Non-Alcoholic Trailblazer Ben Branson on Why It's Time to Seasn Our Drinks
The âFounding Father of Non-Alcâ Ben Branson shares why he spent the last six years creating a pair of bitters to shake up how we season our drinks.Â
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Natural Goodness Always: Elevating the Cocktail Experience
More than a pretty face for a cocktail, Peel & Tonic is in a class of its own when it comes to creating elite garnishes with both style and substance.
How to cut a world-class garnish with Seedlip Non-Alcoholic Spirits
A garnish on a drink is a final flourish. It adds an element of theatre and fun, and will enhance the drinking experience by awakening other senses such as sight and smell before taste comes into play.Herbs, edible flowers, citrus peels and spices all make for eye-catching, aromatic garnishes for non-alcoholic cocktails, but donât plonk a garnish on a drink as an afterthought. If youâre adding Mint, bash the leaves a little in the palm of your hand to release the plantsâ fragrant smell. Before adding citrus peel, give it a small squeeze over the glass to release the oil, as this holds much of the scent.The garnish should be as well thought out as the drink itself and these small actions help to take your cocktail to the next level in smell, taste and appearance.This mini guide to cutting garnishes will help ensure youâre getting the most out of the plants that we use most in our drinks, in five simple steps. GRAPEFRUIT ZEST FOR SEEDLIP SPICE 94 & TONICSweat the small stuff. Sharp angles and smart edges make all the difference. Peel a long strip of Grapefruit zest. About 1.5cm think. Cut off the untidy ends so youâre left with straight edges. Cut the short ends diagonally to create a long edge and a short edge. IV. Give your peel a little twist. Add to your Seedlip Spice 94 & Tonic at the end, making sure the garnish is at the front of the glass. CUCUMBER RIBBON FOR SEEDLIP GARDEN 108 & ELDERFLOWER TONICAn easy trick to introduce a dash of theatre and sophistication. Cut your Cucumber lengthways so that the soft, light-green flesh appears. Then take your peeler & peel, a long, thin strip. You want the middle part to have border of Cucumber skin all the way around it. Wind the garnish around your finger. Pick up the highball glass & drop the garnish into it while still holding the top part of the Cucumber against the glass w/ your finger. The Cucumber ribbon should unravel around the inside. Add ice & 50ml of Seedlip Garden 108. Then top w/ Elderflower Tonic. ORANGE SLICE FOR GROVE 42 & SODASimplicity at its finest. Find a lovely Orange & cut it in half. Then, cut off a slice, approx. 0.5cm thick Cut this slice in half, straight down the centre. Find a highball glass, fill it w/ ice & pour in 50ml Seedlip Grove 42. Top w/ soda & finally add your Orange slice. Make sure the slice sits at the front of the glass at a slight angle.
Seedlip Non-Alcoholic Spirits: Six of your most commonly asked questions, answered
1. What is a non-alcoholic spirit? Is it the same as a flavoured water? Seedlip is the worldâs first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, solving the ever-growing dilemma of âwhat to drink when youâre not drinking ÂŽâ. It is based on the distilled non-alcoholic remedies from The Art of Distillation written in 1651, and now repurposed to pioneer a new category of drinks.The bespoke distillation process used to make Seedlip meets the requirements of calling the liquid a spirit. A very small amount of Neutral Grain Spirit â or Alcohol â is used at the very early stages of the process to extract the most flavour we can out each of the premium ingredients we use. This alcohol is then removed using a secret method before the ingredients are expertly blended together to make Seedlip.Craftmanship, ingenuity and bespoke methods are all involved in the creation of our spirits ââ just as they do in the creation of our alcoholic counterparts.Unlike a flavoured water, Seedlip is sophisticated and complex. It works with the palate and can complement a delicious meal. It offers those not wanting to drink alcohol, the ritual, flavour and sense of occasion; and bartenders working in world-class bars and restaurants around the world love to use Seedlip to make non-alcoholic cocktails. 2. How is Seedlip made? We carefully source and select herbs, spices, peels and barks, working closely with growers and fellow farmers including our own farm to find the very best ingredients that our master distiller can work with.Seedlip takes six weeks to make and involves bespoke maceration, copper pot distillation, blending and filtration process for each individual ingredient. It is then blended and bottled in England.We are transparent about our ingredients, but as we are the first people to make distilled non-alcoholic spirits, we canât share all the details of our methods! 3. Why is Seedlip expensive? Seedlip sources the highest quality ingredients from our farmers around the world. The production process takes over six weeks, from individually distilling each ingredient to the final bottling. This is longer than a traditional spirit might take to produce, but we take time to get the best flavours from all of our natural ingredients to ensure we deliver a quality drink experience for our consumers.Seedlip is priced based on three things: I. The cost of sourcing the highest quality ingredients from our farmers around the world. II. The time, effort, equipment & expertise it takes to make a bottle of Seedlip [over six weeks individually distilling each ingredient]. III. The use, licences and associated tax and legal requirements of using alcohol in the process. 4. What ingredients are in each Seedlip spirit? There are six botanicals in each Seedlip Spirit and all Seedlip products are sugar-free and sweetener-free. Seedlip Garden 108: Water, Natural Botanical Distillates and Extracts, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate, Acid: Citric acid. A complex, herbal blend of individually copper pot distilled Peas, Hay and traditional English herbs. Seedlip Spice 94: Water, Natural Botanical Distillates and Extracts, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate, Acid: Citric acid. A blend of aromatic Jamaican Allspice berry and Cardamom distillates with two barks, and a bright citrus finish. Seedlip Grove 42: Water, Natural Botanical Distillates and Extracts, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate, Acid: Citric acid. A sophisticated, warm, citrus blend using three varieties of Mediterranean Orange, Lemon peel, Ginger and Lemongrass distillates with the cool prickle of Japanese Sansho Peppercorn. 5. What animals are in Seedlip label illustrations & what do the numbers mean? All the animals on our bottles: the Fox, the Hare & the Squirrel, can all be found on, our founder, Ben Bransonâs family farm.The label illustrations, designed by Raku Inoue, are made up of each of the six plant distillates used to make each Seedlip Spirit. Look closely and youâll discover the ears of the Hare are Sugar Snap Peas, the head of the Squirrel is Ginger root, and the body of the Fox is made up of the quality Cascarilla & Oak bark found in Spice 94.The numbers relate to an interesting fact about the hero ingredient within each Seedlip Spirit: Seedlip Spice 94 1494 was the year European explorers came across Allspice berries growing in Jamaica. Seedlip Garden 108 On average, from the day they're sown, Peas take 108 days to grow and mature enough to be harvested. Seedlip Grove 42 Although Oranges have been grown in the Far East for thousands of years, it wasnât till 1542 that the fruit made its way into Europe, and the colour orange first got its name. 6. How do I drink Seedlip? All Seedlip spirits are best served with tonic/soda or as the base for non-alcoholic cocktails.Alcohol carries flavour very well, as does sugar â Seedlip contains neither â but when mixed with tonic or within cocktails our spirits really shine and open up the complexity & strength of our plant distillates.We always recommended Seedlip is served as a 50ml measure over lots of ice, partnered with a mixer, and never drank neat.To garnish, we suggest using a Sugar Snap Pea for Garden 108 (we like to gently snap it, so it releases all those lovely green notes); an Orange twist for Grove 42; and a Grapefruit peel for Spice 94 â it makes all the difference!Our recommended serves are: Seedlip Garden 108: 50ml With Fever-Tree Indian tonic / Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic: 125ml Garnish: A snapped Pea pod Seedlip Grove 42: 50ml With Indian tonic / Fever-Tree Soda: 125ml Garnish: Orange twist Seedlip Spice 94: 50ml Fever-Tree Indian tonic / Fever-Tree Ginger Ale: 125ml Garnish: Grapefruit peel
Cook & Nelson's Christmas Stocking Fillers
Fill your Christmas stockings this year with goodies from Cook & Nelson, purveyors of some of the most exciting and exceptional fare crafted by the best artisan producers in the world.
