Director Miranda Hayman says sampling is always a good idea with higher-ticket items like small-batch gin.

“Asking customers to part with a substantial amount of money for something they’ve never tried and perhaps never heard of is too much of a risk for some,” she says.

“Sampling the product, whether it’s a premium gin, whisky or liqueur, and telling people a little about it is a good way of reducing that risk.”

The Food Company sold tickets to its Hayman’s gin tasting for £25 per person – a price that included accompanying nibbles.

Allowing customers to redeem the ticket cost against spirits purchased on the night is one way to cover costs while offering good value for the customer, Miranda Hayman adds.

To demonstrate the opportunities for crossselling with spirits, we asked Zane ChiswellRivas to come up with three cocktail recipes using ingredients from The Food Company’s shelves – and all readily available in delis, farm shops and food halls. You can see the results here.

But even without enlisting the help of a local distiller, retailers can easily come up with their own cocktail ideas, merchandising the ingredients together on a table, gondola end or perhaps an upturned whisky barrel, with the recipe on a chalkboard alongside.

“Whether it’s a simple hot punch recipe using seasonal fruits or juices and spices, or a classic espresso martini using bespoke coffee, or bringing two local products together such as a gin and a sparkling wine to make a Bellini, there are a range of ideas available when creating a display,” says Miranda Hayman.

“Props such as glassware, cocktail kit items and fruits can all help make your display more eye-catching.”

Many spirit brands like Hayman’s feature cocktail recipe on their websites, and Miranda Hayman adds: “You could also suggest food pairings for each of the cocktails and display those items alongside the spirits.” www.haymansgin.com www.thefoodcompany.co.uk A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

MIXOLOGY

Gin Jewel 50ml Hayman’s London Dry Gin 10ml Elderflower cordial 10ml Lime juice 60ml Cloudy apple juice 1 Egg white A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

GARNISH: Apple twirl and mint sprig

METHOD: Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Shake again, this time with ice.

Strain into ice-filled highball glass.

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l l a n i s e m o c y Quirk ! s e z i s d n a s e p sha

We are Dunnet Bay Distillers. Unsurprisingly we are located in the spectacular bay of Dunnet, where the freshest of air and the finest of water are in abundance.

Our goal is to create spirits which reflect the Scottish way. We hand distil slowly, thoughtfully and passionately to create our exceptional products! www.dunnetbaydistillers.co.uk rockrosegin holygrassvodka

Here’s to the quirky... here’s to the innovators... here’s to the British twist on tradition that drives the nation’s quintessential creativity. And here are the crisps fashioned from those characteristics. Unearthed from the rich Fenland soil on our farm, hand cooked for extra crunch, and naturally flavoured with flair. Original. Iconic. Corkers.

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Dunnet Bay Distillery, Dunnet, Thurso, Scotland, KW14 8XD 600g

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Email us today for a brochure at hello@lindsaysstillroom.co.uk or call 01773 550855

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HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

MIXOLOGY The Garden Party 35ml Hayman’s London Dry Gin 15ml Hayman’s Sloe Gin 25ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice 15ml Sugar syrup (or 1 tsp fine sugar) Soda water or English sparkling wine (Instead of ice, try using frozen British strawberries and raspberries)

GARNISH: Berries, sprig of fresh mint and a large lemon twist

METHOD: Add the frozen berries or ice to a high ball glass, pour over the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup, give it a quick stir then top with soda water or English Sparkling Wine. Garnish, then enjoy.

East Side Royale 50ml Hayman’s London Dry 25ml Fresh Lime Juice 15ml Sugar Syrup Sparkling wine or soda water

GARNISH: Cucumber peel & mint crown

METHOD: Muddle cucumber into bottom of shaker, add mint leaves and liquid ingredients, shake, double strain.

Pour into a cocktail glass. Top with sparkling wine and garnish.

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

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WHITEHERONDRINKS.CO.UK

trade@conkerspirit.co.uk

Our family owned distillery on the beautiful Isle of Man has been the home of innovative distilling techniques for over 40 years. The next generation has built on this heritage and is proud to launch Bifrost Ultra Premium Manx Vodka.

Employing a unique type of still and a quality Cognac, sourced from another independent distillery in the Charente, the floral, fruity notes of the Cognac are captured whilst the smoothness and long palate are enhanced by our unique distilling process.

Please call Rebecca at the distillery on 01624 897777 for further information, or to discuss independent retail or wholesale distribution in your area.

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HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

MIXERS & SOFT DRINKS

HIGH DAYS AND DRY DAYS Premium mixers and cordials sit naturally alongside craft spirits, but it makes sense to cater for non-drinkers too with a range of mocktails and soft drinks NIX&KIX soft drinks are claimed to produce the

same happy high as alcohol but in a healthier way – although they also be used as mixers.

The drinks are infused with cayenne chilli (for a healthy kick) and capsaicin (for a natural endorphin high).

They come in cucumber & mint, mango & ginger and peach & vanilla.

The Devon-produced drinks provide less than 80 calories per bottle. RRP is £1.89 for 275ml. www.nixandkix.com

ROOTS SODA CO products

have zany names such as I Need My Girl, with beetroot and pink grapefruit – a product it says has 69% less sugar than most fizzy drinks and containing nearly 40% fruit and vegetable juices.

Superstition is its newest launch, and its second low-sugar soda – an orange and grapefruit variant with 49% less sugar than most sodas.

Trade price is £10.08 for 12 bottles (RRP £1.85 each). www.rootssoda.co.uk

Organic cane sugar, real cola nut, vanilla, lemon and ginger are among the natural, organic and Fairtrade ingredients used in Karma Cola and its sister products Lemony Lemonade and Gingerella – all designed to accentuate the flavours of premium and craft spirits.

KARMA COLA, whose slogan is “Drink No Evil’, sends part of the proceeds from each can sold to cola nut farmers in a small village in Sierra Leone, to invest in community projects.

The trade price for a 330ml glass bottle is 99p ex-VAT, and a 250ml can 60p ex-VAT. www.karmacola.co.uk

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

Sarsaparilla, cloudy lemonade, elderflower, spiced winterberry, original ginger wine and sugarfree ginger are among the seven flavours of cordial available from PAPAS MINERAL CO. The last is traditional clove – a finalist in the 2016 Irish Food Awards – which the producer says works particularly well with rum. It recommends its ginger cordial for mixing with whisky.

The 750ml bottles cost £3.95 trade, RRP £4.95. www.papasmineralcompany.com

THE TONIC BEHIND THE CRAFT GIN BOOM? According to Stephen Marsh, co-founder of raspberry gin label Pinkster, the single biggest influence on Britain’s craft spirits boom has not been a boutique gin or vodka, but a mixer.

Marsh says the arrival of FEVER-TREE tonic, with its clean, balanced taste and its use of cane sugar rather than cheap, Schweppes-style highfructose corn syrup, finally enabled the quality and individuality of craft gins to shine through.

The mixer brand’s tonics and soft drinks, which include Indian tonic water and Naturally Light tonic water, have won widespread acclaim and given shops and bars a higher-value mixer to complement their premium spirits.

Fever-tree’s game-changing Indian tonic water was created by blending botanical oils with spring water and what it says is the highest quality quinine from the “fever trees” of the Eastern Congo, designed to enhance top-end gins or vodkas.

Its Naturally Light variant is said to be the world’s first all-natural lower-calorie tonic water, with 58% fewer calories.

Fever-Tree expanded its range in summer 2016 with a pink Aromatic tonic water that is says adds “a splash of colour to gin and tonic”.

This uses angostura bark, balanced by the sweet, spicy flavours of the likes of cardamom from Guatemala, pimento berry from Jamaica and ginger from Cochin.

The RRPs for all tonic waters are £3 for packs of four 250ml bottles and £1.70 for single 500ml bottles.

Fever-Tree has also launched Madagascan Cola (RRP £1.69, 500ml), specifically created as a mixer for dark spirits.

www.fever-tree.com

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MIXERS & SOFT DRINKS Soft drinks and tonics from FRANKLIN & SONS combine hand-picked ingredients with a century-long heritage.

The soft drinks selection includes cloudy apple & Yorkshire rhubarb with cinnamon; British dandelion & handpicked burdock with star anise; brewed ginger beer with malted barley and a squeeze of lemon; Sicilian lemonade & English elderflower with crushed juniper; and wild strawberry & Scottish raspberry with cracked black pepper.

The mixers include natural Indian tonic, natural light tonic water, original ginger ale and Sicilian lemon tonic. www.franklinandsons.co.uk

The Oxo Tower, Jensen’s Gin Distillery and the Albion in Shoreditch and Clerkenwell are among the trendy venues using WOODFORD & WARNER’s sorrel-based cordials and mixers in cocktails and mocktails.

Sorrel is the Caribbean name for the calyx of the Hibiscus Sabdariffa flower, and the main ingredient in the traditional sorrel drink. It works as a mixer with rum, gin, vodka or other spirits for a long drink or cocktail base. www.woodfordandwarner.com

ADDED SPARKLE SPIRITS After finding its innovative soft drinks were being used widely in long alcoholic drinks, QCUMBER launched a premium mixer with a higher carbonation level to better complement craft spirits.

The newcomer is most commonly used with gin, vodka and Pimms. “The last few years have seen a growth in high-end mixers to complement the trend towards premium spirits,” says founder Graham Carr-Smith.

Marketed in 200ml crown-cap bottles, Qcumber premium mixer is made from natural cucumber essence and spring water and is free from artificial sweeteners, flavours, colours and preservatives.

Qcumber has developed a series of cocktail and mocktail recipes, available to retailers on request to help with promotion and upselling, as well as a monthly newsletter filled with drinks ideas. www.q-cumber.co.uk

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HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

MAKING MOCKTAILS AND COCKTAILS ROCK

Using elderflowers grown organically on its own land, BELVOIR FRUIT FARMS has been hand-making elderflower cordial and pressé on the family farm near Belvoir Castle since 1984.

Both are widely sold as simple soft drinks but can also be used as ingredients in cocktails. The pressé is described as “perfect as an alternative mixer, introducing a subtle floral flavour that blends deliciously with gin, vodka or as a spritzer with wine”.

Belvoir’s website includes a range of cocktail and mixer ideas. www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk

Chris Yandell and Katie Bain started their Devon-based frozen drinks business in 2015 and their non-alcoholic Rocktails cocktail blends are now stocked in farm shops, delis and food halls as well as a strong line-up of trendy bars.

The ready-to-drink mixes are made from allnatural ingredients and come in 250ml pouches.

They are designed to be frozen then part-thawed to produce an icy mocktail that can be consumed straight up or added to spirits.

“The non-alcoholic market is certainly one that is growing, with the increase of nondrinkers in the UK,” says Katie Bain. “22% of people in the UK don’t drink and this increases to 36% in London.” Currently, she adds, usage of Rocktails seems to split 50:50 between mocktails and cocktails.

The company’s four blends are The Mockito (with lime, yuzu and garden mint), The Sunset Sling (Alphonso mangos, passionfruit and guava), The Coco Colada (coconut water, pineapple and guanabana) and The Thyme Collins (lemon and thyme).

Merchandising Rocktails pouches alongside spirits is an obvious move in the retail environment, but Yandell and Bain also recommend paying close attention to garnishes.

“Spiced blends are incredibly on-trend this winter – with a dash of jalapeño brine or a sprinkle of cinnamon you can instantly enhance the flavour to suit your palette.”

The duo also suggest that dried chilli flakes, cinnamon sticks and fresh herbs can be used to inspire customers and cross-sell alongside the pouches.

Rocktails are currently in over 60 UK stores including Harrods, Selfridges, Fenwicks and Sourced Market. Trade price per unit is £1.50 +VAT on a mixed case of 40 (RRP £2.90 each). www.rocktails.co.uk

A new spiced tomato juice from Isle of Wight firm THE TOMATO STALL is said to make the perfect base for a Bloody Mary or Red Snapper.

Prepared in small batches, it’s blended with The Tomato Stall’s own mix of spices and a dash of chilli.

It comes in 500ml, 250ml and 200ml options, with trade prices of £2.04, £1.20 and £1.08 respectively. www.thetomatostall.co.uk A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

@Piperscrisps 26

HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

5432 Pipers & Gin Advert_FF_ART.indd 1

Piperscrisps www.piperscrisps.com A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

19/10/2016 10:22

BFF AD - High Spirits 2016-17_Layout 1 17/10/2016 09:59 Page 1

Delicious over ice, perfect as a mixer.

Try our recipe for Belvoir Gin Fizz…

Take a long glass filled with ice, pour over the Pressé, splash in some gin and squeeze in some lime. Stir and enjoy…

Take a look at our website for lots of creative cocktail ideas

www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk

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HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

COCKTAIL SNACKS

RAISING THE BAR IN NIBBLES

Creating a themed fixture to promote spirits, mixers and cocktail ingredients? Why not find space for some high-end snacks too.

Popcorn pioneer JOE & SEPH’S has created what it describes as “the world’s first cocktail popcorn range” for pairing with drinks.

It comprises Gin & Tonic, Margarita, Mojito and Cosmopolitan. The company also produces Caramel Macchiato & Whisky – although not strictly a cocktail flavour. Each recipes contains 5% real spirits.

The cocktail range is available in 32g snack packs (RRP £1.75), 70-90g pouches (RRP £3.50) and bulk catering packs. joeandsephs.com

SOFFLE’S PITTA CHIPS recommends its rosemary & thyme pitta chips and spring onion & Italian cheese pitta chips for pairing with a gin & tonic.

They are made using fresh ingredients that are mixed into the dough before they are oven roasted with olive oil.

Soffle’s chips come in cases of 15x60g bags at a trade price of 65p per pack. www.soffles.com

LEIGHTON BROWN says its three

varieties of vegetable crisps in 40g bags make great pairings with premium bar spirits and cocktails.

Beetroot, horseradish & dill is said to be good with gin & tonic.

Parsnip works well with Bloody Mary, and sweet potato with cheese & jalapeno provides a good accompaniment to tequila and lime or an ice-cold Margarita. www.leightonbrown.co.uk

Crisps are a snacking essential, but sometimes you’ll want to stock a less-familiar option alongside your usual favourite. Ireland’s O’DONNELLS has added a new variant – Irish Sea Salt – to its handcooked and gluten-free range. It uses Oriel Sea Salt, harvested in mineral-rich waters off County Louth.

Others in the range are mature Irish cheese & red onion and Irish cider vinegar & sea salt, all supplied in 50g bags, RRP 90p. www.odonnellscrisps.com

A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST

Hand-shelled hickory nuts, sourced from trees that take more than 10 years to mature, make a good accompaniment to spirits and cocktails, especially vodka-based drinks, says ABAKUS FOODS. The nuts are free from gluten, dairy, additives and suitable for both vegetarians and vegans. They have a crunchy texture and a buttery and sweet taste, the company says.

RRPs are £1.88 for the snack pack and £4.65 for the sharing pack (trade £1.02 and £2.52). www.abakusfoods.com

Available in 100g retail bags, 60g tubs and in bulk, HAPPY PEOPLE PLANET’s range of snacks includes organic and ‘Fair Play’ almonds from Spain and Sicily. They come in a variety of seasonings, including Japanese matcha green tea, salt & pepper, chilli, and sour cream & onion. www.happypeoplepla.net

TYRRELLS recommends its Bellini Poshcorn to enjoy with high-end spirits.

Sold in 75g sharing packs, RRP £1.59, it joins other Poshcorn flavours, including sweet & salty and sea salted, alongside Tyrrells’ comprehensive range of potato and sweet potato crisps, vegetable crisps and nibbles, including habas fritas, spicy coated peanuts and tortillas. www.tyrrellscrisps.co.uk HIGH SPIRITS 2016-17

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