TORS Vodka is a quality brand of vodka, handcrafted in the beautiful Dartmoor area of Devon. Made in small batches, it’s charcoal-filtered for 3 months, and named after the local granite hills. The flowing streams provide an endless supply of fresh water, to blend with local wheat, for a vodka that’s unique.
The company also makes cocktails by adding fruit to the vodka, pressed through a hand-operated cider press, then blended with sugar syrup. The range includes the signature vodka, along with some flavoured vodka liqueurs. Including raspberry, blueberry and elderflower.
Vodka is made from wheat or potatoes, and was invented either in Poland or Russia, used to clean wounds, as well as to get people drunk! It was also known as ‘bread wine’ as rye bread was often used to make it. The word is from the Russian word for water, as this is the main ingredient used to make it.
Spirits and Liqueurs (that help endangered gorillas)
Gorilla Spirits Co offers boozy spirits and liqueurs with a difference. Because a portion of sales are donated to charity to help endangered gorillas, one of our closest relatives. Also available for contract distilling, this company is a great switch from major brand names, as you can sip on your favourite tipples, while helping the great apes.
The range includes:
- Silverback VSOG is aged in cherry, with hints of smokiness, vanilla and dried fruit. Perfect after dinner, neat or over ice.
- Blackback Mountain Strength Vodka is made from British wheat, with notes of warm spice.
All wild gorillas (both eastern and western gorillas) live in central Africa, they don’t see each other, as there is a big rainforest between them. They move in ‘troops’ of up to 30 gorillas, which is led by the dominant silverback male, a few females and the children. Critically endangered, due to loss of habitat, poaching and even being killed to make ashtrays, from their paws.
Mostly herbivores (they will sometimes eat insects and snails), the silverback is around 10 times stronger than a human man, but mostly are gentle, they only attack if they feel at risk, or are protecting their families. One of the most clever of all animals, they can make bamboo ladders to help babies reach trees, and even make cutlery from twigs, to eat insects.
Vodka Sodas (that help to remove ocean plastic)
If you like a tipple, look for Arrowtown Drinks (vodka sodas in easy-to-recycle cans). These are kind of like ‘hard seltzers’ with around 5% alcohol, so the same as beer but far lower in calories. Healthier than a gin and tonic, but less puritanical than drinking a glass of water! They are also sold in zero waste cans.
For every can sold, the company remove 2 plastic bottles from the oceans, in partnership with an organisation abroad. They employ people in developing countries to remove ocean plastic from the ocean, which is then sold for recycling. The company hopes to fund the collection of at least 3,600 kilos of ocean-bound plastic in one year, to work towards Ocean Co’s global ambition of collecting 7 billion ocean-bound plastic bottles by the end of 2025.
This brand was inspired by two young brothers, who with the wisdom of a couple of university students (not much!), decided it would be fun to take on the world’s biggest brands of sugary seltzer drinks, by offering something better, and which helped wildlife too. Choose from four flavours:
- Black cherry and apple
- Peach and raspberry
- Lime and elderflower
- Mango and pineapple
The Best ‘Bloody Mary’ Base in England!
The Pickle House claims to produce England’s best base for the popular Bloody Mary drink (a combination of tomato juice with vegan Worcestershire sauce and optional tabasco sauce for extra-spicy!) This award-winning mix is packed with sun-drenched tomatoes, spices and their own punchy pickle juice, then hand-bottled on a Suffolk farm. You can of course have a Virgin Mary (minus the vodka).
Keep your pickle juice chilled. The Spiced Tomato Mix once opened, should be kept in the fridge and used up within a few days.
Did you know that Worcestershire sauce usually contains anchovies? Go for a fish-free version like Bonsan.
You can also buy the Pickle Juice to take alone. It’s ideal for your tummy, and can also soothe muscle cramps and balance blood sugar. It’s also peppered with electrolytes, so kind of like a locally-made artisan hydration drink.
The company founder visited New York, took some pickle juice, then returned home to Hackney, with ‘pickles on the brain’. Pickle juice is simply a base of vinegar that’s infused for 12 weeks with a bit of sugar along with cucumber, mustard seeds, fennel, celery leaf, salt and turmeric. Some people love it so much, they just swig it out the bottle!
This ultimate Bloody Mary (Crowded Kitchen) uses the same base, but is a bit more fancy with added seasonings, including paprika.
