Members of the team from Simon Rogan’s one Michelin-starred restaurant, Rogan & Co. recently paid a visit to local producer, Shed One, Ulverston, to gain an insight into the distilling process and to make a test batch of the final recipe of a collaborative contemporary artisan gin made with ingredients from Our Farm, multi-award-winning chef Simon Rogan’s farm in the Cartmel Valley.
The bespoke gin has been specially created to be enjoyed alongside a special menu, as part of the second edition of the restaurant’s Local Heroes Week, its bi-annual event which celebrates all things local. First held at Rogan & Co earlier this year, the Autumn edition of the week-long event will take place from Tuesday 05th November to Saturday 09th November.
During Local Heroes Week, Rogan & Co. showcases the farmers, food producers, artisans, craftspeople, artists, and individuals from the local community the restaurant works with daily and who play an important part in making Rogan & Co. what it is, a restaurant with a sense of community and place.
In addition to Shed One’s specially crafted gin, the finished menu will highlight ingredients from some of the finest local suppliers and producers based across Cumbria, many of whom are only a few miles from the restaurant’s kitchen door. This includes beef from Beary Farm, cheese from Thornby Moor Dairy, milk from Low Sizergh Barn, venison from Cartmel Valley Game, rapeseed oil from Eden Yard, stout from Unsworth’s Yard and beer from Fell Brewery.
The Rogan & Co team alongside the Shed One set out to create a signature drink that would accompany a carefully crafted seasonal, seven-course tasting menu curated by Rogan & Co. Head Chef Tom Reeves in tandem with Executive Chef Paul Burgalières. Shed One is the multi-award-winning micro-distillery, from husband-and-wife team, Andy and Zoe Arnold-Bennett based in Ulverston, which specialises in crafting classically distilled small-batch gin and botanical vodka. Many spirits the couple create are made using sustainably sourced, traditional, locally grown, and foraged botanicals, all underpinned by the distillery’s use of pure filtered Lakeland water.
After the Rogan & Co team selected the botanicals that would be used alongside freshly harvested ingredients sourced from Our Farm, including Shiso, Apple Marigold, Lemon Verbena, Woodruff, Anise Hyssop Flowers, Cola Geranium and Fig Leaf, the Shed One team set about making the bespoke small batch gin.
The resulting handcrafted 40% ABV gin, christened ‘Local Heroes Gin’ and distilled in small-scale copper alembic stills, has already proved to be a hit with gin aficionados, including Paul Jackson, the founder and editor of The Gin Guide, who remarked on tasting the gin: ‘’Local Heroes Gin is a fascinating gin in all the right ways, demonstrating the range and depth of flavours that can be achieved from farm-grown herbs and flowers.’’
Now bottled and ready to be served, ‘Local Heroes Gin’ will shortly feature as part of an optional drinks pairing to be enjoyed by Local Heroes Week guests, along with a limited quantity of tasting bottles for diners to take home as a memento.
Kayleigh Thorogood, Assistant Operations Manager for Simon Rogan’s restaurants in the North of England remarked: ‘’The Rogan & Co team had a fascinating insight into the art of making small batch spirits, as expertly led by Andy and Zoe. They enjoyed deciding on the style of gin to craft, the final ABV and of course not forgetting the most important part, getting the balance of botanicals just right in the final iteration to deliver a drinkable gin with a terroir reflecting the ethos of both Rogan & Co and Our Farm.’’
Andy and Zoe Arnold-Bennett, owners and co-founders of Shed One, said: “It’s been very special working with the Rogan & Co team on this bespoke gin for Local Heroes Week, particularly as we’ve used botanicals they’ve grown themselves. Apart from the juniper, it’s all their own product that’s gone into the bottle and the exciting, complex flavours of the gin reflect the quality of the botanicals we were working with. It’s a classic gin with a nice clean, dry taste, soft warming mouthfeel and long finish. There are some lovely soft juniper notes, but the other – very impressive – botanicals are allowed to play their part.”
Local Heroes Week will run from Tuesday 05th November until Saturday 09th November.
Priced at £89 per person, each guest will enjoy a seven-course tasting menu including snacks served at either lunch or dinner. To book simply visit roganandco.co.uk to secure your place.
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