Downton Dispatches

The annual Chinese New Year celebration starts on 25 Jan 2020 when the Year of the Rat begins, the animal is seen as a sign of wealth and surplus in Chinese culture. Explorer’s Gin is welcoming in this new celebration with a double gold medal at the China Spirits and Wine Best Value Competition.

The rat is associated with the Earthly Branch in Chinese astrology, and the midnight hours. In terms of yin and yang, it is considered ‘yang’ and represents the beginning of a new day.

People born in the year of the rat are clever, quick thinking and successful, although they are content with living a quiet and peaceful life. They enjoy saving and collecting and live organised lives, without seeking praise or recognition. People born in this year are also instinctive, alert and adaptable, although they have tendencies to be timid and stubborn.

We are proud to be using some of the beautiful images of Wiltshire that local photographer Chris Lock has taken. He has been taking pictures of the Wiltshire landscape for the last 15 years after coming to the conclusion that you don’t have to travel far from home to find wonderful scenes to photograph. Based in the Nadder Valley, his subject matter is mostly from South Wiltshire and Dorset. His work has featured in Wiltshire Life magazine and a wide variety of other publications.

Wiltshire can be an underrated county, one that visitors often drive through on their way to Devon and Cornwall, but there is so much more to Wiltshire than Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. From the open expanses and big skies of the Vale of Pewsey and the Marlborough Downs to the picturesque river valleys of the Avon, Nadder, Wylye and Ebble, there is always something new to discover.

Winter can be a challenging time for photography, with days of grey skies and rain providing little opportunity to capture the landscape at its best, but – as these images illustrate - crisp frosty mornings or a hint of autumn mist can transform the countryside. Chris is always keen to be out as the sun comes up, setting up his tripod and Canon 5D digital SLR camera in the cold, waiting for that perfect moment when the light is at its best. Of course, the promise of some elusive snow in the weather forecast is always welcome!

You can see more of Chris’s work at www.chrislockphotography.co.uk

He is available for commissions and can be contacted at info@chrislockphotography.co.uk.

You can now collect your bottle of Explorer’s Gin from Regent Tailoring in Salisbury, when you order online. Instead of having to wait for the postman at an inconvenient time, save your postage cost and pick up your bottle in this fantastic shop. Don’t forget to bring your printed online receipt and order number as proof of purchase. 

At the start of the month we celebrated our 1st anniversary by opening the doors to our Chalet at the Salisbury Christmas market, where it all started last year. It has been wonderful catching up with old and new faces and even better converting non gin drinkers, for those yet to come to the market we look forward to meeting you. We have plenty of goodies on the stand for the non gin drinkers as well. 

The Lee Valley Velodrome a bastion where athletes from across the globe come to compete. It’s here that feats of human endurance have been made, records have tumbled, and dreams have come true.

Wheels whirl, legs pump, hearts hammer and sweat drips whilst voices yell words of encouragement to teams of cyclists racing around the Velodrome under the gaze of the world’s finest track and road cyclists, all in the spirit of raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). With Dani Rowe, Matt Rowe, Callum Skinner, Mark Cavendish, Jody Cundy, Dean & Russ Downing and Victoria Pendleton all providing their expertise and advice how could any of these riders fail?

How and why did this take place? Every year, GOSH sees more than 5,000 children with serious heart conditions. By supporting the GOSH cardiac research fund, ‘The Velodrome Challenge’ helps scientists find new ways to help little hearts recover, including personalised approaches that are tailored to a level of accuracy that’s never been possible. Using state-of-the art imaging and computer modelling to understand the likely outcome of treatment, treatments of the near future should allow doctors to make the best possible decision for each child.

I was lucky that the only things I suffered as a child were bumps and bruises. Others are not so lucky. A great friend’s daughter has spent most of her childhood (every 4 months) in and out of the GOSH. I cannot imagine the inner turmoil and anguish that a parent goes through when one’s child is diagnosed with a condition that requires the attention of GOSH. This extraordinary hospital has always depended on charitable support to give seriously ill children the best chance to fulfil their potential.

Having seen first-hand the care and attention that the GOSH staff give to both the child and parent whilst under their care; when approached to see if we would like to help the charity with their fund-raising event at the Velodrome there was no debate. Providing drinks to thirsty riders who in turn raised over £350,000 which went towards the Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation funding the cardiac research at GOSH.

Thank you to all those that took part making it a wonderful day and evening. How apt that it was at this setting that a new record was achieved by the Gordon Ramsay Foundation Trust for GOSH.

A better future for seriously ill children starts here.

The Gin Foundry started the original gin Advent calendar.

It began one cold, dark winter night when they realised that no one made a gin-filled Advent calendar. To resolve the deplorable absence of our precious juniper spirit during the season of festivities, they designed, crafted and installed a 2 x 2 metre calendar in a central London bar and each day opened a new door. They celebrated the gin inside by serving up G&Ts and cocktails, as well as hosting tastings and generally sharing the gin love.

The calendar was an instant hit and they were flooded with requests to miniaturise it in order to spread the festive cheer by making it available for all to enjoy in their homes. Not everyone can get to London, apparently, and this was an idea that needed to be democratised. The rest, as they say, is history and seven years on the Ginvent Calendars have gone global…

So what’s inside?

Each year, Gin Foundry select 24 Gins that provide a snapshot of the category’s depth, diversity and global reach. They are each bottled in 24 individual hand waxed drams, containing 30ml each. They scour countries in search of the very best, the most unusual, the most progressive and – of utmost importance – the most sublimely delicious gins.

They also make an effort to showcase all types of producers, celebrating the artisanal, craft makers while providing a unique chance to compare them in context to some of the familiar, more established names. It’s a chance to really discover the very best the category has to offer and will challenge your preconceptions as it titillates your taste buds.

The Royal County of Berkshire Show holds a very dear place to my heart. It’s a county show that has both a rich and vibrant history dating back to 1909 originating at Enborne Gate Farm near Wash Common, Newbury.

At the age of seven I was taken to the show by my grandparents for the first time, I will never forget the experience walking around wide eyed dwarfed by cattle and horses whilst eating an ice cream and watching the events unfold in the main ring. It was a day of exploring, learning and celebration seeing the best of the country. We attended every year; it was an enjoyable day with family and friends marking the end of Summer and heralding the arrival of Autumn.

This year rather than being a spectator and enjoying the sights and sounds, I was exhibiting and trading at the show. What a weekend it was, it was over before I knew it.

Thank you to everyone who came onto the stand to meet both Meike, Charlie and myself. To those who were brave enough to discover the delights of the Szechuan pepper and our chilli shots; chapeau. We loved meeting you and listening to your stories and experiences.

We left the show with new friends, acquaintances and reforged old friendships. In our back pocket were several rosettes and a silver cup. These were for the gin and our stand in the food hall; these both surprised and humbled us. If you ever see any of the pictures where we are being awarded the Sponsors Cup and a look of shock on our faces - you now know why.

The show continues to inspire new generations and I can’t wait for next year. 

At the start of the year we shipped a bottle of to China to take part in our first ever competition. It never made it; the package was intercepted by parties unknown and we missed the competition.

The organisers very kindly agreed to submit our bottle into CWSA 2019, and we are delighted to announce we won a gold medal.

This competition is judged by the top 100 wine and spirits buyers who gather in Hong Kong. The judging is conducted by blind tasting all the entries, of which there were over a thousand from 55 countries; that’s a lot of tasting to do!

The reason we participated in this competition is that, whilst not a traditional target market for producers, in recent years the ever-growing demand for imported drinks in both mainland China and Hong Kong has seen the region become one of the world’s top consumers of wine and spirits though wine consumption is still some way behind the thirst for spirits.

Whilst the region is not a traditional target market for producers, both mainland China and Hong Kong have in recent years become one of the world’s top consumers of wine and spirits (including vodka, whisky and brandies). Their gin market is growing, and imports are thought to be worth $24billion by 2021, and this was the reason for us to enter the competition.

This summer both Meike and I went on holiday to the Turkish side of Cyprus. Not having any expectations of what lay in store we were delighted to see both Green and Loggerhead Turtles.

Karpas Beach

The Karpas Peninsula is North Cyprus’s most unspoiled region. Set in the north east of the island with miles of rugged coastline, the Karpas Peninsula is home to many rare species of plant-life and flowers. Its beautiful beaches are chosen by the Loggerhead and Green sea turtlesas their nesting ground, where they lay their eggs in the fine, golden sand.

Loggerhead turtles

Loggerhead turtles are thought to be one of the oldest species of turtles in the world and can weigh up to 450kg. They typically have a diet of jellyfish, squid, flying fish and molluscs and their powerful jaws allow them to crush the shells of clams, crabs and mussels. If a Loggerhead turtle reaches maturity, it can live a long life in excess of forty years. Via a combination of her instincts, the moon, gravity and the sea, a female turtle will return to lay her eggs on or near the beach where she was hatched, even if she has migrated thousands of miles throughout the oceans of the world.

Green Sea Turtles

The Green Sea Turtle is named not by the colour of its shell but from the green fat beneath its skin. It is a herbivorous creature, feeding in lagoons and shallows on various species of sea grass. It is well known for its long migrations between their feeding grounds and the beaches upon which they hatched. The Green Turtles lay their eggs in a similar manner to the Loggerhead Turtles and other turtles of the world. Once they reach maturity, the Green Turtle can have a life span of around 80 years and grow to around 5 feet long, weighing around 70kg to 200kg.

The turtles appear in the evenings and come onto the shore where they then dig their nests and typically lay anywhere between 70 to 150 eggs. These nests are then marked up and protected by a group of volunteers who place wicker baskets around them, so both animals and humans will not interfere with them.

The incubation period depends on the temperature; hatchlings normally emerge around 50 to 60 days later, with the peak of the hatching period between July and August, which is when we saw the nests. The tiny hatchlings emerge from their eggs during night and the early morning hours and make their dangerous journey to the sea. Typically, a baby turtle is around 4cm long and weighs between 15 and 20g.

Hatching at night provides the baby turtles the greatest protection from predators,  though in the Karpas peninsula there are few predators due to a lack of seagulls and larger crabs. This means their infant mortality rate is not as high as other sites.

Because of overfishing, pollution, plastics and tourism, suitable nesting beaches are becoming rarer. More and more beaches are being built over, or sand is removed for resorts. The result is that often the adults simply cannot nest on the beach from where they originated.

The political situation in Cyprus, however, has helped these turtles and it was a wonderful adventure to see both the turtles resting at sea prior to coming onto the beaches and seeing the hatchlings start their adventurous life as a mariner at sea.

A recent article estimated that nearly 500 million disposable plastic straws are tossed into landfills every year, but DEFRA did a review in 2018 ‘straw wars’ and estimate the number is closer to 42 billion straws are being used a year in the UK - that's 640 per person with each straw taking 200 years to break down.

From April 2020, plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds will be banned throughout England in an attempt to curb and reduce the amount of plastic pollution that is having an effect on our environment, running our streams, rivers, seas and oceans.  

At Downton Distillery we are keen to promote alternatives and help eliminate single-use plastic straws. To the consumer there are now many reusable drinking straw options in the market varying in price with the alternatives being metal, silicone and bamboo.

Our focus is on the bamboo straw, which grows in abundance. There are over 100 types of bamboo, those that grow quickly and others that require 3-5 years to reach maturity. Bamboo is grown chemical-free, not requiring the need for chemical fertilizers or pesticides it is fully sustainable, recyclable and compostable too.

No other straw can boast this quality in the same way.

Here are some facts about our drinking straws.

How long will bamboo straws last?

The straws are reusable and can last for several years pending on how you use them.

They can be used for both hot and cold drinks.

Are bamboo straws hygienic and how do I sterilise bamboo straws?

Bamboo fibres have natural antimicrobial properties meaning they are less likely to harbour bacteria over time and be more resistant to spoiling or rotting over time.

Boiling bamboo straws from time to time in a little salt and white vinegar helps preserve them and will remove any built-up residue, they can also be placed in the dishwasher too.

In order to ensure the longevity of your bamboo straws, after hand washing, make sure to let them fully dry by laying them flat (not vertical) to prevent any water build-up at the bottom of the straw and always store them in a well-ventilated area. Avoid airtight containers or jars as this will cause potential moisture build-up inside the straws.

How long does it take for bamboo straws to biodegrade?

When your straw show natural signs of wear and tear such as splitting or fraying at the ends, it’s time to dispose of them. Rather than throwing them in the garbage, you can simply compost them in the garden. Cut them up and spread across the garden, they will break down within 4-6 months.

Will they alter the taste of my Gin and Tonic or cocktail?

While some people are more sensitive to tastes and flavours, bamboo straws are neutral. There is no additional taste and the bamboo straw will not affect or alter the flavour of your drink.

Explorer Straws are available at our events.

Explorer’s has been awarded MASTER status at the Gin Masters Competition; this is one of the most prestigious competitions held within the industry. Explorer’s Gin was one of only two gins to be recognised as a Master in the ‘Contemporary Gin’ category.

The panel found this particular expression to be “versatile” and recommended that it should be used in a Martini, gin and tonic, or even as a sipping gin.

The Gin Masters is an annual competition organised by leading UK drinks publication The Spirits Business. Entries are blind tasted by a panel of expert retailers, bartenders and drinks writers.

To gauge how far gin has come in recent years, one need only look at how The Gin Masters competition has grown. In 2015, fewer than 100 gins were entered into the competition. In this year’s blind tasting, that number has more than trebled to exceed 300 entries, marking the biggest Global Spirits Masters competition in history.