Camden Brewery re-launches Strawberry serve
Following a two-year hiatus, Camden Town Brewery has announced the return of its Strawberry Hells Forever (4.6% ABV), a full-bodied strawberry-flavoured pink lager offering a fruity twist on Camden’s HellsLager.
Debuting at the finale of Camden’s annual Tank Party on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September at the Camden Beer Hall, the re-launch of Strawberry Hells Forever comes as the brewery celebrates its Tank Party’s 10th birthday.
Camden head of brand experience and partnerships Holly Gibson said: “We’ve had a fun but busy few months taking our Tank Party Tour across the UK and we couldn’t be more excited to bring it back home for the final stop.
“This year, we’ve been working on some special celebrations to mark the occasion in true Camden style.”
Starward releases new whisky
Award-winning Australian whisky brand Starward has announced the consumer launch of its Project release single malt whisky, Octave Barrels (48% ABV), available now at RRP £85 from Master of Malt and the Whiskey Exchange.
Starward’s Octave Barrels offers rich and full-bodied aromas of red fruit, raisins, ripe peach, caramel, and toasty oak, alongside a palate of dark forest fruits, with a toasted oak backbone and a toasted marshmallow finish.
The new serve celebrates Starward’s signature red wine barrel maturation and long-standing partnership with Australia’s oldest, family-owned winery Yalumba.
Starward founder David Vitale said: “Our friendship with Yalumba stretches back to Starward’s first batch of whisky, almost exclusively matured in their red wine barrels, which were generously gifted to us back in 2013.
“We continue to have a brilliant relationship and using Yalumba’s Octavius barrels we’ve been able to create a single malt with all the bold flavours you’d expect from the combination of American oak barrels and Barossa Shiraz maturation.
“We can’t wait to see what UK drinkers make of the brilliantly full-bodied single malt.”
Liberation cocktails announces three new serves
Liberation Cocktails, the mixologist grade, bar-strength, ready to drink cocktail brand, has expanded its portfolio with three new products in a variety of formats including keg, bottle and can.
The new additions include the Spiced Margarita (10% ABV); made with El Sueno Tequila Blanco, agave nectar, Brazilian lime juice and a chilli twist; the Mojito (10% ABV) using oak-aged white rum, Brazilian lime juice, natural mint, and soda; and the 0.0% Chilli Rhubarb Spritz with English pressed rhubarb, Brazilian lime juice, chilli, and Indian tonic.
Available on-tap for high volume venues via 20L kegs a well as in 75cl and 200ml cans, each variety has been crafted using only the best craft distillery spirits and quality ingredients.
Liberation Cocktails managing director George Workman: “We are delighted to be introducing three exciting new variants to the market.
“The response from the industry has been amazing and allowed us to develop new recipes to suit all tastes and continue to shake up the cocktail category.
“With the current staffing crisis and venues back to pre-pandemic trading levels, our bar-strength cocktails provide a less labour-intensive way for the on-trade to provide a premium cocktail service quickly whilst our bottles and cans meet the growing consumer demand for ready to drink cocktails.”
Liberation Cocktails new offerings are available from Master of Malt and direct from Liberation starting at RRP £22.50 for 75cl bottles.
Top Cuvée looking to partner with wholesalers
Top Cuvée has released a new House Vermouth expression (14.9% ABV), crafted as a balanced and easy to drink vermouth with crisp citrus and juicy peach notes complemented with bitter wormwood.
Made with the fruit forward Castelao from Alcobaca, Portugal as a base wine, the unique character and light nature of the House Vermouth makes the serve ideal for making cocktails or pairing with soda for a lower ABV aperitif.
Top Cuvée founder Brodie Meah said: “Our team put a great deal of effort into launching our House Vermouth from conception to bottling in house and we’re thrilled with how the launch has gone so far.
“The response from our fans has been unbelievable and the feedback from drinks experts has made us very proud.”
While the House Vermouth is available now direct from the Top Cuvée webshop at RRP £25 for 1L bottles, having sold 600 bottles in June and July alone, the brand has also announced it is looking to partner with wholesalers.
Bird & Blend Tea Co releases four new tea powders
Bird & Blend Tea Co has launched four new Matcha Tea powder flavours; Strawberries and Cream, Banana, Pina Colada and Raspberry Ripple, all vegan friendly, hand-blended in the UK and made with pure grade Japanese matcha as their base ingredient.
Each flavour is available now in 30g tins, containing 30 servings, direct form the companies webshop at RRP £20.
Serving suggestions:
Strawberries and Cream Matcha drink:
Whisk 1/2 teaspoon powder with 80° water and top with water, milk, or juice. Serve with cream and a strawberry on top.
Banana Matcha drink:
Whisk 1/2 teaspoon powder with 80° water and top with water, milk, or juice. Serve with cream and a slice of banana.
Pina Colada Matcha drink:
Whisk 1/2 teaspoon powder with 80° water and top with water, milk, or juice. Serve with cream, or rum, and a slice of pineapple to top.
Aber Falls announces new single malt whisky
Closing this week’s round up is Aber Falls’ Single Malt Welsh Whisky (40% ABV).
Aged for three years, Aber Falls Whisky has been made using 100% Welsh malted barley and rock-filtered water taken from the Aber Falls Waterfall.
The amber gold whisky offers aromas of vanilla and toffee, candied citrus fruits, fig and sultana, balanced with a gentle hint of clove alongside sherry, dried fruit and spice notes on the palate, complemented by forest fruit flavours, creamy malt, nuts, dark chocolate, and espresso.
Best served alongside a premium tonic or soda, the new offering is available now from the Aber Falls webshop at RPP £28 in 70cl bottles.
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.
