-3.png)
The summer months are known for the abundance of seasonal fruit, but come late September leading into October, the variety is greatly reduced.....unless you turn to the Great British hedgerows and trees, where a whole new world of wild and wonderful edible goods can be discovered, many of which can be used in immune-boosting tinctures and remedies- great for beating the October sniffles; they can also be put to good use in spirits and liqueurs.......which are tonics in their own right, right?!
Why in the spirit of Brambly Hedge and not just the hedgerow? Have you ever read Autumn Story? Or pored over the illustrations of Mr Apple and Dusty Dogwood scurrying through thick brambles and russet leaves to find Primrose, or houses burrowed underground or carved into the trunk of a tree, chamber-like rooms split over several floors, and kitchens so large they wouldn't look out of place in a fine country house, with shelves groaning under the weight of foraged crab apples, rosehips and hawthorns. Even as an adult, the arrival of autumn has me thinking about the Brambly Hedge storerooms......
HedgePigs Willd Bullace & Quince
From a range of small-batch fruity liqueurs inspired by hyper-local and seasonal produce, Wild Bullace and Quince was HedgePig's first offering, made with citrussy Suffolk quince and tart bullaces (a type of plum), and a touch of sugar to round off the tartness, creating a beautifully balanced liqueur.
Add a splash to a glass of fizz for an autumnal welcome drink, or pour a generous measure over ice for a fireside tipple.
fruityhedgepig.com
Roundwood, Cask Aged Sloe Gin
Take one award-winning London Dry, pair it with plummy foraged sloes and tart, earthy elderberries, and leave to age in Bordeaux red wine casks. The result is a sloe gin that is as rich in flavour as it is in colour, with deep berry notes, subtle fruity sweetness, and a whisper of wood smoke. Drink neat, taking time to savour the complexities of this beautiful seasonal offering.
Sacred Rosehip Cup
Included in our May Your Cup Runneth Over feature, Sacred's Rosehip Cup is a celebration of super-seasonal rosehips, the fruit of the rose bush; they are largely tart with a slightly floral taste, but here they are balanced with sweet Spanish orange, fiery fresh ginger and a deliciously complex blend of 27 botanicals, with tart, tangy, floral, and bitter notes. The beautiful colour is achieved by steeping the spirit in red grape skins. Try topping up with sparkling apple juice, and garnish with slices of green apple.
Trinity Garden Gin, Autumn
In partnership with Green Room Distillery, Michelin-starred London restaurant, Trinity, has launched a series of four 'English Garden Gins', each one using botanicals that capture the essence of the season. The autumn gin blends rosehip and crab apple with the highly seasonal but more unusual additions of fig and bramble leaves. Fig leaves are grassy and herbaceous, with unexpected coconutty notes (a bit like gorse), and bramble leaves are mildly fruity- quite the flavour combo for this time of year.
Winchester Autumn Hedgerow
From the distiller of Twisted Nose- one of Britain's most intriguing gins- comes another meticulously crafted offering, which captures the essence of autumn using highly seasonal wild goodies, from rosehips and rowan berries to elder and blackberries. Winchester distils their gin in a traditional copper pot, which adds to the development of flavour and complexity. The gin is fruity and rich, with earthy undertones, and beautiful crisp pine. Great whipped up into an Elderflower Collins.
Rumbullion! Sloe Spiced Rum
Avast Ye! There's something quite evocative about Ableforth's Rumbullion brand... the bottle shape, wrapped tightly in brown paper, tied with string at the neck and sealed with coal black wax, which drips menacingly down over the bottle; it's giving 'A Night On Queen Anne's Revenge'. However, the rum is giving toasty-warm-and-dry-despite-the-British-weather. Infused with cassia, clove, cardamom, bourbon vanilla and zesty orange, and blended with the finest British sloes, this is a bountiful spirit that's rich, spicy and most definitely warming.
Downtown Distillery Hazelnut Vodka
More delicious things from the southwest, this time from Downtown Distillery, the producer of a rather smooth, innovative vodka made with the discarded pomace (the skins) of Chardonnay grape grown on the vineyard where the distillery sits. The fermentation and distillation process produces a rich chocolatey nose and warming, spicy notes, with a subtle hint of sweetness.....the perfect base for adding roasted hazelnuts, creating a luxuriously creamy, comforting, warming vodka, which makes for a heavenly hazelnut espresso martini #swoon
Gibson's Crab Apple Liqueur
When one of the UK's top museums invites you to collaborate with them and produce a liqueur inspired by their collection, you're going to say yes, aren't you? And that's exactly what happened when Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, asked organic liqueur producer, Gibson's, to create a drink that celebrated the preservation of the past. The crab apples (Britain's only native apple) growing on the trees in the Gibson orchard were a natural choice, having enjoyed a long, rich history of consumption on British soil. The result is nothing short of a masterpiece- appley, but floral, with the warming spice of star anise. Somewhat heavenly, this little number.
Buck & Birch Aelder Exilir
Familiar with foraging forest floors for wild food and fungi, Birch and Buck master-minds, Thomas Chisholm and Rupert Waite have been delighting experimental diners for years with their wild-dining supper clubs, serving local, hyper-seasonal finds in inventive bites and nips. Bursting with ripe wild elderberries in a young whisky-spirit base, Aelder delivers deep fruity notes similar to port, with subtle hints of spice and the sweet smokiness of old leather. It can be served straight, as an accompaniment to dessert or a cheese board, or as particularly well as an alternative to creme de mure in the oh-so-Instagrammable Bramble.
buckandbirch.com
Love this article? Already have one of the listed spirits in your cocktail cabinet? Have I completely overlooked a stonkingly good spirit that's worthy of inclusion? Get sharing your favourite autumnal tipples with like-minded foodies in The Stamford Foodie group.
'
