NEW PRODUCTS ROUND UP
Bombay Sapphire and Whitley Neill announce new gins
Introducing Bombay Sapphire Citron Presse
Bombay Sapphire has today (Thursday 14 April) announced its latest variant, Bombay Citron Presse (37.5% ABV), inspired by a Tom Collin's cocktail and made from 100% natural fruit infusion, capturing the taste of freshly squeezed Mediterranean lemons balanced with the juniper notes of the brand’s signature vapour infused London Dry Gin.
The new serve follows the brands other flavoured offering, Bombay Bramble, launched in 2020, and will be available in 70cl bottles at RRP £23 from Bombay directly and from most major retailers from Monday 18 April onwards with selected Mitchell & Butler's sites stocking Citron Presse from Monday 2 May.
Bombay Sapphire global vice president Natasha Curtin said: “We know our fans have a curiosity for authentic and new flavour expressions, while tending to favour natural, premium ingredients with no added sugar.
"After our successful launch of Bombay Bramble, we are proud to be building out our flavoured portfolio and continuing to elevate the flavoured gin category with Bombay Citron Presse, inspired by the iconic, the Tom Collins. Allowing gin fans to enjoy a taste of the familiar, but with a twist, this new launch offers a naturally refreshing tasting alternative to the traditional G&T, perfect for adding creative twists to drinks and experimenting with cocktails.”
Thatchers announces new variant Blood Orange cider
This week Thatchers Cider unveiled its latest offering, Thatchers Blood Orange Cider (4% ABV), with the new product launch set to be supported by the company’s biggest multi-media campaign to date.
As well as a new advert for TV and on-demand viewing set to be shown on ITV, Channel 4, and Sky from April to August this year, the new ad will also be shown in cinemas with sampling of the new serve available across the UK as Thatcher’s heads to more than 25 events this summer, including Camp Bestivsal, Goldcoast and Barcode Festival.
Thatchers Blood Orange, which will be available in 500ml bottles and 440ml cans and is one of three new flavours for the on trade, has been crafted with naturally sweet dessert apples, (Braeburn, Fuji and Gala) selected for their sweetness, aroma, and quality and bursting with natural blood orange flavour.
Hardys launches three new wines
Hardys, the UK’s number one wine brand (according to Nielsen Scantrack Data to 26 February 2022) has launched Hardys Zero, a new non-alcoholic range utilising cutting-edge de-alcoholising technology, available in three varieties; Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sparkling.
Offering quality no-alcohol wines with lower sugar, Accolade Wines has first-to-market access to de-alcoholising technology, Zero Tech X, which heats the wine and provides a gentler process to remove alcohol, meaning Hardys Zero wines retain more of the aroma, body and flavour of full-strength wine.
The new products from Hardys come as the alcohol-free wine category is now worth more than £39m, with year on year value growth at 28.2%, driven by non-alcoholic sparkling wine, which accounts for 38% of total zero wine value, according to Nielsen Scantrack Data to 26 February 2022.
Accolade Wines Europe marketing director Tom Smith said: “Historically, non-alcoholic wine has suffered from negative taste and quality perceptions – Hardys Zero is set to change all that.
"Thanks to Accolade Wines’ significant investment in this innovative technology, we can now offer a superior tasting experience versus other non-alcoholic wines."
Hardys Zero will be available in June at RRP £5.50 from grocery, convenience and wholesale stores.
Whitley Neill Gin goes tropical
Another new flavoured gin for this weeks round up, Whitley Neill Gin has announced two new offerings.
Inspired by founder Johnny Neill’s travels to the Americas, Whitley Neill Pineapple Gin is distilled with a focus on the zesty sweetness of Costa Rican Pineapples, best enjoyed with a simple mixer such as a light tonic, lemonade or elderflower, or in summery cocktails such as a Pina Colada or French Martini.
While the brands Peach gin offering, also inspired by the founders travels though this time to South Africa, offers a taste of summer with a tropical peach flavour balanced well alongside citrusy notes, rounded off with a peppery juniper, best enjoyed with a simple mixer, or for a twist on a Peach Bellini.
Whitley Neill's Pineapple and Peach variants (both 43% ABV) are available in 70cl bottles from Booker at RPP £26.
Northern Monk expands into soft drink category
Award-winning Leeds based craft beer brewery Northern Monk has entered the soft drinks category with an alcohol and calorie free sparkling water.
Flavoured with one of the most prolific craft beer hops, Citra, known for its citrus and tropical character, which is used in many of the brewery’s flagship beers such as Faith, Northern Monk’s Great Taste award-winning flagship Hazy Pale Ale, as well as Heathen and Order of the Faith which, along with Faith, swept the podium at 2021’s International Beer Challenge, winning Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the New England IPA category.
The new serve will be available at the breweries annual beer festival, Hop City, which hosts 40+ of the worlds most prestigious breweries at the Northern Monk site, on Thursday 2 June and Saturday 4 June, before being available in 440ml cans at RRP £1 exclusively from Northern Monk’s webshop and at their Refectories Leeds and Manchester from Monday 11th of April as well as from wider Northern Monk refractories from Friday 15 April.
Northern Monk Founder Russell Bisset said: “The world of beer has evolved rapidly over the last 10 years. We feel incredibly lucky to have been part of such a fast paced, dynamic industry.
"With so many of our community becoming more conscious of their nutrition, diet and alcohol intake, we’re incredibly excited to enter this new category. We’ve combined our love of (arguably) the best water in the world, fresh from Yorkshire with our love for hops to create this sparkling hop water. No alcohol, no sugar, no calories, with the many health benefits and world of flavours hops bring.”
Salford Rum Company releases new honey serve
Salford Rum Company has launched a new Honey Rum serve, available now for the on-trade along with the Manchester based distillers other offerings via Ten locks.
First created as a limited online edition for the company's e-commerce website, the first batches sold out within minutes, and so Salford Rum added the serve to its core range on a permanent basis.
The Salford Rum Company co-founder James Harrison said: “When we first launched the Honey Rum online as a limited edition, it created such a buzz that all bottles sold out in around four minutes. On top of that, the feedback from consumers buying from the website has been absolutely incredible.
“The Rum, like everything we do, is linked to our roots. It uses sustainable local honey from rescued bees from a producer nearby in Salford, a city that has a rich industrial history because of its dockyard that received the very first shipments of fruits and spices from the Caribbean back in the 1800s – is distilled locally and distributed by our neighbours in Irlam. We’re looking forward to further expanding our footprint with Salford Honey Rum in the months ahead.”
Made with a single origin pot and column distilled rum that is blended and bottled under two miles from the famous docks using real Salford local honey, the rum is smooth with natural sweet and floral notes, which creates a well-balanced flavour with notes of honeycomb, caramel and butterscotch, perfect served over ice, on its own, or as a new twist on classic cocktails.
Budvar rebrands to reflect Czech origins
Budweiser Budvar, the national brewery of the Czech Republic, has launched Budvar Nefiltr (4% ABV), a rebrand of its unfiltered and unpasteurised lager, previously known as Kraüsened.
A unique Czech lager that blends mature and fresh batches to create a uniquely hazy, Budvar Nefiltr is unfiltered lager sold exclusively on draught, with the rebrand reflecting Budvar’s Czech origins, continuing the brewery’s mission to build the reputation of the Czech Republic as one of the world’s great beer cultures.
Furthermore, the name Nefiltr also highlights the beer’s signature, unfiltered nature, which is key in creating its hazy, gold colour, and deep, crisp flavour.
The rebranded variant was officially launched on Tuesday 5 April with a special event at The Pembury Tavern in Hackney - hosted by special guest, Budvar’s Czech Brewmaster, Adam Brož, the 10th Budvar brewmaster in the company's 126-year history.
Brož said: “Brewing Budvar Nefiltr takes skill and balance. It’s up to us to add just the right amount of fresh beer to a batch that’s finished maturing in our brewery cellars. Too much, and the second fermentation will be too fierce and will overpower the richness of the matured batch. Too little, and it won’t create the delicate carbonation we’re after.”
Masterchef's Billy Wright announces range of low ABV spirits
Masterchef 2016 finalist Billy Wright has launched a new range light alcohol spirits, DECEM, crafted to 10% ABV.
Each bottle contains a unique blend of 10 natural ingredients for a light alcohol drinking experience, ideal for day or night and available in three variants: London Dry, made with distilled botanicals with juniper and citrus with a spicy bitter undertone, sweet and savoury Spiced Blend made with Caribbean rum, and Aperitif, made with heritage botanicals mixed with strawberry and grape.
Billy Wright has been heavily embedded in the food and drink industry for many years, having cooked all over the world, from supper clubs in Borough Market, to restaurant takeovers in Greece, to food demonstrations in the moat of the Tower of London, he now brings his passion for tastes and flavours to the reduced alcohol drinks market.
Wright said: “Drinking is at the very heart of our society yet so many of us still can’t enjoy it without that slight fear of enjoying it a little too much. By reducing the alcohol content in our drinks it makes for a more enjoyable drinking experience yet still allows us to retain all the flavours.”
“DECEM has been three years in the making, working tirelessly to find the most interesting combinations of fruits, herbs and botanicals to blend genuinely different liquids that hold complex flavours yet are easy to drink with the simplest mixers. We’re proud to launch the first three spirits in the DECEM range and give drinkers lighter alternatives to be enjoyed all day or all night.”
The full DECEM range is now available to purchase online at decemdrinks.com, RRP £30.
DropZone launches limited edition rum to support military mental health charities
DropZone Brewery has expanded into the spirits market with the launch of limited edition an eight-year-old Barbados rum, Valkyrie Rum (65% ABV), honouring the men and women who have served in the armed forces.
Having launched last year with a range of military-themed beers tasked with enriching the community of current and former service people, DropZone's Valkyrie Rum, distilled using the finest molasses and matured in ex-bourbon and American oak cask, will continue this theme and see all profits committed to military mental health charities.
DropZone brewery founder Sean Crawford said: ‘We’re all about supporting the veteran community here at DropZone and we’re looking to continue that theme with Valkyrie Rum. It’s well and truly a top-shelf drink, so other than maybe a drop of water, there’s no need to mix it.
"The name Valkyrie comes from Norse mythology, and these myths and legends have long-standing ties with military and naval traditions. We wanted to craft our rum to honour the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice, marking the bravery and heroism of all those who answer the call of duty to serve."
Valkyrie Rum is available now direct from DropZone at RRP £90.
Edinburgh Gin releases new Orange and Basil variant
Rounding off this weeks new products list is another gin, Edinburgh Gin's new flavour, Orange and Basil (40% ABV).
The new serve, available now in 70cl bottles from Booths at RRP £28, has been handcrafted with a blend of traditional gin botanicals, fresh and sweet Valencian orange peel and fresh basil leaf, best enjoyed in a classic G&T or as a twist on a Gin Fizz cocktail.
Edinburgh Gin's Orange and Basil variant joins the distillers other flavoured offerings including Classic Gin, Rhubarb & Ginger, Gooseberry & Elderflower and Lemon & Jasmine.
Orange & Basil Gin FizzIngredients50ml Edinburgh Gin Orange & Basil
12.5ml Fresh Orange Juice
12.5ml Fresh Lemon Juice
25ml Gomme Syrup
Sparkling water
1 x Basil leaf
MethodFirstly shake the gin, fresh orange juice, lemon juice and Gomme syrup. Then double strain into a highball glass, add ice, top up with sparkling water, garnish with a large basil leaf and enjoy.
If you have any new products being released to the on-trade, email the details with high resolution images before Thursday at midday for potential inclusion on Friday’s article to rebecca.weller@wrbm.com.
