Crafted with care – how we produce our outstanding range of non-alcoholic aperitifs
By Jhon Doe
By Jhon Doe
UNLIKE MOST OTHER BRANDS IN THE NON-ALCOHOLIC SPACE, WE PRODUCE A LARGE PART OF THE PROCESS IN HOUSE, AT OUR AWARD-WINNING WATERSIDE DISTILLERY IN SALCOMBE.
FOR THE BASE OF EACH OF OUR NON-ALCOHOLIC SPIRITS AND APERITIFS, WE CREATE A BOTANICAL STEEP IN A 40% ABV NEUTRAL GRAIN SOLUTION. WE ADD KEY BOTANICALS WHICH WE CAN SOURCE EITHER LOCALLY, SUSTAINABLY OR IN SOME CASES GROW OR FORAGE OURSELVES. FOR NEW LONDON LIGHT ‘FIRST LIGHT’ WE USE JUNIPER, GINGER AND HABANERO – HOME-GROWN BY OUR MASTER DISTILLER JASON. FOR NEW LONDON LIGHT ‘MIDNIGHT SUN’ WE USE SEABERRY, ELDERBERRY, KELP, SAMPHIRE, ICELANDIC MOSS AND ALEXANDERS WHILST ‘AEGEAN SKY’ USES KUMQUAT, BERGAMOT, OLIVE AND ROSEMARY. WE LET EACH STEEP MACERATE FOR 48 HOURS. MACERATING SOFTENS THE NATURAL INGREDIENTS, EXTRACTING THEIR DISTINCT FLAVOURS.
After 48 hours, we strain the steep through a fine mesh, before distilling it through our rotary vacuum still, a process which removes the alcohol without removing the flavour. This piece of equipment combines numerous processes, allowing us to capture single flavours or groups of flavours with or without alcohol and water.
There are three key processes that allow this control, which are:
This part of the process involves extracting the air out of the evaporation flask, reducing the air pressure to the point at which the liquid inside boils at a low temperature. This is a bit like making a cup of tea at the top of Mount Everest where the air is so thin, water boils at 68 degrees celsius. In fact, the rotary vacuum still goes even further, it can make a liquid boil at room temperature or less.
The second process controls the temperature accurately. During traditional distillation the boiling point of the liquid changes as some components are removed. Accurate control of the water bath around the flask allows us to maintain a constant temperature so only the flavours or chemicals we want are removed. Think about placing a tea bag in a cup of boiling water versus a cup of cold water, heat impacts the flavours in the tea bag in the hot water much more than cold water – keeping the temperature down allows us to control flavour extraction much more precisely.
Thirdly there is the rotation of the flask. Much like when we swirl a spirit or wine in a glass to help release aromas, constant rotation of the flask allows certain components of the liquid to evaporate quicker, by combining movement with a larger surface area to volume ratio of the liquid.
When these three processes are combined, we can achieve great things. Delicate flavours can be separated without heat damage, we can remove alcohol to concentrate flavours in the water, or we can even separate individual flavours one at a time then combine some of them again later.
We end up with a very low ABV steep full of complex base notes and body. This is then sent to our bottling partner to flash pasteurise the liquid to preserve it and ensure all additional hygiene measures are met. Finally, we combine it with complimentary botanical extracts to enhance the profile, adding complexity and a full spectrum of flavour. Additionally, our non-alcoholic aperitifs are also stabilised with the unusual use of kombucha.
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