AUTUMN IS OFFICIALLY UPON US

18TH SEPTEMBER 2022

It has definitely started to feel like the warm balmy days of Summer are slipping away from us.  The last few days on the farm have felt distinctly autumnal and chillier than normal.  My feeding fork, that I use to give hay to the cows, is cold to the touch in the mornings and I found myself contemplating the use of gloves today – something I haven’t worn for a good 5 or 6 months now.  There is also a hint of condensation on the distillery window which we never really see during the warmer months of the year.  Whilst I am not a fan of the cold, the stills most definitely are as they work a lot more efficiently when there is a good temperature difference so from that perspective it’s all good.

We’ve also had an uptick in wasps over the last few weeks.  It has been a very good year for them because of the warm weather and the abundance of fruit everywhere but they are starting to get quite angry and having located at least 3 nests in the last fortnight we are all doing our best to avoid them as much as we can.  Fortunately they do not seem to be overly interested in the sloe bushes although blackberry picking is currently being done with extreme caution.

As we start to move towards October and November we are now at the height of our Sloe bottling.  As the weather turns and the hunts begin there is always an increase in demand.  We produce throughout the year so that we are ready for the seasonal rush and the batches that we make now will really be the last ones available to us in time for Christmas.  Like so many other businesses, we are never really running in line with the current day and are always thinking six months ahead for where we are. 

A WEEK OF CHANGE

11TH SEPTEMBER 2022

As the seasons change I always get a reminiscent feeling, sometimes the change from Summer to Autumn takes me back to my years of being a student and a feeling of moving on and moving away and sometimes it’s a feeling of melancholy as we trade the long summer evenings for the cooler Autumn nights but either way I always acutely feel that change as it occurs.  This year, and in particular this week, change has been ever more evident as we finally say goodbye to our longest reigning monarch, the Queen.

No matter where your allegiance lies, in British Monarchy or in the idea of a republic, it is difficult not to feel a little uncertain of the days ahead.  It was put most acutely when one bystander stated that her children would never know a Queen again in their lifetime, something which is certainly true for me as well.  It does feel like our country is on the precipice of huge change in the coming months and with that comes the challenges for businesses like ours to ensure we stay ahead of the curve.

This is of course not always possible, but we are working hard to finalise the last of our projects for the year before we embark on the busiest months for our business.  I have been working hard on our social media and have updated our Instagram account following some ideas on how to make it more cohesive.  I’ve also spent a bit of time training myself up on some editing software to try and improve the quality of some of our short films.  As always, it’s a big learning curve and there will be bumps along the way but we continue to navigate them as best we can and every day that we make another Gin sale is a good day!!

BACK FROM SUMMER BREAKS & STRAIGHT INTO THE BRAMBLES

4TH SEPTEMBER 2022

We have taken a few weeks away from full-on Gin distillery action to have a short Summer break and some rest and relaxation.  Graham stayed on the farm to work through some new recipes and play with some distillation techniques and I took the opportunity to have some time away with a friend and visit the USA.  I visited some of the wonderful vineyards of Sonoma and Napa in California to take a sneaky peak into the wonderful world of wine-making.  I visited a number of small boutique vineyards to see how they do things over there and to get some ideas for our business moving forward.  California is such a vast state with so much agriculture and driving past some of the dairy region really put into perspective how vast agriculture is as an industry in America.  I got a chance to spend a morning with some ranchers and despite the gulf in distance of our farms, it seems many of the challenges of farming are universal no matter what continent you are on.

We are now very much prepping for the run up to Christmas.  September, October and November are generally the busiest months for gift buying and although there are the looming issues of the economy for everyone to concern themselves with, many people are already well into their Christmas shopping.  We have a few new gift sets to tempt the great British public with this year and are just putting into place the finishing touches on these before we make them part of this year’s seasonal lines.

Whilst we are still in dire need of rain in Norfolk and it feels like a lifetime since we had any prolonged amount of the wet stuff, our soft fruits and in particular the blackberries are in abundance this year.  We are non-stop picking at the moment and filling our freezer up with as much fruit as we can lay our hands on.  Production of our popular blackberry gin has now started again and the first of this year’s batches should be ready for next week’s trip to Sandringham.  As always we try and get as much fruit frozen in any one season as we can because you never can tell what next year will bring!

SEASIDE CARNIVALS, SUNDAY MARKETS & SWALLOWS

7TH AUGUST 2022

This week has seen us at two of my favourite Norfolk towns, Wells-next-Sea and Holt.  We started the week at the Wells carnival which is a weeklong festival with tons going on.  It was a glorious day although we did have a brief spell of rain right at the point when we were trying to put up the gazebo.  Normally I would be really irritated by the timing of the downpour but given our absolute need for rain at the moment I was actually grateful to see some of the wet stuff.  It is very much tourist season in Wells right now and we spent a lot of time discussing, with some of our visitors, their most enjoyable things to do and also making some suggestions for things they might not want to miss.  My personal favourite is a trip out on Beans Boats to Blakeney Point to go and see the seals.  I try and get a trip in at least once a year, particularly around November time when the seal pups are all being born.

It was a pleasure to be back at Holt Sunday Market.  Holt is such a pretty town and I always try and take 10 minutes away from the stall to go and have a quick nose around.  There are some great food shops in Holt and with the addition of the artisan stalls there was definitely plenty up for grabs.  It gave us a chance to catch up with a few stall holders that we haven’t seen for a while and see how their summer is going.  We also had an influx of visitors from both Derby and Middlesborough so there was some football chat, particularly as Norwich City had just had their first home game of the season the day before.

Back on the farm our second nest full of Swallows has fledged this weekend.  I just about managed to catch a few pictures of them before they emptied the nest.  It is quite unusual for us to get 2 broods through from the nest that is above the dairy, but the adult birds have been really on it this year!  Some of the older flock are already preparing to go back on their long migration, we largely think because it has just been so dry.  I always feel melancholy when I see them go and always look forward to their return next year.  How many of them will successfully make the long journey is anyone’s guess but it has been nice to have them flying freely over the farm again for another year.

FARM WORK, ARTWORK & BLACKBERRY PRESSING   

31ST JULY 2022

With the Summer comes lots of extra pressures on the farm as a large part of the workforce get on with the day to day of harvest.  I have been volunteering more of my time to help where needed over the last couple of weeks.  I love being out in the fresh air and although I am not up to some of the more “technical” jobs on the farm myself and my sister are both dab hands at feeding, small tractor driving, mucking out and general maintenance about the place.  This week saw me learning how to change the bucket on the front of our mini-JCB which felt like an absolute triumph once I had finally gotten there.  Like so many other things, practice makes perfect, and I was quite relieved that no-one saw my first two attempts which were not the best!

Alongside some of the more manual bits and pieces around the farm, I am now back at the computer working on new designs for some of our upcoming seasonal gins and gin gift sets.  Before we all know it, we will be getting ready for the festive period and I am trying to get ahead of the game as once the fruit picking season gets into full-swing time will become more limited with regards to these projects.  I am a complete perfectionist which is both a blessing and a curse!  It means that I will put a lot of effort into any projects I set my mind to but it also means that I can’t always put something down when it is already to a good enough standard.  This is where Graham frequently steps in very wisely and moves me on to the next job!

We have spent a good portion of the end of this week starting to pick blackberries.  Like everything else, these are early this year and there is quite a bumper crop on the hedgerows.  The fruit has largely set and the warm weather has already ripened some of our key patches.  We could (like the rest of the farming community) now really do with some rain to help swell the fruit.  This is particularly true for our Sloes which are not as big as they could be at this stage and it is clear that a number of the hedgerows are showing signs of distress.  We are spending a lot of time looking to the skies right now with everything crossed for some much needed irrigation!

HARVEST, HARVEST, HARVEST

24TH JULY 2022

In case you hadn’t noticed it is full on harvest season now.  We are quite a long way through our main wheat and barley harvests already which is very unusual for this time of the year.  This is largely due to the very dry spell that we are having which has forced everything forward.  This is definitely one year when I will be more pleased than usual to see harvest completion.  With the ground absolutely tinder dry and large parts of the county having already suffered from wildfires, I will be very relieved when we not only get rain but when everything is safely in the barns.

With the ground so dry the pastures for our livestock are not looking at all healthy and we are having to carefully monitor nutrition for our lovely cows.  We have a number that are down on pastures near the river which are faring a little better but the warm weather has really struck pretty much everywhere.  The hedgerows are already starting to show signs of fruit and blackberries look like they are going to be very early this year.  The sloe harvest really needs some rain soon as otherwise it might be another year where yields are considerably down.  Last year this was because of a very late frost but this year it is the heat.  The problem with farming is that you are in the lap of the gods when it comes to favourable weather.

As we now enter into the main school holidays it is officially full-on tourist season in our county.  We have quite a few upcoming events where we will find ourselves in the heart of some of our tourist hotspots.  Obviously we will be trying to share our wares with those visiting our fine county and hopefully they will share the good Walnut Tree Distillery name amongst their friends and family when they return home. We often get people buying thank you presents when they are away to gift to those closest to them who have fed a pet or watered a plant.  I know that the gift of alcohol is always a very welcome one in our house!

HOT, HOT, HOT!!

17TH JULY 2022

It’s safe to say that us Brits are obsessed with the weather but are even more obsessed when there is a weather “event”!!  It has been near on impossible to miss the fact that the heatwave is upon us and if you visit any website it is pretty much all anyone is talking about.  We have been at a weekend event and the temperature in the food tent has been gradually rising each day since Friday.  I am quite relieved that we are not in our little yellow gazebo this weekend as it does not offer much shelter but the lack of breeze has definitely made for a warm one today.  What the sunny weather does do though is that it encourages the great British public out into their gardens with a G&T in their hand and that is where we come in!  Not surprisingly our Summer Cup has been a very popular seller over the weekend!

With the height of the warm weather forecast to hit us on Monday and Tuesday it is going to make the distillery rather unbearable over the next couple of days.  We are having to plan the timing of our next distillation carefully partly because of how we will cope but also because the efficiency of the distillation process rapidly drops when the weather is warm.  As distillation relies on the ability to cool the distillate which in turn condenses down causing the alcohol to run off, in a very warm distillery the condensation process is far less effective and therefore our yield can be much lower.  If we can get away with it we’ll be distilling later in the week when the weather has finally broken.

The next couple of weekends see us doing some of our more local markets.  We will also get the chance to get out beside the seaside and there is nothing better than our lovely Norfolk coastline during the summer months. I love doing the local markets and particularly those that attract some of the tourists visiting our part of the world at this time of the year.  It gives us a chance to share our story, our history and our gins with the wider world.  I also love a mardle (a gossip for those of you not familiar with our Norfolk vernacular) so it’s great to hear a bit about where people are from and why they have chosen to visit our lovely part of the world.

CHARITY EVENTS, SUMMER FAYRES AND THE START OF HARVEST

10TH JULY 2022

It’s been a real contrast of events over the course of the last seven days.  The first milestone of the week was the start of harvest.  The dry and warm weather this year has pushed everything forward and the combine was out in first to cut it’s first 25 acres on Friday.  As always, the general consensus is that “it could be better” (the mantra of the farmer) but from what I can tell it’s not at disaster point yet!  I don’t think it will be too long before the harvest is in full swing everywhere and the combination of holiday traffic and tractors on the road will no doubt cause chaos – the joy of the Summer months in Norfolk.

We have had two very different events this weekend.  The first was the Lee Rigby Tournament charity football event at Watton FC on Saturday.  It was an absolute scorcher and the football was hotly contested.  A couple of goals would have been worthy of footie up the divisions, and I did suggest to a few of the players that they give Norwich a ring as we could do with a striker!!  We were definitely grateful for the gazebo as that gave us at least a little shade and some overhead cover but we did not fully escape the power of the sun’s rays and both have a lovely T-shirt tan to show for it.

Sunday saw us back at Hockwold Hall for our second event at this venue.  Last time we were there it was Christmas and the weather was cold and wet and the ground underfoot was more than a little squishy.  There was also the added fun of a very soggy car-park at the end of the day making getting off site more than a little bit interesting!  The Summer event was very different – gorgeously warm weather and not a sight of cloud or rain in the sky.  Fortunately for us we were in a nice shady spot rather than in the full sun which was making life a little challenging for some of the exhibitors – particularly those with candles.  I love this event as we get to meet many of the American families stationed down the road at Lakenheath airbase.  Having been the states on quite a few occasions it is great to share the places we have visited and hear how they are finding living in the UK.  A thoroughly enjoyable event.

SHOW, SHOW, SHOWTIME!

3RD JULY 2022

What a week it’s been and although it has been crazy and non-stop, I am a little sad that it is over, although very pleased to be able to put my feet up!  It feels like the last few weeks have been one long stretch towards the Norfolk Show and sometimes when you are really looking forward to something there is always that niggle that it will end up being disappointing.  I am pleased to say that, in this instance, this was very much not the case.  We had a wonderful show and this is most definitely the biggest event that we have attended to date.  

With the buzz of the day comes all the background work and organisation.  Graham has been like a well-oiled machine getting everything together and ready.  One plus side of being in the food hall is that you are not at the mercy of the elements, so once all the stock was in and the gazebo was up it really was a case of just ensuring that we were there on time each day and ready to do business when the sampling public came visiting.  I have to give a big shout out to both my sister and my lovely friend Laura who both stepped in to help us out on the 2 days of the show.  I take for granted running the stall, now that we have done it so often, but they were both absolutely fantastic and we couldn’t have gotten by without them.  Needless to say they were paid in gin – surely the best kind of payment.

The other lovely thing about the show is the number of friends and family who stop by to visit and who get to see what our stall is like and how we are doing.  It’s also a chance to network and meet other local businesses and see if there is something that we can work on together.  We are still such a fledgling company that these types of events are absolutely paramount in our getting our name out there and being seen and heard of. Graham is an absolute whizz at drawing people in and sharing our story and although the food hall was packed with plenty of other alcohol producers we felt like we held our own and will be happily booking up our slot at next year’s event as soon as we are able to.

PLANNING, PACKING & NOSTALGIA

26TH JUNE 2022

We, like the rest of Norfolk, are busy preparing for what feels like the most anticipated Norfolk Show in a very long time.  After the pandemic forced the hiatus of the last 2 years, we are itching to get back to the showground and this very special annual event in our rural calendar.  We have never been fortunate enough to take our yellow gin gazebo to the show, so we really are rookies this year.  We have absolutely no idea what to expect in terms of sales or interest and with every food and drink producer in the county in attendance, it is almost impossible to predict what may or may not sell well.  Add to that the current cost of living crisis and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether we have over or under planned.  This time next week we will at least be a little bit wiser.

As part of the show preparations, I have been working on a new gift set idea which we are going to trial on our stand.  I don’t like to mention the word Christmas much before December, but I am already giving this year’s gift selection a good think through and this is the perfect time to see whether any of my ideas have any merit and whether a bulk order of certain components will be required.  It’s difficult to gauge whether my idea turns out to be a winning one, so this is the perfect testing ground.  With all that said, I have spent a large part of my weekend putting together a variety of different gift packs and they are now all packed up and ready for despatch.  Hopefully they will all sell – if not then some good friends will be getting some early birthday presents!

All of the above has naturally led to a huge amount of nostalgia on my part.  The Norfolk Show is a huge part of my childhood and I have such fond memories of it through the years.  Graham has never actually been to a show so it will be his first taste of it and hopefully it will be an enjoyable one despite the long hours that it inevitably brings with it.  We, as a family, have had some huge successes in the show-ring with our cows and I, personally, was lucky enough to be champion handler one year – definitely the highlight of my showing career for the Holstein Young Breeders club.  Whilst I won’t be there in a livestock capacity this year, I can’t wait to get back to the buzz of the best regional show there is around!   

HEAT WAVES, COLD SNAPS & FATHERS DAY

19TH JUNE 2022

This last week has certainly been a week of contrasts!  Friday was an absolute scorcher and distilling in heat is both stifling and not the best way to get a good yield (that’s the Science bit handled).  Knowing that East Anglia was going to be in the midst of the warmest weather we scheduled distillations around the end of the week to make sure we got what we needed to get done without having to suffer the consequences of a hot day in the distillery.  Fortunately for us, our bottle delivery tied in nicely with the weather so we spent most of the day sorting through glassware, which could be done in the (relative) coolness of the barn.  By the time we got to the end of the day we decided it really was an evening to be spent with feet up and a cool beer in hand.  

Given how warm it was on Friday, Saturday morning consequently was more than a bit of a shock!  Whilst it’s easy to see the weather forecast and prepare for the cooler temperatures, the body takes a bit more convincing.  We still had a few jobs to do outside of the distillery on Saturday and the temperature change was more than a little noticeable.  Given any real lack of hills in our delightful county, the breeze was whipping across the fields and every time a step outside was taken, there was a stark reminder of just how much the weather had changed in a mere 12 hours.  Much of Saturday’s work was prepping for Sunday so could be done in relative shelter and inside rather than out, bearable in a different way to Friday.

Sunday was of course Father’s Day and we were out and about at a belated open farm event at a neighbouring dairy farm.  There really was something for the whole family and the turn out was amazing.  I took my opportunity to have a wander amongst the tractors and other stalls before the day started and it was just a delight to see how many people had turned out to see a working farm.  It was a great reminder that there is interest in local agriculture and there is support for an industry that at times feels as if it has been forgotten.  We had an absolutely fantastic day and it was lovely to be amongst so many other food producers, all local and all fighting for the same cause.

FARMERS MARKETS, CHALK BOARDS & AFTERNOONS OFF

12TH JUNE 2022

We did one of our first dedicated farmers markets this weekend when we took a visit to the wonderful grounds of Wyken Vineyards, just over the border in Suffolk.  It was a beautiful morning, and the market had a really lovely feel to it.  There were several other farm-based stall holders there including Artefact Brewing who we had a stall next to.  There were also a number of people in attendance that we are starting to get to know due to our presence on “the circuit”.  We had a long conversation with some first-generation farmer’s at the very beginning of their farming adventure and as always, in true Norfolk/Suffolk fashion found that we had mutual friends – always the way!

We also enjoyed a rare afternoon off on Saturday following our return home.  It has felt like a very long time since I sat and put my feet up for an afternoon, but it was very welcome.  When you run your own business there are always a seemingly endless list of tasks that could be done but it is important to allow time off as well and with the sun shining there really is nothing better than sitting out in the garden with a cold beer and some good company – I’m pleased to say that I had both!

With another spate of shows and fairs rapidly approaching on the horizon I have spent most of my day today restoring some of our chalk boards and updating our point-of-sale artwork.  Much of these just required a little bit of touching up but a few of the boards needed a complete overhaul as they were starting to look a little on the sad side having been shaken about in the back of the Land Rover and whilst on display.  What I thought would be a fairly speedy job has in fact taken much of the day.  I always underestimate how time-consuming these tasks are.  Hopefully the refreshed boards will now get us through the rest of the summer season and can then be re-done ready for the autumn and winter shows.

NEW BARNS, OLD HOUSES & TIMELESS CLASSICS

6TH JUNE 2022

It’s fair to say that the last four days have been somewhat of a blur.  With the whole nation out and about making the most of the long bank holiday weekend and the jubilee celebrations we have been all over the county of Norfolk selling our wares.  We started our bank holiday weekend at Goodies farm shop and restaurant and a very enjoyable day it was.  The warmest of the days we were out, it was fantastic to visit a farm shop that celebrates the history of its farming heritage.  The walls of the shop are adorned with old family photos of the farm and it felt so familiar looking at those photos and comparing them to the family snaps in our albums at home. 

Friday took us to the beautiful Letton Hall which, I have to admit, I barely knew a thing about until our visit.  A stunning location with wonderful grounds and buildings, we met a couple who had been married there just over a year ago and bumped into a few of our farming friends who were taking a sneaky peak around on a rare day off.  I was able to get a few minutes during the afternoon to have a look around the gardens and out onto the fields beyond the house.  The sight of cows and sheep grazing out on the pastures evoked memories of a Jane Austen novel – a truly English view.

We took a day off for ourselves on Saturday in preparation for a visit to Sandringham today.  This was our first visit to the Queen’s estate and it felt fitting to do it on such an important weekend.  We shared the day with hundreds of motoring enthusiasts and it really was a sight to behold.  Vintage and classic cars were everywhere and many of those driving them had gone to the trouble of wearing attire fitting to the car they had arrived in.  Whilst it wasn’t the driest of days, we had a fantastic time and after all it wouldn’t be a bank holiday weekend in Great Britain if it didn’t rain!!

FOOD FESTIVALS, SIGNWRITING & THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

29TH MAY 2022

This week has seen us back on the road after a short break from weekend duties.  We have been back at an event we did last year and it’s given us the chance to do a direct comparison of this year with last.  So much has changed in the last 12 months but I’m pleased to report that The Reepham Food Festival has remained a successful highlight of our year to date.  It was lovely to be alongside so many other local food and drink producers, to catch up with those we know and to chat with those that we don’t.  Despite a slightly damp start to the day the sun made an appearance and by the afternoon it really was quite pleasant.  A lovely, relaxed day and one which we will hopefully get the chance to attend again next year.

This week has also seen me completing a glut of sign writing and chalk boards in preparation for the weeks to come and several upcoming events.  I have always enjoyed calligraphy, something I think I got from my mum, and doing the chalk boards allows me to stretch my creative legs and get the paint brushes out.  We have a few things on the horizon that involve our gin but not necessarily us as we send out our gins with fellow producers.  It’s more important than ever, at these shows, that I get the signage right to attract customers to our products.  I always enjoy a bit of work on this type of stuff, so I’ll be sorry when it is completed, on this occasion at least.

We are now heading into a very busy period of work for us, both this week and over the coming couple of months.  With the summer in full swing and the platinum jubilee just around the corner, we are prepping for a big week of gin selling and parties.  The appetite for a celebration is clearly in the air, particularly given everything people have gone through in the last few years, and their buying habits are reflecting this. The Queen’s jubilee is an excuse to treat ourselves and that has definitely factored into the gin purchasing that we are seeing at the moment.  At this important time in history, the great British public are certainly turning to one of our most historic drinks as their tipple of choice for toasting 70 years on the throne! 

WEDDINGS, JUBILEES & BULK BUYS

22ND MAY 2022

This week has seen a bit of an onslaught of wedding favour orders coming through.  It is definitely getting to that time of the year when the wedding business gets into full swing and we have had a fair few orders come through from couples looking for something a little different for their guests.  We have had a number of the more standard designs sent our way but also our first dog picture for our miniatures.  I am more than a little excited about the prospect of working through this particular design as I absolutely love a dog so will be more than happy to spend a few hours having to look at a beautiful chocolate coloured spaniel!   

It’s also nearly jubilee time and we are prepping our gazebo for the jubilee weekend.  We have a lot going on that weekend so we are making sure it is fit for purpose.  I haven’t broken out the sewing machine on this occasion so have resorted to some pre-made bunting but it is enough to properly deck out the inside of our gazebo.  I remember looking back at pictures of jubilees gone by that are in my mum’s old photo album so I know that this will be a weekend that will last long in the memory.  I am very much looking forward to the festivities and hope that the great British public enjoy lots of gin whilst they are celebrating.

This week has also seen us receive a couple of very large orders which we are obviously very grateful for but at this stage we are in a logistics mine-field as we try to juggle alcohol coming in versus gin going out.  Because we are such a small distillery we have to mange things very carefully and as with all businesses economy of scale always creep in.  We have had to do more of a bulk buy of our neutral grain spirit this month which has meant a bit of re-arranging in our little space.  Don’t get me wrong it is a lovely problem to have but it is at times like this that I start eyeing up some of the bigger barns and dreaming of a day when we might be able to stretch our distillery legs and move into something a little bigger!

SIGNS, PALLETS & EUROVISION GINS

15TH MAY 2022

This week I have been working on a little task that will hopefully make our life a little easier when we are at events and tastings.  It became hugely apparent, last weekend, that we were spending a large amount of time explaining the general flavours behind our gins and therefore I have been doing a little bit of calligraphy to take some of the (sometimes) convoluted explanations away.  Hopefully when customers come over to see what we have to offer they will be greeted by our lovely new sign that explains the basic flavours behind each of our gins.  This will hopefully then point them towards the gin that is best suited to them.  We have made a range as we knew we would never make just the one gin that would suit all – is there even such a thing?

One of my other tasks this week has been more of a preparatory one.  Now that we have a new area outside of some of our sheds on the farm, I decided this might be the perfect spot for some alfresco family dining – or more likely a big farm BBQ breakfast every now and then.  I tasked myself with looking for an old table that would do the trick, but it turns out that old tables seem to cost big money!  So, in attempt to save a few pennies, and also recycle where I can, I have decided to try my hand at making one out of old timber around the farm and also from broken old pallets.  I have a few weeks before I can start the project but I am already accumulating a good pile of stuff to use.

Obviously, the other big event this week was the Eurovision song contest.  I have long been a fan, something I inherited from my darling mum who was always an avid watcher.  In fact, quite a few of us on the farm love the sheer daftness that an evening of Eurovision brings so to get the bonus of actually having a song that placed, let alone where it placed, was a novel one given the years of being last and ‘nil points!  The rules on scoring (since my student days) have always been “a shot for every douze points” which in usual years results in my continued wine sipping but this year that rule did not promote responsible drinking!!  Whilst the end of the night did not result in the coveted first place for the UK, the voting was a reminder that some things are bigger than all of us.  

ROAD TRIPS, TASTINGS & RESTOCKS

8TH MAY 2022

This weekend saw us take to the road on our farthest (to date) adventure with our gin.  We travelled down to Hertfordshire on Saturday to take part in the Hitchin Gin Festival.  This is really the first event of this kind that we have been involved in as most events we go to are more market style days.  There were a good number of other distillers there, some local and some from further afield like us.  It was nice to be able to discuss all things business and yet again I met another fellow teacher who has side stepped into a career in gin.  I am genuinely beginning to think that this trend must be more than just a coincidence.

Much of the afternoon and evening sessions revolved around telling our story as well as gin sampling and selling by the glass.  This enabled me to re-establish my well-honed bar maid skills from my life as a student – a place that feels a very distant memory these days.  Both sessions very much whizzed by on account of the sheer number of people that were taking part.  By the end of the night both Graham and I were definitely ready for a sit down and although the 2-hour drive home initially felt like it was going to be daunting, the roads at 11pm are pretty quiet and it was actually quite an enjoyable journey.

 After what has felt like a whirlwind couple of weeks, we are now on a major re-stock in preparation for the next bank holiday weekend and the Queen’s jubilee which is going to be a very big couple of days.  Graham has been busy distilling today and we will hopefully have a buffer of bottles back in stock shortly.  Our usual customers have been ticking over nicely and we have added a few new ones to our ever-expanding list so it is good to have a few days to breathe and take stock before the merry-go-round starts again.  One thing is certain, the life of the distillery is never a dull one!

SMALL, BIG & REGULAR

1ST MAY 2022

This weekend has seen us do a tour of craft festivals over the 3 days of the bank holiday.  Our first event was local to us and in the village that I went to Primary school in.  We have done an event here before and it was really successful, and I’m pleased to say that this weekend was no different.  Being so local to the event inevitably means that at some point, when I say my name, I get the response “oh, you’re one of them”.  I always tread carefully at this stage as I’m never too sure what interactions they have had with my family.  There were no grumbles to be had this weekend and we’d not upset anyone with a particularly pungent smell from the fields or a loose animal in a garden, so it was a good day.

Sunday saw a real change of pace as we visited a much larger market at a town local to us.  This was a big event with lots of stall holders and proved to be our most successful event to date.  The vibe was fantastic, we got to meet some wonderful new local businesses, old friends were in attendance and the feedback we got was really positive.  We were absolutely buzzing at the end of the day which was great as we needed the energy to do a major re-stock when we got home.

Monday saw us return to the site of the very first outside event we did with our gazebo in 2021.  It’s an event we are really familiar with and for the first time ever we had a non-breezy day meaning I didn’t spend the entire time clinging on to the side of the gazebo for fear it might blow away.  We have been really blessed over the course of this bank holiday with dry and settled weather but with my farmer hat firmly on my head I have to say we really do now need some rain!

PIPES, PRESENTS & PURCHASES

24TH APRIL 2022

It’s been a week of mixed jobs between the distillery and the farm.  Wednesday saw myself and my sister on another clear-up task as we attempted to sort out an area by the side of one of the barns in the main yard.  As with all things on the farm, we need to periodically do a stock check to see what we are still using and what is now obsolete.  With the cost of everything going up for everyone, anything that will make a few pounds is a vital find.  After clearing quite a few brambles a couple of weeks ago, we amassed a large number of unusable irrigation pipes.  Scrap metal is quite valuable at present so job 2 was to move the rather large pile onto the back of an equally large trailer.  It was a bit of an arduous task but it is none the less done!  The pipes themselves weren’t heavy but the length of them meant it was a little more tricky to “park” them in their new destination!

This week seems to have been gift giving week.  We have had more orders and purchases of gin for presents this week than we have had for quite some time.  It’s always noticeable when we get a lot of orders for presents as I seem to spend a lot more time writing out gift cards and this was definitely a gift card sort of week.  We had a quick look at the calendar to see if there was any reason why this week in April might be particularly busy for birthdays but we are at a loss as to why so I guess it’s just one of those things.

The end of the week saw the death of our laptop – never a happy event in any household.  This meant the inevitable lightening of the wallet to replace it.  Whilst that in itself is never particularly pleasant I am now busy wrestling with all the installations of all the programs that were happily installed on the old machine.  Of course, we are scrambling around to remember passwords and all jobs seem to be taking just a little while longer.  Hopefully the next time I come to sit down and do a bit of blog writing I’ll have the new computer a little more sorted.  Oh the joys of first world problems!

EASTER WEEKEND, BRUNCH & FAMILY TIME

17TH APRIL 2022

As I sit writing this, I am not in my usual spot at the kitchen table but sat on a crate at the back of our gazebo awaiting our first outside event to kick off to the public.  We are at Southwold today and the weather is just glorious – not always the case last year when we were outside.  Even more surprising is the fact that the sun is out and it’s a bank holiday!!  We have a 2-day event at the beautiful Henham park and I am in my element as there is also a dog event on today so I get to indulge in gin selling and dog spotting, two of my favourite things.  It’s been nice to have a little wander around post-setup to catch-up with other stall holders and have a chat.  

We usually spend Easter Sunday with family having a roast turkey and whilst I will miss the roast today, it does feel a bit warm for a full turkey dinner.  We opted instead to have a family BBQ yesterday and spend a bit of quality time with our nearest and dearest.  For once we actually managed to cater the meat side of things almost to perfection, the same cannot be said for the chocolate side of things for which we most definitely had more than was needed.  Still, it’s Easter so I guess that is to be expected.

We also took some time out to have a morning off and indulge ourselves with a bit of “brunching”.  Our usual farm breakfast is tea and toast at about 9.30am after the initial farm jobs are done so it felt very decadent to have a full-on splurge on pastries, meats, cheeses and a sneaky gin cocktail and side of prosecco.  Fortunately, no-one needed to operate heavy machinery afterwards which is probably a good thing as we were all more than a little relaxed.  A perfect Easter Saturday.

HIBERNATION, MOOD BOARDS & FERRIES

10TH APRIL 2022

Much of the work that I started last week has continued into this week.  Our new shed has arrived just in time for the start of a fairly busy period of shows and events for us.  We have done our first 2-day weekender this weekend and it felt like coming out of hibernation to see all the other stall holders from previous things we have attended.  It was really nice to have a catch up but felt a little strange saying happy new year in April. Unfortunately, due to the arrival time of the shed we are yet to be able to start moving things into storage.  On our first attempt to build it the weather had other ideas.  The floor was do-able but the wind was far too strong to enable us to attach any walls to the base so we are currently waiting for a less blustery day!

With Easter on the horizon, I have been busy planning some product photo shoots and who doesn’t love a mood board to inspire and collect ideas.  The problem I always have is that I have too many ideas and can’t quite formulate them into something cohesive.  Mood boards really help me hone in on what I think will work and which elements I can use.  I am hoping that once a few areas have been finalised the rest will fall into place.  Of course, it has meant yet more purchasing of props so we really need to get our shed up soon!

We also had the opportunity to do a delivery this week.  This is not something I’d normally be unusually excited about but due to the location of the delivery and some other jobs we were doing that day it meant we got to take a trip on the Reedham Ferry.  As a child we would use this if we happened to be going to the marshes to have a look at some of our cows and my dad would always drive.  It occurred to me as we arrived at the ferry that I had never actually driven onto it myself.  For some reason I found this a little nerve wracking, the idea of being the one person who couldn’t actually get their car onto the ferry!  All was well though and I enjoyed the 5-minute crossing as much as an adult as I ever did as a child.

SHEDS, BRAMBLES & HAMMERITE

3RD APRIL 2022

As Spring starts to draw the evenings out, we are now into a bit of general spring-time maintenance around the farm.  Outside of distillery work I have been in full-bramble clearing mode with my sister to tidy up some of the areas that inevitably get overgrown during the shorter autumn and winter days.  An area by one of the barns and become particularly overgrown with brambles so with the good old Stihl hedge-trimmer on standby we got to work on clearing the area ready for the warmer months.  I have grand plans for chickens one day and this site would definitely be a worthy one as it has a lovely area with grass and some wild flowers and also a plethora of tasty worms for the hens to feed on.  It’s a work in progress at the moment but one day I’m determined to be an old mother hen!

We’re also busy preparing an area for a new shed.  We have amassed lots of bits and bobs from instagramming and photographing gin, events and stall decorations that we are now running out of room to store it all.  My poor dad has very patiently put up with a lot of it in one of his spare rooms but it is now spilling out to other areas so we thought it time to find it a space of its own.  The shed turns up next week and we have a lovely spot at the bottom of the garden next to the greenhouse.  We just need to clear some other things away to make space for it.  It is actually going to be situated where our old hen house was years ago.  That unfortunately got blown down in the gales of ’87, fortunately there were no chickens in there at the time!

My other major bit of DIY this week is repairing a beautiful old table that we haven’t used for a few years.  We are creating a little space outside of the distillery to sit and have a coffee and a sandwich in the warmer months and I daresay take some pictures as it is a pretty little spot.  The table needs a bit of TLC so I will be mostly armed with hammerite and a paintbrush later this week as I attempt to resurrect it to its former glory. 

MOTHERS DAY, QR CODES & SUNSETS

27TH MARCH 2022

We were finally back on the road yesterday and at our first event of the year.  It was so nice to get out and about and it felt so different after the year we all had last year.  It definitely felt more unrestricted following all the rules and regulations that we have all adhered to following covid.  Whilst we are obviously still being really careful it was nice for it not to be the big topic of conversation.  With Mother’s Day being today, yesterday was definitely a day of gift buying for the nearest and dearest and a few last-minute purchases.  This was more than a little evident when I popped into the supermarket for some flowers on the way home, only to find most of the buckets were bare!

Every year is a learning curve as we go back to show casing our gins and doing tastings.  What has become more and more apparent is peoples love of social media.  Don’t get me wrong, I had already realised just how important the platforms are for advertising and sharing what’s going on, but people are always looking for the quickest (and easiest) way of finding you.  Cue the QR code.  Something that we have definitely gotten used to through the pandemic but have only just realised will work for us – sometimes I do question why it takes me quite so long to put two and two together.  We are now armed with our very own QR codes which will hopefully help our customers keep up to date with our news and events and now that we can display them on our stand we are hoping this will encourage a few more followers along the way.

This week has been absolutely glorious on the farm.  The warmer weather has bought with it a plethora of blossom and also some stunning sunsets.  I absolutely love Spring and the coming out of hibernation into the sunshine.  I love a good walk and the longer evenings mean just that, some fresh air, longs walks and a chance to unwind in the beautiful countryside.  We keep threatening to get a dog but with business the way it is at present we are not sure the timing is right.  One day though my long walks will definitely be accompanied by a furry friend!

SPRING, SUNSHINE & SHOW-READY

20TH MARCH 2022

After having to miss an event because of illness we are now on the cusp of our first day out of the year.  We have been busy updating marketing material and putting new things in place for our stand but now it’s a case of sorting through all the detritus that ended up in our stand box last year that really doesn’t need to be there.  This means I get to do some serious organising and I really do love nothing more that having a good sort out.  Much of the general feel of our stand will be the same as last year but we have a few new advertising banners to add, which I can’t wait to share, and also a few new ways of displaying our bottles.  With our new gift boxes, I hope that there will be something of interest for everyone.

Spring has definitely been in full view over the latter part of this week.  Some of our trees are blossoming at present and they really are beautiful.  One, in particular, is a tree that my late mum planted and she wanted to put it in the garden because it blossoms a little earlier than the others.  Whenever I look at that tree, at this time of year, it always makes me think of her.  With the glorious daffodils nodding in the breeze in the shade of the blossom it really lifts the spirits as winter draws to a close.

With all the sunshine has been the added drama of the Sahara dust that got dumped on the farm, and most of the country, on Wednesday.  We are still seeing signs of it everywhere and its weather events like that which really fascinate me.  I find it mind-boggling that something from thousands of miles away can end up literally on our doorstep and whilst I know it’s really just Physics in action, it still doesn’t fail to impress.  It’s a reminder of how interconnected we are as a globe and a little insight into the colour of the desert so prominent in Africa.

TRANSATLANTIC, TRADESHOWS & TONSILS

13TH MARCH 2022

It’s been a missed week on the blog due to the plague of anyone self-employed, illness!  What started as a cold/flu virus, and initially disappeared, suddenly reared its head again as a rather horrible tonsillitis infection.  Graham had the joy of single-handedly running the business by day and then being nurse-maid by night.  The timing could not be worse as we were due to do our first market of the year, which we were really looking forward to, but that got quickly knocked on the head when it became clear that recovery was just not going to happen in time.  It’s fair to say that I am not a good patient so am hoping to be back up on my feet in the next few days and back helping out.

The last week has bought a number of exciting developments.  We have been approached by an American gin competition to see if we would like to enter.  The fact that anyone in the United States has actually heard of us was quite the compliment – we talked about how this may have happened but both decided, who cares, someone has heard of us!  Although we are not prolific in any overseas markets, purely because of our size, it does not stop us from feeling rather chuffed that we have been approached.  The other major excitement was finding out from our distributor that we are going to be stocked in Notcutts.  This feels like a big deal to us as it is firstly a huge outlet but also it is located in Norwich which means more access to our local market, something that is always worth shouting about.

We are also looking at tradeshows at the moment.  In the first instance, just to have a trip out ourselves and a bit of a nosey at what the rest of the farm shop and distilling community is doing.  We are really interested in one day expanding into something more but before we can even take that step, we need to do our research and see what we can offer that is perhaps a little different to others.  With Spring on the horizon, it feels like the proper start of our trading year and is always an exciting time at the distillery.

BIRTHDAYS, BUCKS FIZZ & BREAKFASTS

27TH FEBRUARY 2022

We had a big event in our family this week as my darling dad turned 80.  He has spent his whole life devoted to farming and the family farm so it felt only fitting that we held a little birthday bash for him in one of the barns.  Farmers are very much like hobbits, not in the over-sized and hairy feet department but in the second breakfast department.  The first meal of the day is to get through the first couple of hours of work, particularly in the colder months when you are often going out into very cold weather.  Then at about 9.30am there is the tea and toast portion of the day, the second breakfast.  This was a little different this week as rather than just a few people around the kitchen table, it consisted of 20 of us, a BBQ and some breakfast bucks fizz.  It has been a long time since we have had an excuse to get the extended family together so it felt lovely to see everyone together.  The old generation and the new in the place we have called home for over 100 years.

One of the perks of seeing family is sharing stories and catching up with recent news.  For me, I enjoy nothing better than hearing stories of days gone by and off the back of dad’s birthday was able to catch up with my aunty, my dad’s sister, and have a look at some old family photos.  We so much take for granted the chance to snap a photo these days so to be able to see some of the precious old photos of my grandfather and my family is always a real treat.  Whilst some need a bit of restoring as they have naturally aged over time, I hope to be able to share some of these more widely in the future as they are such a lovely insight into farming “back in the day”.

Other than this little treat over the weekend it has very much been business as usual for us.  Orders are starting to pick up as people inevitably move away from their Christmas detoxes and start to enjoy some treats again.  We are working with another local company on some hampers and we have also taken receipt of this year’s flyers and leaflets that will be going out to customers over the coming months.  We are now not long off our first event of the year so it means a spring clean of the gazebo and preparation time is starting in earnest.  With the days starting to draw out I am really beginning to look forward to Spring.

MARKETING, DISTILLING & STORMING

20TH FEBRUARY 2022

This week has bought a lot of work on marketing materials.  We have so much booked in for the upcoming year that we have really had a good look at what has been the most successful way of letting our customers know what we have to offer.  It is important that the materials not only work for in-face events but also for the orders we receive online.  We have updated our tasting notes and our brochures and these are now at the printers being produced.  For me this has meant a lot of mock ups, grammar checks, spelling checks and continuity work.  It is really important that there is a common theme running through this year’s materials and I’m really looking forward to sharing the final product when it arrives.

Graham has been working on a number of distillation projects and looking at the production of our gin and if there is anything that can be tweaked to improve flavour and yield through the whole distillation process.  His background in chemistry really does come into its own when he works on things like this and more often than not there is a serious chemistry kit in the kitchen to do a trial distillation.  I do have a good grasp of science and mathematics but I’ll be honest, a lot of what he does goes over my head.  He really is in his element when the “science bit” kicks in.

Finally, like everyone else we battened down the hatches this week as storm Eunice hit.  The farm is quite exposed so it was with a lot of relief that the storm passed without doing any serious damage.  A couple of roof tiles were dislodged and some straw blown around but nothing worse than that.  Whenever there is a big storm on the horizon it always takes me back to the huge storm of 1987.  I was in my first year at high school and like everyone else in the county got a day off as it was just too dangerous to travel.  I can still remember quite vividly the night of that storm and laying in bed listening to the strong winds outside.  We did lose a lot of tiles in that storm and I remember us breaking out the gas stove when the electricity went off.  A lot of baked beans were consumed that weekend! 

BOTTLES, BACKUPS & BLACKBERRIES

13TH FEBRUARY 2022

As I write this the very audible whirring of the dehydrator can be heard in the background.  As we are a very small distillery (and we’re talking micro!!) we are always on the lookout for space and space saving.  One of our biggest issues is storage of fruit picked during the autumn months, so one of the solutions is to dehydrate certain crops as this shrinks them down meaning we can store more of them.  Some of these we do at the initial picking stage and sometimes this is done post freezing.  It doesn’t work for all fruits, for example this would not be a solution for our Sloe berries but it does work for our blackberries.  Of the 2 fruits the Sloes are the occupying force in our freezer but anything we can do to create more space is always a winner!

As with so many businesses, we have had some issues due to ongoing import delays across the European border.  Whilst we do our utmost to buy as many of our products from the UK and more specifically Norfolk, there are some things that we can only get from overseas.  We have had some issues with our supply of bottles in the last few weeks, much of this down to supply and demand which has been affected by much larger outside influences. Knowing that January is generally the quietest month for our business we were hopeful that the planets would align and our shipment would turn up before any real uptick in trade.  

Of course, this was not the case and we found ourselves scrambling around for some bottles.  Our usual supplier is in the UK but their supply chain had let them down and so we went hunting for replacements – the only bottles we could find were in Germany.  After some quick work on Graham’s part all seemed to be going well, that was until both sets of bottles turned up on the same day!  One of the joys of small business ownership – nothing is routine.

SPRING, SUMMER & AUTUMN

6TH FEBRUARY 2022

This week feels like we have been focussing on every season but the one we are currently in.  Our calendar for the year is beginning to fill up with events and as we plan how we are going to negotiate the year we start to look at the big sellers from last year and what we need to do to ensure we get our stock provision right – never an easy task!  Our (now award-winning) Sloe gin is probably the biggest logistical issue.  We are ever reliant on the Sloe crop but also on storage and how much space we can feasibly take up with freezers!  There is also then the issue of production.  Our Sloe gin takes a minimum of 3 months to reach a good level of taste meaning that stock is tied up in its production.  We were genuinely surprised last year at how many people continued to buy Sloe in the warmer months but it generally comes into its own in Autumn.  We are currently trying to get our production cycle in order now as we were taken aback at how quickly it sold out towards the end of last year.

We are also already getting ready for Summer and are in full preparational swing with the varying elements of our Summer cup that ideally need to be produced in advance.  This includes the making of both a sweet and bitter orange extract.  This involves soaking oranges in gin over a prolonged period of time to get the rich flavours that go into this drink.  Last year’s summer was not the warmest on record so we are hoping that this year will be a little more clement.  The problem with the British weather is that it is anyone’s guess so we are having to work round predictions at the moment and just hope that we have enough of everything to go around.

We are also busy planning ventures with new stockists at present.  Whilst its difficult to say too much at the moment, there are definitely lots of things in the pipeline.  During the quieter months we are able to get out and about a little more to meet with people and to discuss how we can collaborate and promote all the wonderful things that Norfolk has to offer.  As mentioned before the calendar is starting to look full of events and we hope to see you out and about and at a venue near you very soon! 

DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS

30TH JANUARY 2022

This week we have really felt the love in response to our winning our 2nd World Gin award.  When I posted the news, I wasn’t expecting the outpouring that we received and it reminds me of what we’ve achieved with our little business in the few years that it has been running.  With that news and the new accreditation, it’s been back to the drawing board as we draft up this year’s marketing materials.  I take the new year to have a good look at what we have done over the past 12 months, what’s worked, what hasn’t and which direction we are going in over the next 11 months.

It really is all about the detail and I can spend hours at the computer tweaking photos and layouts.  The perfectionist in me both loves and hates this process.  As we are a 2-man band it is my job to sort out all the marketing material.  Neither Graham or I have a background in marketing so I spend a lot of time researching advertising online to get a general feel for how I want things to look before I then head to our ever-growing selection of photos and the wonder that is photoshop.

Whilst I don’t have any marketing experience, I do have a little bit of artistic expertise that I can bring to the party.  Over 30 years ago I did an A-level in art and I have always enjoyed photography, drawing and creating in some form or another, although mainly as a hobby.  It’s nice to be able to use the skills I have amassed in a way that benefits our business and although I am not a pro, I hope in some way the photos and materials we use not only tell our story but also give a bit of us over as they do so.

BRONZE, SILVER & PINK

23RD JANUARY 2022

The New Year is slowly cranking into gear and we are getting ready for the first major gift giving of 2022, Valentine’s Day.  This weekend I have been putting the finishing touches to our gift boxes and getting them ready for the website.  There has been a lot of photography and with that a lot of faffing with ribbons and bows!  I’m also branching out with my camera and starting to do a little more film making for our online advertising.  This is not really a strong area of expertise but I’m giving it a good go.  Whilst I was tempted to step away from the traditional pinks and reds associated with Valentine’s and its bouquets, inevitably some did make it into the final bit of media work.

We have been stock taking and sorting through boxes over the past few days.  Making sure we know exactly where we are at whilst we have the time.  With the end of January in sight, the quietest month of the gin selling year is nearly behind us and whilst there’s always a worry about “will sales pick up”, “will people want a drink after Dry January or will they like this new hangover free lifestyle”, it’s nice to get a break from the December craziness and a chance to take stock before it all starts again in earnest.

Our big news this week is that we have in the World Gin Awards for the second year running.  After the surprise success of our Dry Gin in last years competition, where we won a Silver, we thought we would enter our Sloe Gin this year.  We are pleased to announce that we have won a bronze award and were one of only three distilleries in the UK that placed in this category this year.  I do feel that we can’t take all the credit, after all the recipe was passed down to me by my dad from my Great Grandmother, but we do make the gin that the Sloes soak in and I can take full credit for that.  None-the-less to be recognised again feels like a very big achievement given how small our distillery, and company, is.

ARTWORK, BOXES & MUD

16TH JANUARY 2022

I’ve been busy working on artwork to put on our new bespoke gift boxes that have arrived this week.  We have a standard selection box that we are looking to sell but I want to customise these as well so that they can be used as a more personalised gift.  This is not overly tricky as we have some great labels that enable us to do this but it’s now just a case of making sure the artwork does what it needs to.  As with anything, what looks good on the computer screen does not always translate into something that “pops” when printed.  It’s taken a few print-runs this weekend but it looks like we are getting there with these and hopefully we will be able to share them with the wider world very shortly.

The miniature customised boxes are taking a bit of getting used to as they have small windows in the front and these need to be popped out in order to display the contents.  I am a complete perfectionist which has its pros and con’s.  With these boxes I want to make sure that they are absolutely perfect for the customer so have been playing around with the craft knife to make sure that the windows do what they should without any little frayed bits.  I’m always a little bit apprehensive when a knife gets involved as I do have previous when it comes to finger related knife wounds.  I am pleased to report that all digits have made it through the first run of box builds.

It most definitely is the season of mud on the farm at present.  Most of the cars in Norfolk are sporting that delightful mud splattered boot and I have already cleared my number plate on two occasions over the course of this week.  Unfortunately, the rear windscreen wiper, on my car, has recently given up working properly meaning that manual cleaning is required before every trip out.  I also managed to get myself well and truly wedged into a huge patch of mud in the paddock outside the distillery.  Once one welly got stuck the other then quickly followed suit.  After a lot of pulling and wriggling I did break free.  I haven’t done that for such a long time and it always reminds me of when I was a child, I was running across a field and both my wellingtons came off in the mud leaving me hurtling along in just my socks.  I was not popular when I got home and my mum saw the state of my feet!

MARKETING, COCKTAILS & GREENHOUSES

9TH JANUARY 2022

The beginning of 2022 has seen me starting to go through leaflets and marketing material to see what needs refreshing for the upcoming year.  I take a lot of photos over the course of the year, some good and some not so good, and it’s really important to me that our advertising, leaflets and trade stand represents the very best of what we have to offer.  I am now busy working through everything to ensure that it is up to date and looking its absolute tip-top best for when we go out and about on the road again.  I did invest in a new camera towards the end of last year, which I am slowly getting to grips with, and I am starting to compile this year’s raft of photos which no doubt this time next year I’ll be sifting through again!

With Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day on the horizon I am now busy squirrelling away at gift boxes and in particular cocktails which are always a winner as smaller presents and special treats.  The hardest thing about putting gifts together is finding individual elements that will fit to make something a little different and a little unique.  I am half way there with this year’s gift boxes as I have found my cocktail recipes, I am now working through artwork and all that goes with that printing and label production.  We are just waiting on some boxes to arrive and then hopefully we can start to put all the pieces together.

The major job this weekend has been clearing out the greenhouse ready for the start of this years growing season.  Ivy had rather taken hold of the 2 greenhouse tables and the glass in the windows needed a really good initial clean to get rid of the residue that has built up over the winter season.  It will need another going over in a couple of weeks just to give it one final tidy up but it is looking a lot more spick and span.  I also uncovered my grandmother’s paraffin greenhouse heater on the bottom shelf that I think had been deposited there last year.  Given the incredibly late frost we had during the 2021 growing season I am making sure it is on hand again this year as it is still in excellent working condition and you can never quite be sure when it might come in handy!

NEW YEAR, NEW IDEAS & THE QUIET BIT

2ND JANUARY 2022

Happy new year from both of us here at Walnut Tree HQ.  After a much-needed break away from all things gin we are now back on it and plotting the year ahead.  Christmas was a time for us to spend with our families and although we did not get to see all of our nearest and dearest, we were able to have a much more normal Christmas than last year.  We opted out of the big new years events and chose to stay outside by the chimenea with a couple of good friends, drinking beers, eating nibbles and watching Back to the Future – which has become a bit of a tradition in past years. 

We are now starting to plot the next year of events and are thinking ahead to hopefully a much more packed-out schedule.  It’s easy to forget that the first 4 or 5 months of 2021 were very much in lockdown and it wasn’t really until May that we were able to get out on the road and start selling our wares.  We were trying to work backwards in our diary yesterday to think about which events bought us the most success and we were reminiscing about how on that first event back, last year, everyone was just so eager to get out and about, despite it being a very cold and blowy May bank holiday.

We already have a few items firmly penned in the diary and I am more than over the moon to be able to confirm that we have secured a stand in the food hall at the Norfolk Show for 2022.  This is such a key event for us and one that I think a huge number of local people just can’t wait to attend again.  We have been yet to go to the show because of lockdowns but this is definitely going to be one of the highlights of our summer timetable.  January is traditionally a very quiet time for us as the majority of the world go on a fitness drive and attempt to detox after an indulgent Christmas.  It gives us time to take stock and restore our creative juices.  For me it is the key time in which to sort out marketing materials for the year ahead and allows me the chance to flex my “artistic arm”, part of the job I absolutely adore!

FOOD HALLS, GIN TASTINGS & THAT’S A WRAP

19TH DECEMBER 2021

This week we are in the last throws of the Christmas rush.  We had a gin tasting event at the very lovely Bakers and Larner’s in Holt, on Saturday, which was a great success.  We spent the day in the food hall sharing our gins with the passing public and getting to know some of their wonderful staff a little better.  It was an extremely busy day with a lot of people stocking up for their Christmas feasting.  It was also quite the eye opener seeing what people put in their baskets.  Normally when I am in a food hall I am busy focussing on my own items so taking a step back and watching the world go about their Christmas shopping was more than a little fascinating.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen mince pies fly off the shelf at quite the speed I did on Saturday.

It was also clear from our website that the world was doing it’s last-minute gift shopping.  We had a number of large orders whilst we were out and about on Saturday so we were straight back on it when we got back to the distillery.  We managed to get all the orders fulfilled, bottled and boxed and off to their respective destinations.  A few of the orders were local enough that we were able to drive them out to the buyers that evening.  Quite the adventure as it was a heavy fog and some of our purchasers were more than a little off the beaten track.  It felt like quite the achievement actually locating some of the recipients – like a treasure hunt in the dark!

We are now very much at the end of the final days of posting, so apart from a few small orders, this season is drawing to a close for us.  It has been an absolutely bumper year and we could not have asked for it to have gone any better.  Our little company has definitely done its fair share of growing this year and with record sales in November and December it is now time to take stock and think about 2022.  I am already starting to work on new leaflets for next year’s upcoming events and thinking about how we further share the Walnut Tree word.  By the time I take to the typewriter next week, the big day will be over and we will all be reaching for the heartburn tablets!  Happy Christmas to all our lovely customers from us here at the distillery.

HALLS DECKED, GINS PREPPED & GIFT BOXES GALORE

12TH DECEMBER 2021

It has been non-stop Christmas at the distillery this week.  We are getting ready for the last push before the big day and have a couple of big events before we finish up for the holidays.  There has been a steady flurry of web orders coming through and we are noticing a huge increase in demand for our seasonal gins.  We’ve also had quite a few corporate gift orders, including some repeat orders from last year, which is always really flattering.  Our priority is now making sure that all orders get out to their respective recipients in time for the festivities.

We’ve also managed to get our Christmas tree up this week.  I absolutely love a bauble or 10 so it has been fully laden down with all shapes, sizes and colours.  We invested in a new tree this year as the old one was starting to look a little devoid of needles.  It had more than done it’s duty, it was purchased many years ago from Woolworths (that tells you just how old it was) and although we haven’t gotten rid of it, it is now in a less prominent position in our decorative offerings.  Alongside the baubles I also have a penchant for Christmas lights and every year I make a point of going out for a drive, in search of the most decorated house.  There are some absolute crackers in Norfolk and some in the most unexpected of places.  If I could get my hands on enough lights I would definitely indulge in some serious house decorating a la Clark W, Griswold!

Christmas is also a time to try out some new gift ideas on friends and family.  I have been busy putting together boxes of goodies and if the reaction is good I might even extend these to our website in the new year.  Part of the joy of putting together presents myself is that I can personalise them for the recipient and make them a little more special to that individual.  It has been label and printer crazy and the kitchen table has looked more like a production line this week whilst prep has been in full swing.  Obviously I don’t want to give away any surprises but watch this space in the coming weeks to see what I came up with.

MUD, WINTER & WELLIES

5TH DECEMBER 2021

It is definitely feeling more like winter in the distillery at the moment.  The temperature outside has most decidedly dropped and when the wind gets into the Eastern quarter there is nothing in our beautiful Norfolk landscape to stop it blowing a cold blast.  We do not have heating in the distillery so it does make days like these a little less pleasant, particularly when the still is not going. Wednesday’s temperature was a fairly stable 4 degrees – lots of coffee breaks were needed!  The bonus though is that in cold weather, and due to some of the finer laws of thermodynamics (good old physics) the stills do tend to work slightly more efficiently.  This means that over the winter months we get slightly more yield and although the margins are still fine, as one infamous tagline states, every little helps.

Along with the weather has come the need for thermal socks and the more heavy weight footwear!  I’m not going to lie, I spend half my life in wellies and as one customer said to us at the weekend, they are the national shoe of the UK, but they have been very much needed this week.  I absolutely despise having cold feet and this is compounded if they are also wet so it has been wellies all round and super-insulating ski socks as thick as the welly will allow.  Even Graham, the non-farmer, is a convert and I’m fairly sure that it won’t be long before he is a year-round wearer.  All hail the Wellington boot!

This weekend saw us at Hockwold Hall, a very beautiful estate on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.  I was more than a little grateful that we had the Landrover with us as there was a rather soggy field to negotiate in order to get to our marquee.  The field wasn’t too bad first thing but by mid-morning at least one van had gotten themselves stuck in the mud and was busy jacking themselves out.  By the afternoon a few others had succumb to a particularly sticky patch.  When we made our exit stage left, we made sure we went the long way round for maximum traction.  God bless 4 by 4 for no embarrassing moments!

WINTRY SHOWERS, OPEN FIRES & A BUMPER MONTH

28TH NOVEMBER 2021

As I write this, I am sat with my feet well and truly in front of the fire.  The first real cold snap of the year has hit Norfolk this weekend and its icy grip is very real.  Knowing that there was a storm on the horizon, I rather smugly thought it had skipped our little corner of the UK when I got up and left the house early on Saturday morning.  Whilst it was cold, the sky was clear and it didn’t really feel like it was going to be that bad.  How quick I was to judge!  By mid-afternoon the rain was swirling and the wind was howling.  As I am someone who keenly feels the cold, I am pretty much always armed with a “big coat” so I wasn’t too caught out but I did see some poor souls who had clearly underestimated how grim things were going to get and I can only imagine how cold they were whilst waiting for their bus.

It always feels colder on the farm, partly because we are in a valley and the cold air sinks and gets trapped around us but I woke this morning to some sideways snow which confirmed that things had not warmed up.  Our resident pheasant was perched under one of the fuscia plants in the front garden, all puffed up and looking less than impressed.  We made sure we were very efficient at packing up the land rover for today’s event so as not to start the day cold.  Travelling North-West through the county it was quick to see that we’d actually escaped the worst of the snow.

We are now on the homeward stretch of the big Christmas build up and this has been our best month, to date, since the launch of our gin some 2 years ago.  Our Sloe Gin has been so popular that we have very little left, despite having nearly doubled last year’s production.  We have also had a lot of demand for our two other seasonal gins.  It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and look at what needs doing better without taking the time to look at what has gone well.  This year has definitely given us a real insight into what works best for our little distillery and how to approach the impending start of 2022. 

TINSEL, HATS & CHRISTMAS SONGS

21ST NOVEMBER 2021

Undoubtedly this week has started to feel like the frenzied run up to Christmas.  Our Sloe Gin is absolutely flying off the shelves and is more popular than ever and we are now definitely in the midst of the full-on Christmas shopping season.  We have been on the road again at Bawburgh for a lovely Christmas fair.  I absolutely love doing the really local events as you have the time to spend talking with customers, hearing their stories and sharing yours.  Our stand is now looking very sparkly and festive as I have broken out the bauble and foliage frames that I have made for our crates to add a bit of Christmas cheer to the proceedings.

Our Santa Hats, that we are adorning our miniature bottles with, are also proving extremely popular.  I am not quite sure what it is about them but they just seem to cheer up the place and bring a smile to the faces of passers-by.  As with many things, I underestimated their popularity by quite some margin and had to do a very quick emergency re-stock as last weeks event saw them all depart on their little gin heads.  I am yet to find a good replacement for the ones that I made for the larger bottles so I suspect one of my jobs in the new year might be the creation of some larger ones for next years Christmas events.  It seems ridiculous to be planning that far ahead but forewarned is forearmed!

This week’s event also saw the start of Christmas music for me.  I regularly play “Wham-ageddon” and for those of you that don’t know about this strange new tradition, it is where you try and avoid hearing Last Christmas by Wham for as long as you can, once you hear it you’re out!  I am hoping, from recollection, that the game starts officially on 1st December otherwise I am out before it has even got going!  Last year was a personal best, 23rd December before Radio Norfolk broke my duck!!  I suspect that I won’t last as long this year just due to the large number of Christmas events that we are doing and the inevitability of Christmas songs being on in the background.  If we are spreading joy with our gins though, it is a small price to pay!

SHORT DAYS, LONG DAYS & BEST DAYS

14TH NOVEMBER 2021

This week has definitely started to feel more like Winter.  Whilst the weather has been unseasonably warm, the nights are really starting to draw in and it has felt really noticeable.  There is always that lovely cosy feeling of shutting the curtains, and the night out, and lighting a fire to curl up in front of.  On the flip-side of that is the shortness of daylight which always hampers jobs on the farm at this time of the year.  I love that we have such differing seasons and the different emotions that each one brings but I will admit that I find Winter a bit frustrating as it seems like we are doing everything in the dark!  One bonus of the shorter days is catching the early morning sunrise and all the wonderful colours that this brings.  It doesn’t require a really early alarm call at this time of year and with the cooler temperatures the mists that lie across the fields do look stunning.

Whilst the daylight hours are shorter, we are entering a period of longer working days as we work through the busy run-up to Christmas.  This year definitely feels different in terms of buying habits.  Many of our normal stockists seem to be buying much earlier than usual and it’s difficult to know if this is demand or if this is in reaction to supply chain concerns and people making sure that they get their gifts in now.  Either way we are working hard to make sure the gin is where it needs to be and we are stocked up for all our outdoor events.

As I write this, we are busy finalising preparations for our second day at a 2-day Christmas weekend fair.  Day 1 was a real success and gave us our best day, to date, at such an event.  People are definitely all about the Christmas presents and our miniature gin Santa hats have been adding a bit of festivity to our stand.  I absolutely love an excuse for fairy lights and baubles and our poor little Christmas tree creaks under the weight of ornaments that I adorn it with.  I have to reign it in for the show displays as otherwise they’d be no space for the produce!  Here’s hoping day 2 is just as successful as day 1.

BONFIRES, CARDS & CHRISTMAS FAIRS

7TH NOVEMBER 2021

This week saw both Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night.  Whilst I understand all the fun that Hallowe’en brings, with the chance to dress up and have a bit of a party, Bonfire night to me is the more important of the 2 festivals.  I suppose there are a couple of reasons for this.  Firstly, I am not a great fan of the horror genre so anything that scares me is just generally not my cup of tea.  This means that I don’t really enjoy some of the amazing events that a lot of local businesses put on as I’m not that keen on being scared witless.  Hallowe’en also still feels like a festival we have inherited from our cousins over “the pond”.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love huge parts of the USA but this is a tradition that I think is definitely done better in the states.  Bonfire night is however most definitely an event I can buy into.  As children, our local school and village used to put on a huge bonfire and firework display.  It was a night when we got to meet up with our friends in a big field, run around, play with sparklers and eat toasty hot jacket potatoes out of a tin foil wrapper.  What’s not to love!

This week we have added to our website.  With Christmas coming up, we have included a range of Christmas cards as part of our online store.  These are designed and made by me and are only available on our website.  They make a great accompaniment to our gin gifts and I am hoping that a few of them will find a welcome home over this festive period.  I have always drawn and painted throughout my life but this is the first time I have put something together for sale so it is a bit of a leap of faith.  If nothing else, the creating has given me down time during what has been and is about to be a very hectic few weeks.

We, like many other local businesses, are now in the run up to our busiest period of the year.  We are pretty much booked up for events and are busy making sure we have enough stock for the shops and pubs we supply to as well as for our stand over the upcoming 6 weeks.  Fairs are always quite tiring but they are also so much fun and one of the best parts of the job.  They are a time when we get to meet people and enjoy telling our story and sharing our gin.  Time to dust down the decorations and get festive!

COCKTAILS, SHORT BREAKS & NEW TOYS

31ST OCTOBER 2021

This week has seen us take a short break from the distillery before we launch headlong into the chaos of Christmas shopping.  We took ourselves down to Sussex and holed up in a small and beautiful converted barn in the middle of nowhere with a lovely log burner and a supply of board games.  It’s fair to say that we have had a very busy Summer so this was just what the doctor ordered.  Of course, we didn’t completely switch off from the day job, I’m not sure any small business owners ever do.  On a day trip to Chartwell, we went for a really good walk around the extensive grounds and happened upon some Black Walnut trees.  Given our affinity with the walnut we were more than a little surprised to see just how large the husks on these are.  It turns out that the nut inside is not much bigger than our English walnuts but we still couldn’t get over the size of the fruit!

This week also saw the start of our Christmas season cocktail sampling menu.  We have had a lot of ideas regarding what cocktails we might use our gin in this year and we have decided to keep it nice and simple.  This is in part due to the drawbacks of having to buy lots of extra spirits just to make one drink but also the fact that when I have friends and family over, whilst it is lovely to be able to offer up a cocktail, I don’t want to spend half the night preparing it. We have chosen 3 very different cocktails but 3 that should satisfy all types of entertaining from breakfast all the way through to supper.  Watch this space for what’s in store.

This week also saw me get to grips with my wonderful new camera.  I was so excited when this arrived 10 days ago and I am already seeing such a difference in the photos that I can achieve for our blog, our website and our social media.  I have always adored photography and properly started taking photos when I was at high school.  We were lucky enough to have a dark room in our art room so I learnt how to develop photos as a teenager.  Photography has come such a long way since then.  The advent of digital photography has made this art form more accessible than ever and I love nothing better than getting behind the lens of the camera and snapping away!

LOCAL TO LYNG, BLACKBERRY PLUNDERING & STRATEGIC PLANNING

17TH OCTOBER 2021

This week we were invited to join an event in our local village and it gave me the opportunity to tread some of my much younger self’s old stomping ground.  The local to Lyng event was held in the village’s community centre which is a renovation of the old village hall.  I haven’t travelled past that part of the village for year’s so it was quite a surprise to see the amazing transformation to the old building.  I went to play school, Brownies and countless children’s birthday parties in the old village hall, that was pretty standard as village halls went back in the day.  A small kitchen with a hatch, toilets at the back and the polished wooden floor that we all used to skid along.  The new incarnation is an amazing facility and I was so pleased to be able to do something to support the village.

We have been back in the hedgerows again this weekend trying to get our hands on the last of the blackberry crop before the frosts really kick in.  Whilst the last few weeks have definitely been warmer than seasonal expectations, it is now turning cooler and we had our first taste of the colder nights to come this week.  Whilst the Sloes will endure a frost, the blackberries are much less hardy so it’s that final last grab of any fruit we can get for the seasonal winter gins. 

It is now also really clear that the Christmas shopping is beginning to start in earnest.  Last week it seemed as if the warm weather had put everyone’s thoughts of the festive season on hold but yesterday more than a few people mentioned stocking fillers and gift sets.  It’s really difficult to gauge, as with so many things, just exactly what people will be looking for as presents which makes prepping for our upcoming events a little tricky.  We have a finite amount of space for stock in our vehicle and so we have to try and optimise this.  Gift boxes can be made up on the day but it’s not always the best use of our time, when we are on our stand, so we now have to start our strategic approach to the upcoming Christmas markets.  

MOBILE PHONES, MOBILE OFFICES & PHOTOS ON THE FLY

10TH OCTOBER 2021

This week it feels like everything has been captured away from my usual working space, the kitchen table!  With the distillery being the heart of the production operation, much of the paper work is done in our little office but somehow that frequently migrates downstairs to the kitchen and more importantly the proximity to the kettle!  I know what you are thinking, get a kettle in the office but I think it’s more ingrained than that.  As a child and particularly that of a farming family, the kitchen is the heart of everything and I don’t think I’ve ever really lost that.  I gravitate to the kitchen as it always feels like the right place to be.

My mobile office has actually reached a little further than the kitchen table this week though.  As I sit and write this, I am actually sat at my stall on a Sunday morning at The National Country Show.  The joy of the modern laptop is that not only does it fit rather handily into my bag but also due to the wonder of tethering I can actually get an internet signal!  There’s something quite interesting about trying to write anything down whilst listening to the hustle and bustle of stand holders setting up and talking about their day ahead.  There is such a lovely camaraderie and shared experience, everyone is here trying to make their way in the world and share the fruits of their labour.  

Not only does the mobile office involve the laptop but it goes without saying that the mobile phone plays an integral part in our business, particularly as it is an advertising tool in the palm of the hand.  Whilst I frequently moan at my phone, I love the fact that I am always armed with a camera, particularly handy when a moment in time presents itself and you have the opportunity to capture it.  Last night was one of those such moments, with a sunset that was absolutely spectacular.  I took a few quick clicks on the phone and popped back 2 minutes later with the “proper” camera to see that the moment had passed.  God bless the smartphone; nature presented an opportunity and my phone allowed me to preserve it.  

WINTER WARMERS, AUTUMN EVENINGS & SEASONAL OFFERINGS

3RD OCTOBER 2021

This weekend saw the beginning of our busiest time of the year for food fayres and festivals and it was lovely to return to Harfest at the Norfolk Showground as this was the first event we officially attended prior to lockdown and the change of things as we know them.  The last Harfest was in the cloisters at Norwich Cathedral and was a very different affair to this weekend with so much changing for us in the last 2 years.  We now have a gazebo and a gin award to our name which is another reminder of how far we have come as a business.  It was also really lovely to be at an event with my family, who were showing cattle as part of the calf show which was also taking place.  It was as close to being back at a rural show as we have been able to get this year.

The last few days has really seen the beginning of Autumn and all the things I associate with this season.  Horse chestnuts are beginning to fall from the trees and the weather is definitely decidedly more chilly.  The blackberry harvest continues but the season is starting to draw to a close and although the fruit that we are able to pick is still a really good size, the smaller fruits that are still ripening are now really going to struggle for the sunshine needed to get them to their best.  It is that final scramble to get as much in the freezer as we can before the first frosts hit and the fruiting finishes.

I have also been busy with product shoots and the march towards our Christmas offerings.  It always feels a little wrong to be thinking of Christmas before we have even thought about Halloween but such is the need when the rest of the world is starting to think about their Christmas shopping.  As always, I have lots of ideas and I am now trying to collate these into a plan of action.  I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with a friend who is a very talented photographer, taking some shots for our Winter Cup launch which has just happened this week.  I absolutely love the creative outlet that our little gin business gives me and also the excuse to work with friends and share ideas.  I am looking forward to sharing lots of posts and stories on social media over the next few months.

TONICS, TOPPERS AND FRIENDS PICKING FRUIT

 26TH SEPTEMBER 2021

As the final throws of the September warmth are upon us, we took a day away from the distillery to spend some time with friends and visit the beautiful Hickling Broad where we spent a couple of happy hours in a canoe.  I love being on the water and it was a glorious day to have a paddle.  Of course, it wasn’t long before I’d spotted a sloe bush nestled in the reed bed but the fruit was a little difficult to reach so we had to leave fairly empty handed.  I probably could have stood up in the canoe but having done this before, I knew I’d end up in the drink so decided against it!

We spent the evening sharing our first batch of Winter cup and so far the response has been good.  There are a number of ways in which it can be served but the tonic option is currently the front runner.  With us bringing it to market next weekend it was good to get some feedback and some ideas to share with our future customers.  I spent much of the evening drinking prosecco with a winter cup topper and it definitely hit the spot.  The final phase is to pop it on the stall and see how it sells.

We finished our weekend back in the hedgerows picking blackberries.  We are very lucky to have a friend who is a dab hand at making a crumble so some of the fruit made it into that.  I’m not sure whether there is anything better than cooking with ingredients that have been literally plucked from hedgerow and put straight into the pan.  This time of the year really is one of nature’s finest.

FIRSTS, LASTS AND FORUMS

19TH SEPTEMBER 2021

This week has been consumed with preparations and enquiries.  Having joined a new initiative with one of our biggest local department stores (and a local mainstay) we have taken our first orders via this platform.  There’s always a mini “fist bump” when we make a sale but this one felt particularly special.  We’re also currently featured in the window display and I made a special trip into the city centre to see this.  Sometimes it’s important to take a step back and see how far you’ve come and remind yourself of the journey!

We finalised the last scale up of our winter cup this week.  We are now just doing taste tests and working through serving ideas before we launch at the beginning of October.  We are hoping this will be as popular as our blackberry gin and our Summer cup and will be the perfect accompaniment for the long winter nights ahead.  It’s always a little nerve-wracking when on the cusp of a launch as you can never be sure of how take up will be and whether it will “hit the spot”.  All you can do is jump in with conviction and hope for the best!

This week has most largely been spent preparing for The Feastival event, held at the Forum in Norwich and part of the Heritage Open Days set of events.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of days – Saturday bought with it some gorgeous sunshine and visits from lots of friends.  We did donate our season tickets for the football for the afternoon and it certainly felt slightly surreal being in the city but not at the game. We were a little less disappointed when the result was not a good one!  Our gazebo was beautifully situated in front of the St. Peter Mancroft church in the centre of Norwich and this morning we got the beautiful peel of the bells bringing folk into morning service.  There is nothing more evocative on a Sunday morning than the sound of church bells ringing across a medieval city.

PLANNING, PLANNING, PLANNING

12TH SEPTEMBER 2021

This weekend really feels like the calm before the storm!  We are now on the cusp of what will be the most hectic time of the year for us.  In the final throws of Summer that we have been enjoying, we have been on a fruit picking frenzy to try and get as much harvested as we can.  The blackberry window of ripeness really is very short so it’s about hitting each of our hedgerows at the optimum time, too early and the blackberries are like bullets, too late and they have either fallen or have turned.  Our freezer is getting full to the gunnels so at this stage in the year we often start “borrowing” the odd bit of space from friends and family just to tide us over through September and October.

As of next week, it really will be event after event after event.  We have some really exciting fairs and food festivals that we are attending this year, many of which we are attending for the first time.  Last year was obviously not a normal year and many of the markets that would have run just weren’t able to, so this is our first time experiencing these.  From that standpoint we have absolutely no idea what to expect in terms of footfall or which products might be the most popular so we are busy preparing for all eventualities.  This brings with it it’s own logistics that we are currently working through.  As with all small businesses cash flow is the main barrier and we are no different.  We have a lot of stock ready to go and it’s now just a matter of opening the flood gates and hoping that our predictions are the correct ones.  As with everything, we now get to do some serious learning!

Our gazebo is fully prepped for the next few months and we are about to add some new “winter” additions to it.  When we bought the gazebo last March we were planning on using it as a mainly summer element but this summer has most definitely been less than optimal in terms of the weather.  We have now had a chance to complete a full season of selling outside and there have been quite a few occasions when having full sides on the gazebo would definitely have been beneficial.  So, as we are now booked in for a few winter markets we are upgrading that element of our gazebo to make it a bit more “weather friendly”.  We are hoping that, should the weather bring it’s dark side, we will have a haven of gin tasting undercover and out of the elements!

NEW GINS, NEW RECIPES & HISTORIC SHOPS

5TH SEPTEMBER 2021

As the seasons start to change and we move into Autumn on the farm, we are now changing out the warmer weather gins in favour for those that are more suitable for a night in front of the fire!  Back in production is our Blackberry gin which was a bit of a surprise favourite last year.  We tinkered around with this particular gin quite a lot as blackberries are a little tricky at giving up their beautiful flavour.  We tried many weapons in our arsenal to make sure that the gin was faithful to that beautiful rich taste.  Some of our ideas had some interesting outcomes including a beautifully rich blackberry jam syrup!!  Fortunately, we are now fully versed in the making of blackberry gin so look out for this year’s first batch – heading to a show near you soon! 

I’ve also been working on a new seasonal gin which we are hoping to launch at the beginning of October.  It is in the final phases of taste testing and small batch production.  These things are never particularly straight forward as once I have given Graham the recipe that I want replicated we have to then ensure that it will taste as good once scaled up.  Add to that the alcohol content and replication of the correct ABV at larger batches and what initially appears to be a quick task soon turns into a bit of a mammoth one!  We are hoping that this year’s seasonal offering will be as popular as our summer cup has been.  One of the joys of working in small batches is the ability to be able create new and seasonal gins that reap the wonderful harvest that our countryside provides for us.

This week also saw a bit of an ambition come true!  As a small producer it is really important to us that we reflect the local fabric of our county.  For anyone from Norfolk, Jarrolds is a shop name that is ubiquitous with the county.  It has been a mainstay of the Norwich high street and has seen generations of shoppers enjoy what it has to offer.  I, for one, can remember frequently going into the store with my mum as a small child and I now replicate that as an adult.  This is why we are so excited to be part of their new StoreFolk website – part of Jarrold’s online platform dedicated entirely to small local businesses.  We are absolutely over the moon to be able to share our story and our gin journey as part of one of Norfolk’s greatest local institutions.

HEDGES, MARSHLAND & FIELDS

29TH AUGUST 2021

As the end of Summer is approaching, we have been frantically foraging fruit for our gins.  The Sloes are now starting to ripen nicely on the patches where they have survived and where we can crop they are definitely a good size, largely due to the rain that we seem to have had almost every day this August.  The blackberry crop is also looking really good where we have been able to pick.  There are a huge number of blackberries all over the farm but it is now just a case of whether they will ripen in the current conditions.  A late burst of heat would definitely help them on their way so it’s fingers crossed for an “Indian Summer” although at this stage in the year I am not entirely sure it is on the cards.

We added a new farmers market to our travels this weekend with a day at the very lovely Marshland hall and tea rooms.  A lovely venue and a superb facility out near Wisbech, the other stall holders were also equally lovely and we really enjoyed our day.  It’s the furthest West in the county that we have ventured to date and I have to admit that it is not a part of Norfolk that I am hugely knowledgeable on.  Naturally that meant that a number of people asked us the quickest way to get to a few local places, I really hope that we sent them in the right direction!

Driving around the farm, at present, it is really strange to see so much wheat still in the fields and waiting for harvest.  The weather really has not been our greatest ally this year and I feel that I speak about it far too often but that is the way of farming – an unhealthy obsession with the weather!  When I was in my late teens, I worked for a grain buyer out near Diss and my job was to drive around the farms of Norfolk collecting grain samples to go back to the labs to then determine what price the company would offer the farmer.  I did this job every Summer for 3 years and absolutely loved it but by this stage we would be really quietening down.  The crazy period was always the end of July and beginning of August.  I suspect there are currently grain samplers out on the roads and twiddling their thumbs, waiting for those final fields to be cut.  With Autumn upon us I hope it not too long before the harvest is complete.

PLUM WINE, WEDDING FAVOURS & CLARKSON’S FARM

22ND AUGUST 2021

When you grow up on a farm there are some things you learn very quickly and they might not be things that you’d automatically think of.  I am inherently a dog lover but farms are a magnet for cats.  On many occasions we have had cats abandoned on our farm by owners who no longer want them or who have had a “surprise batch” of kittens.  Being handed (or left) things because of the job is not an unusual thing but I was very surprised last week when a friend of mine turned up at the pub with a huge bag of plums!!  We don’t currently make a plum gin but that may change, moving forward, if our experimentation with this batch turns out to be successful.  Because the amount she handed me was quite vast I have put the surplus to good use and am making a batch of plum wine.  I have never made a wine before so this could turn out to be an incredibly “interesting” vintage.  As we speak the yeast is audibly doing it’s work so watch this space!!

Wedding season seems to be well and truly in full swing and I have been doing quite a bit of bespoke labelling for up-and-coming nuptials.  This is always a really special part of the job because you know you are contributing to someone’s special day and the start of a life together.  No matter how many years go by, our little bottles will be part of the fabric of that wedding and hopefully a nice little gift for guests to enjoy.

We are now in the midst of a busy period of time for the distillery with lots of events and markets on the horizon.  We often stay with my dad, when we are working long hours in the distillery, as his house is the nearest!  This week we introduced him to the joy of Clarkson’s Farm.  Dad is usually quite sceptical about farming programs as they often portray the business in a very romanticised way.  The beauty of this program is that it very much tells it how it is.  We spent a couple of hours chuckling away at Jeremy and his “big tractor” as well as his exploits into livestock farming.  If you haven’t had a chance to tune in yet it’s definitely one not to be missed!

BLACKBERRIES, SLOES & DRY WEATHER

15TH AUGUST 2021

Like any farmer, I am completely obsessed by the weather most of the time but it feels even more apparent at the moment.  Every day seems to have brought rain recently and the sun has been reluctant to appear.  Fortunately, as I write this, we are enjoying some dry weather.  The Sun is currently intermittent but at least it is dry!

The weather patterns are having 2 very different effects on our 2 main fruit crops at present.  The blackberries are definitely enjoying all the rain.  They have swelled nicely and are ripe and ready to go.  We have had, so far, some very easy picks meaning this is looking like a bumper year for this fruit.  The Sloes are definitely a very different prospect!  The late frost and generally rather miserable Spring are meaning that some of our prime Sloe patches just haven’t really taken off this year.  Other areas of hedgerow have done a little better but it’s a really mixed bag.  The Sloes are also definitely behind where they normally would be expected to be so picking is going to be later this year for certain.

We are prepping space in the freezer and still have some fruit from what was a bumper harvest last year.  It is now time to decide which fruit we give priority to by trying to second guess what will be our best seller over the coming months.  At fairs and tastings, it’s difficult to separate the Sloe and the Blackberry as they both appeal to slightly different palates.  As is so often the case we will take a leap of faith and see where it lands us!

INDIA IN NOTTINGHAM, IBIZA IN BLICKLING & BRITISH SUMMERTIME

8TH AUGUST 2021

We took a few days off this week and used the opportunity to spend some time with friends whilst enjoying the first test at Trent Bridge, England vs. India.  I have listened to a lot of cricket on the radio but have never experienced a live game so I was more than a little excited.  It’s fair to say that Cricket is a very gentile sport, from a spectator’s point of view, and it was lovely to be able to stop for a few days and put our feet up.

Naturally, like any holiday, it was all hands to the pump on our return.  We were straight back to the distillery for a bottle order and rather a lot of moving things around.  We had a few orders to fulfil and some deliveries to complete.  We’re now also fully on the look out for the first of our ripening fruit.  If nothing else, this summer has been wet!  It seems like we get an inch of rain every time we get a shower.  The fruit we are seeing is definitely plumping up but we are in dire need of some sun and warmth to ripen it.  Here’s hoping for that late August heat wave everyone is talking about.

We finished off our week by visiting somewhere a little closer to home, the magnificent Blickling hall.  Saturday saw the return of their classical Ibiza night and it was an amazing evening.  If you are a person “of a certain vintage” this event really is one not to be missed.  The rain did attempt to dampen spirits but in full waterproof garb (the farmer in me made sure I was armed with my waterproof trousers) we opened a bottle of prosecco, topped it off with some of our very own Summer Cup and away we went.  A very civilised way to finish off the week!

RETURN VISITS, FRUIT INSPECTIONS & ANOTHER BUMPER MONTH

1ST AUGUST 2021

This weekend saw us returning to The Norfolk Deli for a Saturday showcase, just under 2 years since our first visit.  The deli has a very special place in our hearts as it was our first “proper” event when we were starting out on our gin journey.  So much has happened since then and it feels almost like another life since that first visit in September 2019.  The pandemic has obviously featured most prominently in most people’s lives in the last 18 months so it is strange to think back to 2019.  For us, and our business, the key has been survival and no doubt will continue to be that way for some time to come.  We are still fighting on and yesterday we were more than a little blessed with a dry day and even some sunshine, particularly as the forecast had suggested something quite different was on the cards.

We have taken the opportunity, this week, to get out and about and check some of our fruit.  It’s definitely behind last years crop and it’s difficult at present to see how well the fruit has set.  One of our patches of blackberries is looking really promising but other areas are behind so it could be a long picking season.  The sloes have definitely had the rain they need to plumpen but we could very much benefit from a warm spell now to get them ripening.  The crop is not looking as “well yielded” as last year but last summer really was an exceptional year for us.  We do have a little surplus still frozen but will benefit from a good crop this year.  

As July draws to a close, we are taking stock of what has been another really great month for us.  We are continuing to find new outlets and the return of summer fairs and festivals has really helped as well.  We tend to compare everything with Christmas and this month has definitely been up there.  I’m hoping that this will now be the start of a slow and steady build into the latter months of the year but it’s almost impossible to predict.  We shall, for now, just enjoy the ride!!

CHALKBOARDS, ARTWORK & NORFOLK DAY

25TH JULY 2021

This week has been all about promotional work.  We’ve had a spate of food festivals and events which has meant displays have been at the forefront.  I have been updating our chalkboards as we’ve gone along and we have now invested in 2 street side chalkboards to go with our host of smaller table-top ones.  I am a bit of a sucker for stationery so naturally alongside the chalkboards I had to purchase some more liquid chalk pens.  You name it, we now have it and I shall be putting these to good use over the coming days.

I have also been working on some wedding invites off the back of some cards that I produced for the distillery.  This is a bit of a new venture but if these prove popular might be something we offer alongside wedding packages and birthday gift boxes.  It’s really satisfying working with people to create something unique to them and as this person is a close friend, I really feel like I’ve been a part in making their day happen.  (Quite literally as the invites give the details of the event!)

The other unmistakeable date looming on the calendar is Norfolk day on Tuesday.  I’ve been trawling through photos to try and create a montage that sums up this wonderful county.  the problem I’m having is too much content to choose from.  I’ve stuck to pictures from the farm but Norfolk has so many amazing places to visit it really feels like my 30 second homage does not do it justice.  Yet another reminder of how amazing our little corner of the world is.

TENTS, CHEESE AND BEES

18TH JULY 2021

This week we’ve been out on the road again but this time it was a considerably shorter journey for a 3-day event.  This turned out to be particularly useful on Saturday when we arrived for set up and realised we’d left a box of miniatures at home!  Cue a rather frantic return journey to retrieve them and get back into the showground before it closed to trader traffic!!  In typical English weather fashion, on the one weekend when the gazebo is not with us, the sun is out in full force!!

Much to my delight we were sharing the tent with both beekeepers and cheesemakers – 2 of my favourite things.  It’s fair to say I came away with more than my fair share of cheese!  We were also lucky enough to be between the Italian chocolatiers and a rather fantastic curry stand.  It’s always lovely to be in the food tent but with all the amazing smells it doesn’t half make you feel hungry.

It’s always interesting to spend a bit of time at these events sitting back, observing and seeing how other stands do things and approach their displays.  I am always learning and these opportunities make me reflect on what we’re doing that works and what we can tweak and improve on.  On my current “to-do” list is some work on my chalkboard art as this is an ideal way to draw customers to our stand.  It also gives me a good excuse to do some drawing – something I absolutely love to do.

FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL, FOOTBALL

11TH JULY 2021

I’m not sure there is anything else that has really dominated our week, this week, quite as much as the football has.  we’re taking some rare time off today to enjoy the football build up and then watch the final with our football family.  We have a big event at the end of next week so we’ve been fitting in some extra bottling where we can in the full knowledge that tomorrow may be a little less productive than usual!

Whilst we traditionally drink local beers and ciders during a game, we have gone to the extravagance of making some cocktails (gin of course!) for the pre-match build-up.  This wedding reception drinks and ten replace the smartly dressed guests with football t-shirts and a BBQ!

To top it all off we bought a projector last year, in the midst of the lockdown, so we could watch films outside with friends and family.  That has now proved very handy as we have created our own football fan zone.  No matter what the result tonight, we’ve made some great football memories this year.  We now have everything crossed that there will be a cherry on top of that cake, or a nice big olive in that gin martini!!

EARLY MORNING DOWNPOURS, MIDDAY SUNSHINE & EVENING WINS

4TH JULY 2021

This week has largely been taken up by the preparations for the Summer Fayre at the Norfolk showground.  With the cancellation of this year’s Norfolk Show, this was the closest we were going to get to that “show feeling”.  Arrival yesterday was accompanied by a bit of a strange feeling.  We’re so used to seeing the showground full of tents and displays so it is always a little unusual to drive in and find it not occupied by excited traders.  It also absolutely poured during morning setup which made it a bit frenzied.  There was definitely an unease at 8am that the event may be a bit of a washout but fortunately fate was on our side and the weather dried up and the sun came out!

Whilst you can never replace the Norfolk Show, there was definitely a great buzz about yesterday’s event.  As always, we got to meet lots of amazing people and enjoyed having a chat and hearing their stories.  We also shared lots and lots of lovely gin and got peoples take on our offerings.  It always slightly tickles me when people apologise for not liking something we’ve produced.  It is so quintessentially English and something I know I would also do.  Ultimately, we all have our own preferences and we created our gin to our own tastes which I know won’t suit every palate.  What is interesting is which gins prove popular on the day – there really seems to be no way of predicting, even the weather seems to have no effect.

After a long day at the showground, we settled down with the rest of the country to see how England would fair in the Euro’s.  We’d purchased some rather lovely Norfolk Raider cider which was the perfect way to end the day, the England result obviously also helped!  We’re now buy prepping for our net event at the showground in a couple of weeks, this one is indoors so at least this time we won’t be battling the elements first thing in the morning.

WALNUTS, CARD DESIGNS AND A  BUMPER MONTH

27TH JUNE 2021

We’re at a stage again now, with our gin production, where we are having to shell some more of our walnut crop.  Our trees are looking like they have a good fruit on them this year and they have just gone through their “June drop” where some of the smaller husks have dropped from the tree leaving the larger and healthier ones to continue to grow.  When we pick our walnuts, we very carefully store them so that they are ready for use in the gin distillate.  We leave a number of them in their shells so that they just require shelling when we are ready for them.  We do this by hand but with the use of a hammer which is far quicker (and less painful) than using the conventional nut-cracker.  It is actually quite therapeutic to sit out in the garden cracking walnuts – especially when the sun is out and nature is around.

We are now working on some more card designs to go with our gift boxes.  These designs are unique to us and cannot be found anywhere on the high street.  We are very proud of them and we are hoping that the artist working for us will shortly be introducing herself onto social medias with her designs.  Birthday and wedding cards are particularly popular at this time of year as people celebrate milestones over the summer months.  As always though, we are already starting to think ahead to the latter months of the year and what might be appealing to customers at other times in the gift buying calendar.

As we draw to the end of June, we are looking at one of our best months of trading to date and it is really satisfying to see that the hard work is paying off.  It’s difficult to know, when your business is young, what the ebbs and flows of the financial year will look like.  We know that the winter months, and particularly Christmas, are when sales are particularly high and then there is the inevitable lull in the first few months of the year as people de-tox or get over the gluttony of December.  Summer for us last year was pretty good, given what was happening in the world, but it wasn’t a true reflection of the year for us.  We are hoping that this year’s sales are a good indication of what is in store for us and our little distillery.

CRAFT FAIRS, NEW CONTACT & THE RETURN OF MOSQUITOES!

20TH JUNE 2021

We’ve been on the road again this week, exhibiting at the North Norfolk Craft Fair in Fakenham.  We did this fair last time, on what turned out to be a very wet and windy May bank holiday.  Whilst it was definitely not as windy as last time, and it stayed dry, it still wasn’t quite the balmy weather we’ve been used to over the last 10 days or so.  It didn’t seem to put people off though and we got the opportunity to meet, chat and share gin with lots of lovely people.

One wonderful aspect of local fairs is being able to support other local businesses and we got the opportunity to meet with fellow business owners, share stories and sample each other’s products.  There is always such a sense of community at craft fairs, with people “mucking in” to help each other out and it’s one of the reasons I love taking part so much.  There is a real sense that people are turning back to local producers and I am hopeful that this is one trend that will continue when lock down and covid restrictions finally fade away.

The week has also seen the return of the mosquito to our garden.  Unfortunately, I am one of those people for which mosquitoes make a special trip out to find.  With later evenings we have been outside for longer, whether that’s moving stock or eating tea in the garden.  As is now tradition, whilst I was eating so were the bite-y insects, leaving me with a rather macabre “dot-to-dot” of huge red marks on my arm.  Henceforth the anti-histamine cream and reinstatement of the citronella candles!!

KIND WORDS, DISTILLERY BEACH TRIPS & A FESTIVAL OF SPORT

13TH JUNE 2021

This week has seen us acquire a new supplier thanks to a recommendation from someone whose tried (and bought) our gin.  This is, for us, the ultimate compliment and also shows the power of community support.  One thing that was key to us, when we started out on our gin adventure, was that we celebrated Norfolk, it’s heritage and also it’s people and the above epitomises all of these things.  We hope that the good people of Bradwell enjoy our gin and we are ever grateful for all the continued and amazing support.

As it’s been rather humid inland, we took the opportunity for an early morning jaunt down to the rather wonderful Cromer.  We are so lucky that this is a short drive for us and on a warm day there is nothing better than sitting on the pier in the relative cool of the morning and enjoying a cup of coffee and a little bit of breakfast.  It’s also nice to beat the crowds and get a bit of the beach to yourself!

This weekend also marks the start of a festival of sport, what with both Wimbledon and The Euro’s beginning.  We’ll watch and listen to pretty much any sport going but football is always our go to.  As I write this we are all still very much thinking of Christian Eriksen following the harrowing scenes from the Denmark vs. Finland game.  As Norwich fans I had spent much of the game with one eye on Teemu Pukki whilst doing some printing.  No-one could have predicted what would follow, definitely scenes that won’t easily be erased from my mind.  It’s a reminder of how fragile life is and why all of our adventures should be entered into with gusto.  Life is precious and fleeting and there is little time for “what if’s”.  Funny how a football game can end up being so much more.

DRONES, LABELLING, & AN EXPLOSION OF SUMMER CUP

6TH JUNE 2021

It has been a really hectic week in the distillery this week.  We launched our Summer Cup on a very sunny bank holiday Monday and what followed was temporary chaos.  We’d made a batch that we thought would satisfy demand but boy were we wrong.  I think we definitely under-estimated just how ready for the Summer us Norfolk folk were and we found quickly that our initial batch was spoken for.  It was then a rather frantic few days of keeping up with orders but I’m pleased to say that after some epic sessions we are just about there.  Here’s hoping this is the first of lots of orders and that it is well received in the gardens and pubs of our fair county.

This week we’ve also been lucky enough to get some aerial footage of the farm.  A good friend has a drone so we organised a bit of flying time to capture some pictures and videos for the website.  I’ve never really seen drone footage in person and live but it is amazing.  What was particularly fantastic was to see the farm from the air, it also made counting the cows on pasture quite a bit easier!

Much of the rest of this week has been bottling and labelling.  I also got my first go at batch numbering the bottles.  Graham is normally in charge of this job but I got the pleasure of this and made sure I used my very best handwriting!

SUNSHINE, SUMMER CUP & ON THE ROAD AGAIN

30TH MAY 2021

What a difference a week makes.  We’re finally seeing a little bit of Summer and it’s been long overdue.  Apart form the feel-good factor that a bit of warmth brings, we are in dire need of some growing power on the farm.  The broad beans are in full flower and the bees are doing their thing but on my vegetable patch the tomatoes are woefully behind and so far, the only that’s of any merit is our radishes!  Still, I’m ever hopeful that the sun will work its magic and everything will now kick on.

With the late Spring bank holiday nearly upon us it felt like and appropriate time to announce our newest creation, our Summer Cup.  Made with our award-winning dry gin, it is our take on a particularly famous beverage usually served as a welcome drink at weddings!  We’ve been playing around with this recipe since last year and now we’ve perfected it we are introducing it to the world.  With a name like Summer Cup, we have been waiting frantically for some sun to take some photos and this week our wish was granted, thankfully just in time!

With all that’s been going on with new suppliers and new products, we are now getting ready for our next trip out and about and it feels like it has come around really quickly.  The next few weeks will see us starting a run of outdoor events and obviously we are hoping for the sun to now stay with us.  Quite a few of these are new events for us and there’s always a bit of trepidation when you go somewhere new.  It’s a bit like your first day of school, you’ll know you’ll be fine once you get there and know where the toilets are but that initial 30 minutes is still going to be daunting!

WILD FLOWERS, WILD WEATHER & INTERESTING DELIVERIES

23RD MAY 2021

The hedgerows are absolutely bursting into life right now.  A walk around the farm in the short bursts of sun that we are currently experiencing shows mother nature in all her spring glory.  The road opposite the farm is absolutely covered with dandelions and their seed heads.  They are so tempting as they bob in the breeze and the inner 7-year-old in me just wants to pick them and blow the little seeds to my hearts content.  The was a definite must as a child but I had a nasty habit of doing this near the vegetable patch which was never a popular move with my mum!

Our bluebells are now also in full bloom.  They feel very late this year but I’m not sure whether this is more to do with the accompanying weather which is less than Spring like.  It’s difficult not to compare this year with last and whilst I’m not missing lockdown, I am missing the warm sunshine that accompanied it.  The wind and rain have been less than optimal but now with the Sloes starting to show some small fruit we are hoping that the wet weather and cloud cover will mean we avoid a late frost that hit some of the crop last year.

This week also saw us delivering gin to the beautiful cathedral area of Norwich.  When we go for a walk in our fine city, this little corner is definitely one of our favourites.  Past the cathedral and to the river, along the bank and past Cow Tower.  You can almost forget you are in a city when you do that walk.  It’s so peaceful and a great place to leave behind the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

DIARIES, THE DAY JOB & EXPERIMENTATION

16TH MAY 2021

After the success of our first outdoor market/fayre, for a very long time, it was very much back to the day to day this week.  Graham has been fielding calls and enquiries amidst bottling and distilling and it has been a week of general calm and tranquillity in the distillery (we don’t get to say that very often!)  A little bit of sunshine over the course of the week has also been very welcome but I must admit to craving a little more heat – for one, my chilli plants are really struggling to germinate this year – not good news for our spiced gin!!

With it now feeling like the world (well Norfolk) is opening up a little bit more, we have been packing our diary with events for the rest of the year.  Whilst social media is a great way to reach the masses there really is nothing like meeting in person and sharing a gin and story.  The feedback we get from customers is invaluable in helping us move forward and it is a genuine joy when someone tries one of our gins for the first time and we get to see their reaction (good and bad!)  I also (and I know I say this a lot) absolutely love my home county and there is nothing quite like chatting with fellow ‘Norfolkians’ about all things Norfolk.

As it’s been quite a steady and “all’s gone to plan” kind of week it has meant that we have had the time to play around again with gin recipes and ideas for future flavours.  I’m not one to give too much away but we have definitely stumbled across a potential winner this week.  As always there’s a ton of stuff to do to make sure that it will definitely work but it’s always very exciting when an idea becomes a reality.  We’re hoping it might be one for our next event so watch this space.

WET, WINDY & WONDERFUL

9TH MAY 2021

This week has seen our focus back on web sales and our retail partners.  We’ve had quite a few orders to fulfil and some exciting new enquiries that we are hoping to develop further over the coming weeks and months.  The early part of the week was also consumed by the drying out of our gazebo and various props that we’d used at the weekend’s craft fayre.

It’s definitely fair to say that the weather was not the kindest but it was a bank holiday Monday in the UK so it was far from surprising that it rained.  The morning went pretty smoothly.  For once I managed to locate a new event without getting lost – definitely a first and although a little breezy we got set up with barely any hitches.  The weather forecast had suggested that the impending weather front was not going to reach us until mid to late afternoon so I was cautiously optimistic that we might dodge the rain.  Alas, it was not meant to be and by 2pm the wind and the rain had set in for the rest of the day.

Despite the somewhat autumnal feel to the weather, there was really good footfall and a definite feel that people just wanted to get out and about.  We bumped into some old friends, some recent acquaintances and made some new customers.  It definitely felt like a sense of normality had returned just being able to chat about our gin and converse with all the other fantastic producers and artisans at the fayre.  I also got the added bonus of making some new furry friends with some of the many lovely dogs that were also enjoying a day out.  All in all, a wonderful event and good to be out on the road again.

BOXES, BOTTLES & GAZEBOS

2ND MAY 2021

It’s all been about prep this week at the distillery.  We have our first outdoor market of the year, and for that matter of the last 18 months, on bank holiday Monday and we are really excited about it.  Graham has been on a major stock check and has been bottling some Blackberry gin that we’ve made especially for the event.  Bottles of all sizes and gift boxes are stacked up and ready to go.

Alongside all the product prep we’ve also been dusting off the stuff for the stand.  This is part of the job that I absolutely adore and it’s my role to make sure that we display everything as beautifully as we can.  Obviously, there are the added complications of Covid and keeping everything clean but the wonderful people of Norfolk will be on their A game and will help us keep Covid safe.

It’s been an age since we last put up the gazebo so a little practice run has helped remind us where not to put our fingers!  We bought the gazebo at the beginning of March 2020 and consequently put it straight into storage!  But it’s now out and hopefully this is the start of many road trips.  All that’s left is to load up the Land Rover with some strategic packing and we’re good to go.  Doing events like this reminds me of my days as a youngster when we used to pack up our kit in our wooden trunk and take the cows to various rural shows.  It was the highlight of my year and I absolutely loved sharing our farming life with the outside world.  Funny how things can stir up old feelings.

FARM HISTORY, TWINE & BOTTLE ADORNMENTS

25TH APRIL 2021

We’ve been delving back, quite a lot, into our farm history over the last few weeks.  This has partly been because I have been looking at old photos of the farm but also because as we have updated the website, I wanted it to represent more of the farm and its continued evolution.  It’s really hard to imagine how difficult farming was 100 years ago.  We have so many modern advances these days that help one person do the job of 10 people.  Whilst I do sometimes hark back to a simpler time, I must admit I don’t think I’m built for the back breaking work my relatives endured.

We’re now fully in prep mode for our upcoming market in just over a week.  We’re trying to second guess at present what will be the most popular of our gins and how to stock our stand accordingly.  We’re also trying to make sure all of our bottles have some serving suggestions attached to them to not only inspire our customers but hopefully also to encourage a few extra purchases.  Graham has been running the numbers and I have been re-wording some of the tasting note’s tags.

One other decision, that oddly took longer than I thought it would, was which twine we should use to add the relevant adornments to our bottles.  On paper you would think this should be a relatively quick and easy decision but when presented with a variety of ribbons, cord and string it took a whole different direction.  We finally made a decision but this was only after we’d tied a whole lot of bows and positioned an even greater number of tags.  Who would have thought a piece of string and a piece of cardboard could command so much effort!!

WEBSITE TINKERING, TONIC BUYING & NEW LEAFLETS

18TH APRIL 2021

Whilst Graham has been marching on with the day-to-day stuff, I have been playing around with elements of the website and just generally researching new and interesting ways to share our products.  I am a bit of a perfectionist and can sometimes spend hours “tinkering” with a photo only to decide not to use it.  I don’t think that this is ever a habit that will stop and I’m hoping its what will keep us driving forward with our adventures in gin.

We’re now busy prepping for our first outdoor market, in just over two weeks’ time, and I’m really excited about this.  It has meant some bulk buying of tonics to go in our smaller gift boxes as well as to sell with our gins.  It feels like a very long time since we did an event so it’s all about lists and lots of organising right now.  All of this in between trying to arrange a covid jab has made for some last-minute diary juggling!

We’ve also been busy prepping new tasting notes to go with our gins which is a bit of a labour of love.  I have so many photos I want to share on marketing material but with the obvious limitation of space on a given document I did a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between which ones would work the best and tell the story we want to share.  Then there’s the almost paranoid checking through all the text for correct spellings, punctuation and formatting.  I’m terrible at spotting spelling mistakes in my own work but seem to have an uncanny knack of spotting them in other peoples, so I had Graham going through everything with a fine-tooth comb.  The leaflets are now safely with us and I can confirm all is well with the content!

NEW STOCKIST, COLD SPELLS & SAND MARTINS

11TH APRIL 2021

The last 10 days has definitely been all about new stockists.  Whilst we are in no way looking for world domination, it has been great to be able to confirm some new shops and suppliers as we go into the Spring and Summer months.  We delivered our first batch of gin to Fakenham Garden Centre yesterday and hope that it will be well received by the good folk of Fakenham and its surrounding area.  We had a lovely visit when we dropped off our samples and in true Norfolk fashion uncovered some common acquaintances in our discussions about the farm and the advent of our gin.

It’s safe to say that the warm balmy weather of a few weeks ago seems to be well and truly on the back burner right now!  Whilst the flowers and hedgerows continue to spring into life the barometer in our hallway is an all too bleak reminder that winter is slow to give up its grasp on this calendar year.  I have been out and about around the farm and the breeze has been biting to say the least.  There’s a very good reason why us farmer types have a weathered complexion and it’s been all too evident in the last week.

Finally (for this week at least), I can happily announce that our resident sand martin’s have safely returned to us following their winter migration to Africa.  I absolutely adore seeing these little birds return and we are lucky enough to have a nesting site nearby.  Having gone for a walk to check the progress of some blackthorn blossom I thought I’d stop by their little part of Norfolk and see if there was any sign of them and sure enough, they are back.  I was lucky enough, throughout my childhood, to mark the summer months with nesting house martins, swifts and swallows and whilst my mum used to occasionally curse the mess on the windowsills from above, seeing the sand martins transports me back to memoires of birds feeding their young in the eaves above my bedroom window.  The farm is a constant reminder of our connection with nature and the wider world.

OLD PHOTOS, OLD ACQUAINTANCES & HAPPY EASTER

4TH APRIL 2021

This week we have been out and about meeting with prospective new suppliers.  I always really enjoy meeting with other business owners and seeing how they do things as well as opportunities to share our brand with a new audience.  One such meeting was with the manager at our local shop who turned out to be an old school acquaintance from as far back as primary school.  It was a chance to reminisce and to catch up on news of old school friends.  Norfolk is one of those places that lures you back home (if you are ever daft enough to leave) so it was not surprising that lots of old school friends still live locally.  After all, why go anywhere when your home is in such a beautiful part of the world.

I also spent a bit of time going through some old photos and unearthed some really old snaps of the farm.  The farm buildings really help to date things and the fact that my childhood home was missing from one of the photos almost completely bypassed me initially.  It was only when I tried to date the photo that I realised it was not there!  It’s really strange looking back at the evolution of the farm and particularly how it has changed to adapt to new methods and in many cases bigger and more specialised machinery.  It’s also a reminder of how adept to change a farm needs to be.  Something that feeds directly into our own journey into distilling.

Finally, as I write this it’s all eyes on Easter and more particularly the oven!!  Farmers are almost ubiquitous with large roast dinners and we as a family buy into that stereotype whole-heartedly.  Whilst many families will be sitting down to roast lamb today our family tradition has long been roast turkey.  When the turkey auctions happen over Christmas we usually invest in 2 birds, the ‘Christmas Beast’ as I label it and its slightly smaller, but still more than adequate, Easter cousin.  This year’s bird weighs in at a mere 20lb and is roasting nicely whilst I do some company admin and Graham has a much-needed day off.  No doubt post feasting we’ll all be asleep on the sofa.  Happy Easter one and all.

BLOSSOMING HEDGEROWS, SIGNS OF SPRING & GUESS THE CROP

28TH MARCH 2021

This week has definitely felt a little calmer in the distillery than the last few and I’m putting some of that down to the signs of Spring all around the farm.  We’ve had an absolute deluge of daffodils flowering and yellow is such an uplifting colour.  Walking down the driveway and seeing their heads nodding in the breeze always brightens my day.  It’s also a yearly reminder of how much work my father has put into the green patches around the farm.  I remember when he planted many of the flowers around the farm and in some cases the bulbs that I help him plant when I was a little girl are still flowering.

The hedgerows are now starting to flower as well, meaning the start of our annual Sloe survey.  We do a lot of long walks in late March and early April with phones in hand marking down all the patches of blossoming blackthorn around the farm.  We have our “go to” patches each year but are always on the look out for more fruit, so this is a great time to try and locate prospective harvest sites.  It’s definitely easier to spot the bright white blossom in Spring than the dark fruit in September.

The other little game that I have a strange affinity for, on my long walks, is “guess the crop”.  The fields are also starting to show signs of life, so I love looking at what’s popping up through the soil.  In many cases I know what’s been planted, or it’s really obvious, but every now and then there will be something that looks a little different or isn’t immediately recognisable.  It’s part of the joy of watching the fields as the seasons change.

EASTER EXPO’S, CORKS & GETTING OUT & ABOUT

21ST MARCH 2021

As I write this, I currently have one eye on Instagram and the other on Facebook! We are today embarking on an online expo involving lots of fantastic local businesses and being run by the equally fantastic Buy Local Norfolk Team.  I am currently very grateful that we are not part of the “live group” and are only involved in the afternoon market.  The live demos have been amazing but definitely beyond our technical (and presenting) capabilities!  It has made me pine for the days when we can get out and about and interact with others in person. 

This week it has definitely felt like a little more is beginning to open up and the future is feeling a little more “normal”.  We’ve managed to get a few outdoor events in the diary for later in the year and although the wonderful Norfolk Show isn’t happening, there does seem to be an appetite for markets so it’s everything crossed that these will go ahead.  Now that the weather is picking up we’ll be able to get our marquee out of hibernation and more importantly remind ourselves how to erect it before it’s needed!

Other than “business as usual” this week we were able to do a little good deed for one of our suppliers.  The team at Harper Wells in Norwich were in need of some corks following some issues with a bottle of Cognac.  We are frequent visitors to their shop, partly because we stock to them but also because it’s a treasure trove of wines and spirits with the superbly knowledgeable Brian at it’s helm to assist if you’re stuck for inspiration.  Our gin bottles use corked stoppers which just happen to fit their bottles so we were able to do a little trade which will hopefully help them out and which saw me bag some olives – a win-win all round!!  It’s these little gestures that contribute to the worthwhile feeling of running your own business and that help build a sense of community amongst small business owners.

MOTHER’S DAY, RADIO NORFOLK & SCREEN-PRINTING BOXES

14TH MARCH 2021

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mums out there.  We have been busy sending out gins to some lucky mothers this week in the run up to today.  Mothering Sunday, for us, is always a little bitter sweet as neither Graham nor I have our mums around, having lost both these wonderful women to cancer many years ago. Today is a reminder to cherish our mums as I know I am still very much lost without the wise words and guidance of that dear lady.  There are many aspects of my life she never got to see, including meeting Graham and our eventual adventures into gin.  This is one adventure that I don’t think she would have been overly surprised about given the amount of time that she spent, in my late teens, picking me up from the pub after an enthusiastic session sampling some of Norfolk’s finest beverages.  Of course, back then I was more of a cider connoisseur but that’s a different story!

This week has also seen Graham make his broadcasting debut on Radio Norfolk.  On Thursday afternoon he spoke to the lovely Kayleigh Poacher about all things gin.  It was on in stereo on the farm as Radio Norfolk is generally the station of choice in the tractors.  It was great to be able to share some of our story with a wider audience and hopefully we didn’t disgrace ourselves too much and might one day be invited back.

The final excitement of the week came when my silkscreen of our logo arrived of Friday.  We are very keen to keep our products both as ecologically friendly as possible and as homemade as possible.  We are hoping to use our screen to add a little bit of branding to our recyclable boxes.  It’s been a few years (try 25!) since I last did any screen printing so it took a little practice but the results look great and will be coming to a market event near you soon! (Hopefully!)

SCREEN PRINTING, BOTTLE SWAPPING & A BUMPER WEBSITE WEEK

7TH MARCH 2021

This week we had the opportunity to switch a bottle of gin with Bristol Dry Gin, who were Gold winners in the Classic Gin category at this year’s World Gin Awards.  It’s always great to try other gins and this one is definitely a worthy winner.  Really smooth on the palate and great in a G&T – it’s a bottle that should take pride of place on any good gin shelf.  It’s also fun to see how other brands market themselves and Bristol Dry Gin is quirky without being forced.  A thumbs up from us!

We have been looking at how we can further “spruce up” our gift boxes and packaging.  It’s really important to us that, as much as possible, we are plastic free and we are still “playing” with designs for the front of our boxes.  Committing to a design at this stage means a big order to a packaging producer and given that we’re prone to changing our minds we are going to call on our screen-printing skills to give a few designs a whirl.  Watch this space for our future creations.

Finally, this week has been a bumper week for us within our online shop. We always get excited whenever we get an order so this week has seen a lot of smiles in the distillery – and a lot of bottling!  Most of our orders have been from the very lovely folk of Norfolk but we are also seeing more orders from further afield.  We have a little map that we mark with a dot whenever we sell to that location.  A little travel guide of where our gins have visited and a happy reminder of how our business is growing. 

CLEAR BOTTLES, PINK TESTS & SILVER AWARDS

28TH FEBRUARY 2021

This week at the distillery has definitely been one to remember.  We’ve been waiting for some time for our bottles to materialise out of customs and on Thursday they appeared.  As is customary now, the delivery driver got lost tyring to find the farm but was greeted with much relief when he finally arrived.  Once the pallets were off the lorry, we began our unpacking and stacking ritual.  We have to do this by hand because of the location of our distillery (and it is a bit back breaking) but there’s also the oddly satisfying challenge of who can get the most bottles in one of our “transport” crates.  There are physical restrictions on how many bottles will fit but never let that get in the way of the competitive spirit!

Graham has also been putting his Chemistry knowledge to good use this week with our pink gin.  Because we use natural products to create the colour there is always the issue of colour variation.  Whilst we don’t mind a little bit of variety, we want to try to make the pink batches roughly in line with each other.  Graham’s been using his knowledge of colourimetry to build a “piece of kit”, as he calls it, to test the colour of each batch.  Whilst I have some knowledge of this, it is a little over my head so I am trusting him when he says it does what is says on the tin (or the wooden case) in this instance.

Probably our biggest and most exciting news to date was the rather surprising Silver we won in this year’s World Gin Awards.  When we entered, I don’t think we really expected anything as we had decided to try our hand at the Classic Dry Gin category which we knew would be quite popular.  When we got an email on Thursday night to say we’d won a Silver we were obviously over the moon!!  After ringing both my sister and my dad we then celebrated with a little tipple.  It turns out we were in good company coming in after Whittaker’s gin and Bristol Dry Gin.  Not bad for a 2-man, micro distillery, team from Norfolk.

PLASTIC EGGS, POSTCARDS & SIGNS OF SPRING

21ST FEBRUARY 2021

This week I have been letting out my inner Kirsty Allsopp.  Following a G&T infused pancake day we have started to turn our attention to Easter and a good old-fashioned East egg hunt.  Graham has spent much of his time distilling and testing gin whilst I have been out and about on the farm with the camera.  Is there really anything better than feeling the first rays of warm sunshine as the seasons begin to change?  We’ve had a couple of glorious days so I got out and about amongst the flora and fauna to enjoy a little bit of later winter sun.

All that fresh air got me to thinking about the traditions of the Easter Egg hunt.  The options when “egg hiding” can be limitless on a farm so obviously you have to set parameters otherwise the “event” could go on forever!  I then also got to thinking “why should the children have all the fun?!” How about a gin version for the adults?  I think this year we might add a twist to our East egg hunt! I’m already fairly well prepped with fake eggs; I must confess going a bit to town with the spray paint and coloured tape when I started decorating them.  Now all I need are some chocolate eggs and some miniature gins to hide about the place and we’re all set!  Obviously hope springs eternal that we might be able to share the experience with others but, if not, a select few on the farm will get to enjoy a gin and chocolate morning!!

Our other main (and probably more important) project this week has been looking at ways in which to expand our offerings on our online shop.  I have been working on our tasting notes and we’ve been playing around with tonics.  There are so many options out there now and peoples tastes vary so hugely (part of the reason I love trying new gins) so we’re working on ways in which to not only showcase the flavours in our gins but to give people a different take as well.  I know I tend to go with what I like and what I know about 80% of the time but so often on that 20% occasion you find something unexpected that quickly becomes a new favourite.  What we’re hoping to offer is that chance to find that new something that makes you take a step back and look at something differently – just like the day I re-visited corn on the cob – but that’s a whole different story!!

ARTWORK, EGG BOXES & VALENTINES DAY.

14TH FEBRUARY 2021

Happy Valentines day and what a strange one it is this year.  For many, the rituals of a nice meal out or a romantic excursion are not on the menu for this year (for obvious reasons) but it’s been really great having a nose on social media and seeing how people are dreaming up something special for their loved ones.  At the heart of much of this it’s been fantastic to see local businesses being supported and the great folk of Norfolk turning to independents to make their day special.  I am always immensely proud of my home county but none more so than when I witness the diversity on offer from the entrepreneurs that can be found here.

As always, here at the distillery we are now already thinking about what’s next in our calendar and Easter is now looming large on the horizon.  At the very least I think we all dream of being able to meet up with loved ones, whether it’s in our own garden or in the beer garden.  Easter always signifies Spring to me and who can think of Easter without thinking of eggs.  The craft materials have been out in force again and we’re busy preparing eggs and egg boxes.  It’s not often you get to spray a plastic egg so I thoroughly enjoyed getting the gold paint out again – particularly after the success of my golden pumpkin over Halloween last year.  Watch out for our farm creations over the next month or so.

Lastly, this week I have been looking at artwork.  As with every business we want to continue to evolve and are always looking at how to do things differently or in an improved way.  We have had an increasingly large number of people buying gift boxes online and I am looking at further ways in which we can personalise these.  I know how special it feels when someone goes that extra mile and we want to extend that feeling to our customers. Hopefully the ideas we are nurturing right now will come to fruition in the not-too-distant future and will be a welcome addition to our gin offerings.

SNOWDROPS, SNOW & THE BEAST FROM THE EAST 2!

7TH FEBRUARY 2021

This week has been all about the “s” word.  Whilst we’ve been beavering around and working with some new contacts and some possible new ventures, the word on everyone’s lips has been snow.  With the forecast predicting winds form the East, we Norfolk folk always brace ourselves for some bone chilling weather.  Such is the nature of our beautiful (but flat) county, there aren’t many hills to block a bracing easterly wind and sometimes it feels as if nothing has blocked it on its way from Siberia.  Yesterday the approaching cold front’s arrival was making its presence felt.  We got in the distillery early to filter some Sloe gin and by lunchtime the cold breeze was making itself felt as the temperature started to drop quite noticeably.

As I sit writing this now, the snow is falling but when we awoke this morning there wasn’t a flake in sight.  Whether this storm will turn out to be another “Beast from the East” is still currently up for debate but we always feel this type of weather quite acutely on the farm.  It’s definitely a day to wrap up in the obligatory layers and for me an excuse to do some photography work as a matter of urgency in a bid to get out of some bottling.  The temperature of inside versus the temperature of the distillery obviously has nothing to do with it!!

It’s hard to even think about Spring when the weather is doing what it is right now but our annual carpet of snowdrops has been cheering us no end.  My father planted these many years ago and they have absolutely flourished.  They are one of my favourite sights on the farm as they not only bring a little colour to the dark winter landscape (they are such cheery little flowers) but they also hint at warmer months to come.  They are, for now, being hidden under their namesake but I’ll look forward to seeing them in all their winter beauty once this temporary cold snap is done!

BIRTHDAYS, FRIENDS & FRIDAY NIGHT NETWORKING

31ST  JANUARY 2021

This week has been all about contacts with the outside world and talking all things small business.  In the current situation we all find ourselves in, it can sometimes feel like you’re really out on your own but, with many friends also owning their own businesses, a quick chat on the phone can really make you feel like you are part of something much bigger.  One of my friends is an absolute legend who makes organising and efficiency look so easy.  She does not work in the same sector as us but has a multitude of skills, hints and tips to draw from.  She single-handedly picked me up this week and a bit of business chat bought a whole raft of great ideas screeching to the surface.  I’m not sure I bought much of use to her business on this occasion but bouncing ideas off someone is sometimes all that’s needed to get the creative juices flowing. 

We also had a Friday night date with the incredibly lovely ladies at Norfolk and Suffolk lifestyle.  This was a chance to meet (albeit virtually) with some fellow small business owners from across the spectrum of the local business community.  It was a great chance to put faces behind brands and company names and also to share ideas and think about collaborations.  I love learning so this was a great way to think about different ways to approach our small business.  It was also great to see the multitude of really great businesses just on our doorstep and I’m hoping that one day we might all get to meet in person.

Finally, there was a birthday at the distillery this week as one of us marked the passing of another year.  We decided to take a whole day off (well almost) to enjoy some gin, some football and a selection of mighty fine cheeses that had arrived the day before in a hamper!  Whilst it’s been cold, it was dry so a brisk walk in the sun and some fresh air is always a winner.  It also felt like there was just the smallest hint of spring with evidence of more bulbs starting to poke through the grass.  Our 3 miniature daffodils are still flowering (they survived the snow) and it seems some of the properly seasonal flowers on the farm are hoping to join them soon.  With the nights finally starting to draw out in the evening, it feels like the long dark days of winter are giving way to the longer days of spring.

COFFEE COCKTAILS, EASTER EGGS & ONLINE MARKETS

23RD JANUARY 2021

This week has all been about online events.  As the world continues to crawl forward and tiptoe its way through the pandemic, more and more of us are looking towards the virtual world as a way of meeting our customers.  Last year, and on the cusp of our first event with our beautiful new marquee, the world closed for business.  Our marquee remains safely tucked up and awaiting its first outing but right now its difficult to know when that will be.  Many of the events pencilled into our calendar have already been postponed but fortunately many event organisers are turning to the online marketplace and supporting local and small business – something I know many of us are very grateful for.  I am busy negotiating my way around a multitude of platforms and whilst I would describe myself as very computer literate, I am mostly “social media competent” and the learning curve is interesting to say the least.  One great thing (and in these times we much take the positives wherever they might arise) is that an online event means shopping in your slippers, definitely the most comfortable way to go!

As the online markets start to materialise so does the marketing material needed to go alongside it.  This week I’ve been ordering all things Easter for my photography backdrops.  Last year saw me varnishing conkers, this year will see me gilding fake eggs.  Amongst all of the items I found and acquired for the photos was the small metal basket that we used to collect vegetables and flowers in when I was little.  Its funny how an item from the past can evoke such strong memories, particularly when it’s been years since you clapped eyes on it.  That little item took me instantly back to summers on the vegetable patch and shelling peas on the back door step in the sun.

After a very “adminny” day yesterday we decided to have a cocktail to unwind.  I’m a fairly straightforward cocktail kind of person and generally favour a gin martini.  We’ve recently been enjoying some very fine local coffee (which we treated ourselves to over the festive period) and when some of it was left over it seemed silly not to use it in a drink.  Not generally being a fan of an iced coffee, it quickly became an Espresso martini.  If you can get your hands on some good coffee (we got ours from Give it some beanz and it is mighty fine – and local!), this cocktail looks really fancy but can be whipped up in around 5 minutes.  A win-win all round!

BOTTLES, VALENTINE'S HEARTS & LABELS

17TH  JANUARY 2021

This week has seen us continue to wrestle with some of the fallout form Brexit.  As mentioned in an earlier blog, we weren’t really overly affected other than our bottles and we stock-piled a little in preparation.  Generally speaking, January is a quieter month for alcohol sales but as things start to pick up again the last thing we want is to be stuck with lots of gin and no bottles to put it in!!  Fortunately, after some research and contact with our suppliers we have located an outlet in the UK which hopefully means we are not at the whim of border controls and the issues that have been arising for companies trying to import goods.

From a sales perspective, at this time of the year all eyes start to focus on the first big “shopping” event of the year, Valentine’s Day, and we’re no different.  Our rose gin is a perfect way to “send roses” so I’ve been beavering away on a bespoke card to go with our Valentine’s day bottles and have been prepping gift boxes with rose petals.  The distillery has been smelling extra lovely off the back of this.

My other major project this week has been designing some artwork for a new summer product that we are working on at the moment.  More to come on that in the future but, needless to say, I’ve been playing around with labels, graphics and styling to try and separate this product from our other gins whilst keeping the overall feel and theme the same.  Not always easy to do but a task I am thoroughly enjoying.

SHORT BREAKS, COLD HANDS & WEDDING FAVOURS

10th  JANUARY 2021

We’ve been spending time this week in auditing mode and have taken a short break from distilling, as is customary at the start of January.  Our week off was timed particularly well as its ben really chilly on the farm this week and as it’s impossible to bottle with woolly gloves on it can be an arduous task on particularly cold days.  One benchmark of temperature is always what is going on “underfoot” and the ground around the farm has been pretty solid, which is a tell-tale sign that the temperature has been reluctant to creep over the magic 0 degrees mark.

We’ll be back on it next week so here’s hoping the air temperature rises a little.  When the stills are in full flow it’s generally not too bad as they act like little heaters but we do have to be careful about the temperature in the distillery as it can affect the accuracy of density measurements when measuring the ABV.  Fortunately, science and maths come to the rescue with adjustment tables but the closer the distillery is to 20 Celsius the easier life is!!

This week also saw the launch of our new wedding favour range.  This was partially inspired by a wedding we attended a number of years ago which involved a 6-course meal including a “cocktail” course – it was a very good day!!  We wanted to be able to offer something unique for a gin-lovers big day so have coupled our gins with individually customised labels based on art-work I have been creating for friends for a couple of years now.  Here’s hoping that any couples marrying this year will get their happy ever afters.

NATURE, NEW YEAR & NEW DIRECTIONS

3rd JANUARY 2021

With the new year now fully upon us we’ve been looking back and looking forward.  It’s easy to cast an eye back over 2020 with a sense of relief that it’s all over and behind us but we’ve been trying to focus on some of the good that the events of the last 12 months have afforded us.  Whilst it wasn’t the ideal year to be trying to grow a business (probably the understatement of the year) it did enable us to think carefully and less reactively about what we want both for ourselves, for our business and for our customers.  We had the opportunity to take a step back from the chaos of day to day living and focus on what’s important.  It’s fair to say that alongside lockdown came a grinding halt to business and that naturally bought its own stresses but we have so far weathered the storm and hope to have come out the other side stronger.

As natural as it is to look back over a year on “old year’s night” we are now looking forward and planning our assault on 2021.  First up is January, traditionally a quiet month of health kicks and resolutions but if 2020 has taught us anything it’s to expect the unexpected, so who knows what this month will bring.  The usual jobs beckon including filtering and bottling our next batch of Sloe Gin.  Although the rush of Christmas has now gone, we do have customers who enjoy this tipple year-round and in terms of gin this is probably one of my favourites.

Nature is also starting to surface, albeit a little earlier than usual on the farm.  The snowdrops have popped their heads up through the earth already and alongside these a few winter aconites have appeared.  We don’t normally see these until later in the month or even early in February so to see them now is both pleasantly surprising and also mildly concerning.  One quick cold snap now may see the back of them for the season so we are enjoying them whilst the weather allows it.  The prize for most premature flower of the season however has to go to 2 of our dwarf daffodils that have begun to flower!  In the microclimate of the garden these solitary flowers clearly occupy the patch with the “under lawn” heating as they are in full bloom quite sometime before they, or any of their fellow daffodils, should be!

BIRTHDAYS, BREXIT & BOXING DAY TIERS

27th DECEMBER 2020

What a difference a week makes.  We’ve had some time to rest for a few days after a busy run-up to Christmas day (that already feels like a lifetime ago!)  Amongst all the gratefully received last minute orders, we managed to get around to some of our nearest and dearest for a socially distanced doorstep gin drop.  Whilst it’s always lovely to see friends and family at this time of year it was most definitely not the same.  

As for many in Norfolk, what followed was the somewhat surprise announcement of Tier 4 restrictions for our county beginning on boxing day.  Whilst there was a general consensus that we would be moving up a tier, I’m not sure any of us would have predicted what was to come and with a deep sigh we hunker down for the long haul again!  Sometimes you have to pinch yourself on the farm as much of the day to day goes relatively unchanged.  Animals need feeding, jobs need doing and everyone goes about their work.  Social distancing on a farm is more of a way of life than an adjustment and although we can’t see loved ones face to face, I am eternally grateful for the space and fresh air that comes with farm life.

A little bit of a rest from bottling has also meant that, with the Brexit deal being finalised, we could get our heads around our bottle deliveries.  The vast majority of what we use in the production of our gin is UK (and indeed Norfolk) based but our bottles are not!  We, like many others, have been waiting rather anxiously to see what the consequence of a trade deal will be for us.  Fortunately, and we’re still wading through the technicalities, we’re hopeful that we’ll come out the other side fairly unscathed.

My last little job before Christmas was a small bit of ‘bottle bespoking’ for a dear friend.  Her birthday is on the 28th December and she has a penchant for our gin so rather than just gifting her a bottle (which is very easy to do) I thought I’d create a little bit of label artwork just for her.  I am also hoping that she doesn’t check out the blog before tomorrow otherwise my present cover is blown!!

SHEEP, TURKEYS & ANTIPODEAN ORDERS

20th DECEMBER 2020

The run up to Christmas continued in haste this week as we smashed through last years December sales with a flurry of orders.  With this year not exactly being a ‘normal’ year, we have, at times, wondered whether our gin sales are going in the right direction.  Our Christmas orders have been really reassuring and its good to know that the accounts graph is going in the right direction.

Other than the gin there have been a number of things, some expected, some not so expected, going on on the farm this week.  It would be entirely wrong as a Norfolk household not to have a proper Norfolk turkey for Christmas.  We always buy at auction and it’s been a Christmas highlight to get to the market and bag a “good sized bird” since I was a child.  Our family has never gone small when it comes to Christmas dinner and this years Turkey looks to be in line with our usual.  There’s always the worry that it won’t fit in the oven and the parson’s nose has been sacrificed on more than one occasion.  This year’s 25 lb-er is not the biggest turkey we’ve ever cooked (33 lbs is the current record!) but it should keep us going for quite some time.  Whilst the turkey auction is an annual event for us, the sheep that are currently wintering on the farm are a new addition.  They are doing a sterling job of keeping the grazing pastures in check but when they got out one afternoon they were temporarily less than popular.  We weren’t on hand to help redirect them back into the field but got a full analysis of the days shenanigans when we came back into the distillery.  I once heard a sheep farmer describe sheep as animals that spend their lives looking for creative ways to commit suicide.  I don’t think that was evident this week but they did create some momentary havoc!

Our final milestone this week was an order from the other side of the world!  There are many things about the internet that can be criticized but the ability to be linked so seamlessly to a customer 10’000 miles away is definitely not one of them.  We had got excited when we had an order from Somerset, you can only imagine how I reacted when we got this one!!  If there was ever a year for the virtual world, 2020 is definitely it!!

LONDON CALLING, CHRISTMAS FRENZY & THINKING AHEAD

13th DECEMBER 2020

It’s been a strange old week this week.  Christmas trade is definitely very evident but it’s emerged at the most random of times.  There’s a certain pattern to the way many of our retail colleagues order and they all have their own nuances but this week those patterns got thrown firmly to the wind.  We spent much of Monday feeling a little down cast as it was beginning to look like a horribly slow day with anticipated orders not materialising.  When you run your own business you spend so much time analysing buyers habits, so when things go wildly awry you begin to wonder whether you’ve completely misjudged.  Need not to have over analysed, by 4pm on Monday afternoon it was all hands to the pump and then some!  Christmas was apparently still very much on!!

We’ve also had contacts from a number a businesses further afield this week and have been looking in more detail at some opportunities in London.  This obviously opens up a potentially huge market place for us which is at once both exhilarating and a little daunting.  Having lived and studied in London during my more formative years it is in one sense my second home.  My life in London couldn’t have been more opposite to my life on the farm but it would be amazing to be able to share our little corner of Norfolk with the big smoke so who knows what lies ahead.  Watch this space as they say.

The end of this week has also gotten us thinking about the impending new year.  We have started to try and plan our assault on any outdoor events that might be running in 2021 and we are hopeful that the distillery marquee might get its first “proper” outing some time soon.  We’re looking at launching some other products and have been generally using any down time available to think about where we are heading next year and how that might look.  I, for one, can’t wait to be able to share our gins face to face with our customers again.  Fayres and events are definitely a highlight so their addition to our calendar is eagerly awaited.  For now, we remain thankful for the support we have had from local business and our local communities who have championed us and got us through this rather interesting of years!

FROSTY MORNINGS, CHRISTMAS MARKETS & FAST SELLING SLOE

6th DECEMBER 2020

This week winter has definitely come to Norfolk and we even had a small flurry of snow for a while.  In a year where everything has felt back to front, that short interlude of wintery weather made it feel a little more like Christmas.  Along with the cold has come the obligatory early morning scraping of the car and dodging the ice on the country roads around the farm.  One thing that never stops surprising me is just how much the temperature changes in the 10 miles between the farm and the city.  Never is that as obvious as in the first throes of winter.

We have benefitted this week from the reopening of pubs and shops and from a few smaller Christmas markets being able to trade again.  In the summer we were lucky enough to be involved with the botanical bar, run by The Curious Directive in Norwich, and with them opening their doors to a Christmas venture this has meant a chance to work with them again.  We took advantage of the botanical garden in the summer and had a distillery “night out” and it was glorious.  We were a little slow out of the blocks in securing a table for the Christmas event so we’ll have to hope they go again next year!  The venture sees the addition of a small market to their Christmas offering meaning customers can buy and support local independents, a win-win for all involved.  It has certainly been a great way to share some of our gins.

This week definitely seems to be dedicated to our Sloe gin.  With Christmas on the horizon and the nights getting colder, we always reach for this tipple in front of the fire and it seems like everyone else is as well.  We’ve been bottling like mad and thanks to this year’s bumper harvest (and getting ourselves well and truly organised back in September) we’re hoping not to run out like we did last year!  Like any fruit gin we can only make as much as our harvest will allow, particularly as we are rather fastidious about our Sloe gin being made entirely by what we’ve picked, but we’re hopeful this year that we will have lots to go around.  Our investment in a new fruit chest freezer in August is now looking to have really paid off.  The Sloe is definitely selling fast!

RED SKIES, MISTY FIELDS & THINKING OF FLAVOURS

29th NOVEMBER 2020

It’s been a week of beautiful skies in Norfolk this week.  Whether morning or evening the sunrise and sunset in our little corner of the world really have been something special.  Whilst I probably prefer the long days of summer, the longer nights of winter mean getting to enjoy the fabulous red hues at either end of the day.  A few minutes of taking in mother nature’s splendour, before a busy day, really does lift the mood (particularly when the distillery is cold!)

What has made those skies even more spectacular has been the streams of mist that have been sitting over the fields during dawn and dusk.  Admittedly, we did have one morning where the fog was definitely more pea-souper than ethereal beauty but when a ribbon of mist settles just across the hills its difficult to want to be anywhere else.  Of course I wanted to photograph it and share the majesty of our countryside with anyone who wanted to see but it turns out my photographic skills are currently best placed focussing on gin bottles.  I managed a few pictures that looked as if someone was having a bonfire and then another batch where apparently the mist had completely dissipated.  In the end I settled for a couple of shots of some resident Canadian geese that I happened upon at the end of my walk.  Clearly something to work on outside of the gin!

With the release, this week, of our limited edition blackberry gin my mind has already been working on what next years Christmas gin might look like.  You’re always planning ahead on a farm and thinking about the next season or the next harvest.  I’ve been busy noting down some flavours that I think might make a great addition to our “Christmas line” and I’m already going through the ordeal (?!) of taste testing and mixing our next creation.  Like any job there are always some bits that are more enjoyable than others and I definitely always look forward to cultivating new gins – well when they taste good that is!!

WEB MANIA, BOXES & COMPLIMENTARY CARDS

22th NOVEMBER 2020

It’s been a week of web craziness for us this week.  Most of our sales are usually through local shops and via local partners but we’ve definitely seen an increase in our usual online orders.  It’s also true that every time we get a web order I do a little dance, so it’s been like strictly around the distillery this week (but sadly without the sequins!)

Off the back of gift orders we’ve also been restocking on all the things that go with a shipping.  We are usually super organised but this week was one of those weeks where organisation went a little astray. On the face of it (and if you do an internet search) packaging seems like one of the easier elements of a business to source.  This was not the case for us.  When we looked at what we wanted, and needed, from our boxes it became clear that finding the right box was not going to be as straight forward as we thought.  This was mainly because our bottle dimensions don’t fit the standard sizes most companies offer and we also wanted to provide responsible packaging.  Obviously, we were over the moon when, after a lot of research, we found a product that worked for us.  So…….. when we couldn’t, some time later, find where that initial order had come from a mild panic ensued.  Fortunately for us my gin notebook came to the rescue in the end.  Maybe it’s because I am a person of a certain age but I always keep a paper-based record of all my ideas and orders – I’ve been caught out by the computer ‘blue screen of death’ once to many times.  Computer 0 – Gin notebook 1!

My other focus this week has been looking at the cards we include with our gift boxes.  We pride ourselves on the fact that we are a ‘2-man band’ and want our customers to know how much we appreciate them.  A message enclosed with the purchase seems like the least we can do and I have been redesigning our stationery and looking at how best to tie it in with our bottles.  For us, it’s the little details that we hope reflects the care and attention we put into our products and in turn how important every customer is to us.

RED RIBBONS, SPARKLERS & MINIATURE BOTTLES

15th NOVEMBER 2020

Perhaps it was the celebrating of Bonfire Night last week but this week I have mainly been playing with Sparklers!  As already eluded to in my previous blog, there is nothing quite like a sparkler to bring out the sheer joy of childhood in even the most ardently mature of us adults (not that I necessarily sit in that category) and this week I decided that any promotional photography that I completed needed a sparkler in it!  Fortunately, with Christmas on the horizon I can use that as an excuse.

Most of our distilling at present is aimed at the Christmas market and although we have no idea whether it will follow the patterns of previous years we continue to work as if it will.  I always forget just how potent gin can smell during distillation but I was promptly reminded this week after I took a break from the distillery (I left Graham working the stills!) to have an afternoon forage around the farm, only to come back into full-on gin filtering at the max that our little distillery can manage.  If you are not prepared for it, it really can knock you sideways!   

My main task this week has been preparing our miniature bottles.  These are quite new to us but I absolutely love them.  They hold enough for a double G&T and are great as tasters and will hopefully also introduce our gins to a new audience.  I already have so many plans manifesting in my head for these and I am hopeful they will become a really popular addition to our little gin family.  

Alongside all of this has been the usual social media stuff and that really has been where anything that doesn’t move has been getting the red ribbon and sparkler treatment.  Is there really anything that says Christmas more than red ribbons and sparkles?  Answers on a postcard if there is – in my head those two things pretty much sum up the festive season.  Well that and an absolutely enormous turkey but I’ll be saving that for the day itself!

COUNTRYSIDE INSPIRATION, A TASTING STATION & MUDDY WALKS

8th NOVEMBER 2020

A brief break from the torrid rain this week has meant enjoying some autumn warmth, not only from the glorious autumnal colours but also from some clear skies and mild seasonal weather. Is there really anything better than a long walk on a crisp autumn day?  With clear skies and a proper cold weather coat on there really is something quite glorious about this time of year.  I like to take myself out and about just to take in the sights and smells of the countryside -I’m always on the look out for a new gin idea.

Back in the distillery it continues to be all hands to the pumps as orders pick up for Christmas.  It was actually colder on the hands inside than it was outside. I’m not really sure how that worked out but labelling bottles is tricky with cold hands and labelling bottles was proving tricky!!

We’ve also been prepping tasting bottles for one our lovely local suppliers this week.  As a (relatively) new and most definitely small artisan distillery we are still making ourselves known in a county that is rapidly becoming a hub for some very fine gins.  It’s not always easy to compete with some of the better known and more established distilleries so we are offering customers a chance to have a taste and share the flavours that we have carefully put together.

It’s also been bonfire night this week and it seems like everyone has gone firework crazy this year.  Maybe it’s the excuse to get out into the fresh air of an evening or maybe just a diversion from “everything else” but none the less the muddy boots have made more than one appearance this week.  Being in the middle of nowhere we don’t always get to see neighbours’ fireworks but it has never stopped me running outside every time there is a mere hint of a crackle or a bang.  Fireworks definitely still evoke the child in me – give me a sparkler and I’m happy for…..well as long as the sparkler is doing it’s thing!  Once back indoors a sloe gin night cap is the perfect way to finish the evening.

LATE NIGHT BOTTLING, LOOMING LOCKDOWNS & A GOLD PUMPKIN

1st NOVEMBER 2020

This week was definitely back to Earth with an almighty thud.  After the quietness of a few days away we were quickly back into the day job and a gin run that took us a little by surprise.  Because we distill in very small batches (at most 80 bottles from one distillation) we do occasionally get caught between distillations with a large order and this week was one of those weeks.

Obviously we will never complain or begrudge a sale (in fact I still do a little dance every time we get an order) but we did end up labelling bottles into the early hours to make sure we could fulfil this one.

I spent quite a bit of time sorting out decorations and props for photos including the obligatory Halloween shots.  We’ve also made use of our open fire, not only to warm our toes on the cooler autumn evenings, but as a backdrop for our seasonal gins.  I had grand plans for my pumpkin carving this year but after finding a can of gold spray paint in one of the sheds it soon became apparent that a golden pumpkin in a photo was going to be the way forward.  It’s not every day you get to work with a golden pumpkin after all!

Much of the rest of our time this week has been logistics planning.  Both myself and Graham love a spreadsheet (who doesn’t) so it’s been costings, bottling projections and a look ahead into the crystal ball that is the Christmas season to try and predict what we’ll need and this year how we are going to sell it!  With an impending national lockdown, it looks like our one and only Christmas fair is on the ropes but we are hopeful that many of our stockists will stay open through this period.  We are also certain that the good people of our fine county will continue to support all their local producers and hopefully some of them will be raising a glass (or 3) with our gin in it.

PUMPKINS, BAUBLES & SHORT BREAKS

25th OCTOBER 2020

We took ourselves out of the distillery this week (did you miss us?) and had a much-needed break before the lunacy of the Christmas season starts.  We left the quietness of Norfolk to visit the equally quiet (and very beautiful) peak district for a few nights.  As part of our trip we opted to visit the amazing Chatsworth house (well mainly its gardens) and looked on in awe and envy at their rather amazing kitchen garden.  Very different to what and how we grow on the farm but you can still see all the same processes at work, just in slightly different ways.

Back at HQ all of the “stuff” that I have been ordering to “Christmas up” our distillery marquee has been arriving this week.  In between bottling and labelling I think there is going to be a lot of hot glue gun action with twinkly lights, baubles, fir branches and no doubt the odd gold sprayed walnut for good measure.

My other job this week is some fitting Halloween photos to go alongside our Spiced gin on Instagram.  This year I’ve decided to try pumpkin carving with an electric drill.  My normal pumpkin work is a little basic, 3 triangles and a straight line usually does it, and I’m being generous with that description, so I thought I’d try and upscale it this year.  I mean really – how hard can this be? (Famous last words!!)  Growing up on a farm with no real neighbours to speak of, trick or treating was not really something we did.  I do remember one year we had a bonfire, as a dress rehearsal for Guy Fawkes night, but given the lack of visitors to the farm on Halloween, my pumpkin carving skills were never really under much scrutiny and hence their distinct lack of improvement.  This year’s soiree onto social media with my pumpkin does mean I’m going to have to up my game considerably and hopefully keep everything (pumpkins and appendages) intact with that power drill!!

EXPERIMENTS, RAINBOWS & HOMEMADE HESSIAN SACKS

11th OCTOBER 2020

This week we’ve been playing around with different types of distillations and really small batch experimentation.  The gins that we produce are already made on a small scale, roughly 80 bottles a distillation which in comparison to may distillers is very small, but we took this even smaller so we could play around with flavour.  Graham’s experience as an analytical chemist means he’s always keen to play with the chemistry side of the process so the distillery has been engulfed (between distillations) with conical flasks, botanicals and notebooks.  We don’t have a new gin yet but it’s always fun to see how different flavours work together and the more we play around the more we can offer something bespoke to our customers.

Whilst Graham has been housed in the distillery I have been out and about looking for some autumn inspiration around the farm.  The one bonus of the continued wet weather has been the appearance of a number of rather spectacular rainbows.  Nature often has a habit of throwing these at us when we have nothing to capture them on or more typically when we are driving! I got lucky this week and actually managed to picture one, on film, over one of the hills on the farm.  If only every cloud had a rainbow as well as a silver lining!

My other main focus has been starting to sew gift bags for some of our walnut harvest, ready for our Christmas gift boxes.  The overlocker and sewing machine have been going full pelt and we finally have a couple of “real life, in person” Christmas fayres booked in and on the horizon so we are hoping the walnuts will be a popular addition over the festive period.  It feels far too long since we have been able to get out and about and meet with the fine people of Norfolk and enjoy sharing our gin with them so we are more than a little excited at the prospect of taking the distillery marquee on a road trip or two!

RAIN, WET WALNUTS & MULLED GIN

4th OCTOBER 2020

This week has seen the continued harvest of walnuts, most of which has been done in the rain.  This has meant our dehydrator has been working overtime to try and keep up with demand.  Whilst necessary to ensure our crop doesn’t rot in storage, there is most definitely a slightly “interesting” smell that emits from drying walnuts.  Although not as bad as some of the smells we get on the farm, I’ll definitely be glad when we get to the end of the walnut drying process.

Another side effect of working in the rain is the inevitable cold felt in the extremities.  Surgical gloves keep walnut stains from the hands but aren’t the warmest so we’ve had to resort to evening pick me ups involving mulled gin.  As dubious as this might sound, and wine being the traditional alcohol of choice when mulling, gin works surprisingly well.  Add to heated apple juice it’s like a warmed cider and has been keeping the cooler weather at bay (great for a sore throat as well!)

We also took delivery, this week, of some new table top photography lighting to play with for product shoots.  These have replaced the old builders light we were using, which did a job but seemed to get extremely hot extremely quickly leaving everything a little wilted if left in direct view for more than a couple of minutes.  More suited to the bat signal that a gin photoshoot!

We’re now starting to look towards Halloween.  Usually a time of parties and get togethers, this year is likely to look quite different, but still an excuse to carve a pumpkin or 5!  We’ve been rather enviously eyeing up a beast of a pumpkin that is growing on top of a wheelie bin at a neighbours up the road.  We’re not entirely sure whether its growing location was planned but it is rather splendid none the less.  Pumpkin pie makes an excellent accompaniment to our spiced gin (especially mulled!) so we’re hoping there’s a deal to be done there.

HIGH WINDS, WALNUTS & VARNISHING CONKERS

27th SEPTEMBER 2020

This week has most definitely seen autumn come gusting firmly into place.  We are very used to being one of the drier areas of the UK but Thursday saw us get stuck under what felt like a never-ending deluge of high winds and rain.  Friday was definitely a day for the waterproofs!  It felt like we had more rain in one 24-hour period than we had in the previous 6 months, although I’m sure if we look back at the rain gauges that is probably an exaggeration.  Along with the rain came some fairly hefty winds which in turn bought down branches and left the farm without electricity for 8 hours.  The tractor powered generator came to the rescue of the cows but the rest of us had to make do with extra jumpers and candles.  The candles were easy enough to find – shame the matches weren’t!

The one plus side of all the wind was the carpet of walnuts that has been left behind.  Along with the other fruits and berries the walnut crop this year is a bumper one.  We could barely move under the tree for fresh walnuts under foot – this has definitely been one of the easiest harvests of the year.  I love picking walnuts and there is something very satisfying about removing walnut husks to reveal the nut inside.  Word of warning though – glove up when picking walnuts.  The husks stain your hands very quickly and we learned many years ago that no amount of hand scrubbing easily removes the dark brown remnants of a walnut husk.

And it wasn’t just walnuts being gathered this week.   Its horse chestnut season and as these look fantastic in photos we stepped back into the days of our childhood and went out conker picking.  Back in the day these would have been soaked in vinegar, baked in the oven and battled with in the school yard.  Nowadays we varnish them, photograph them and put them on Instagram.  

Oh how times have changed.

GIN TASTING, APRONS & WILLING GUINEA PIGS

 20th SEPTEMBER 2020

This week has seen us thinking ahead to the colder months as we enjoy the last throes of summer and a final few hot days.  We finally hit our blackberry harvest quota by the middle of the week and enjoyed some beautiful evenings marauding around the Norfolk countryside.  The big skies of our county mean great sunsets in the company of the last of the dragonflies and ladybirds.  

So, as we freeze what’s left of the fruit for our winter run of gins we are starting to plan (well as much as anyone can right now) for winter and Christmas.  We are hoping to be able to offer gin tastings and presentations in the not too distant future and there are some plans in motion to work collaboratively with some other local businesses if restrictions allow.  Of course, with this comes being able to offer choice to those who join us for an evening of gin drinking so we have been spending some time sampling lots of tonics and how they work with our gins.  This is always a really enjoyable experience but fair to say that some of our taste combinations definitely worked better than others!  After all the tasting comes the deciphering of notes the next day.  These generally start off relatively clear but as the evening, and the tasting, goes on get more difficult to translate (for obvious reasons).

We always like to run a second test which this time involved some blind tastings on some close friends.  Armed with 15 different combinations and a clip board we subjected a couple of our nearest and dearest to a gin and tonic questionnaire – they strangely didn’t seem to mind jumping on this grenade.  Now all that remains is to combine our findings and create our recommended serves for this season.

What also became clear this week is that as bar tenders we are messy! Maybe when we are only serving, and not sampling, we won’t be quite so “spilly” but after all the G&T concocting it became clear very quickly that we are going to need aprons!  That became the final job this week and one that has definitely been born out of necessity. Needless to say, we will shortly be armed with our very own distillery pinnies and very fetching they’ll look I’m sure.  Certainly an improvement on a G&T covered t-shirt!

SLOES, TONICS & BLACKBERRY BUCKAROO

13th SEPTEMBER 2020

This week we have mostly been in the hedgerows.  The fruit harvest has been unlike any other this year and we are trying to gather as much as we can whilst we can.  I can’t remember a year in which the sloes have been so abundant.  At times it feels more like harvesting grapes than berries.  Some of our regular haunts have been so weighed down with fruit that branches are literally creaking as we pick.  In one spot alone we managed a haul of 32 kilos in a mornings work – definitely a new record!

We’re also on the hunt for blackberries right now (not that we are having to look too hard!)  Last year we experimented a little with a blackberry gin in very small batches.  Its looking increasingly unlikely we’ll have the fun of the usual outdoor Christmas markets this year (although we continue to keep everything crossed that some might run) but we’re looking to improve on last years offering so after the sloes came the blackberries.

There’s definitely a pain scale when picking from the hedgerows.  The large needles of the blackthorn are unpleasant but the barbs of a bramble are certainly more potent.  The blackberries are also far more elusive.  Such is their ripeness right now, you pick one and another 6 drop off the branch.  We tried strategic “bag positioning” but the brambles natural armoury often does its job and hands and bags end up shredded.  You pay for your crop when working with blackberries!

Other than the harvest this week, which has been the most pressing priority, we’ve also been dabbling with some different tonics.  Definitely one the major perks of distilling your own gin is taste profiling and working on the ideal serve.  As we move away from the summer and into a new season we’re focusing on our Spiced and Sloe gins and playing around with new ways to drink these.  With a small heatwave on the horizon I suspect taste testing will be suspended for the next few days ahead and we’ll be up to our wellies in hedgerows again!