A cherry-picked press trip to Herefordshire

It’s not every day you get the chance to spend time with Heston Blumenthal’s team, a group of amazing distillers and the expert spirits team at Waitrose, so when the opportunity to take a journalist to visit the Chase Vodka Distillery came up, it wasn’t one we wanted to miss! On a cold crisp day at the end of November, we travelled with a journalist from the Daily Telegraph to rural Herefordshire to give them a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new Heston from Waitrose Cherry Bakewell Vodka. We were taken round the farm and distillery by head distiller Jamie Baggott, who showed us how the humble potato is transformed through a variety of processes (one including basically making the potatoes into mash!) into the delicious Cherry Bakewell vodka. Inspired by the great British classic dessert, the vodka is made with local cherries and amaretto extract and really does taste rather nostalgic, not to mention very moreish! Throughout the day, we were accompanied by the fascinating Otto Romer, from Heston’s team at the Fat Duck, who told us all about how the relationship between Waitrose, Heston and Chase work and how Heston’s ideas become an actual product on shelf.

After our tour, we then went back to The Verzon Hotel, a gorgeous boutique hotel also owned by the Chase family. The hotel’s expert head chef created a selection of delicious Heston canapés for us to eat alongside cocktails made from the Cherry Bakewell Vodka. Expertly mixed by David Ashton-Hyde from The Crown at Bray, we were lucky enough to sample Cherry Espresso Martinis and Cherry Sours, alongside a Mulled Cider Fruit Cup and a Herbal Tea, made from Heston’s other drinks from Waitrose – his Earl Grey Gin and Mulled Cider – which are also made at Chase.

So now, when we have a go at some of the cocktail recipes this New Year’s Eve, we’ll be taking a moment to think about all the hard work, creativity and expertise that went into the making of the vodka and if that’s not a cause for celebration, I don’t know what is – cheers to that!  

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All aboard the St Asthore!

It’s not every day you get to travel to Cornwall for work but a couple of weeks ago, I made the five hour journey to Newlyn, near Penzance, to join a team of Cornish fishermen who have been supplying Waitrose with sardines for 10 years. The reason? After decades in the doldrums, the popularity of Cornish sardines is on the rise, with sales rising by a fifth at Waitrose, so I was travelling with a journalist from the Independent on Sunday to give them a behind-the-scenes look at how these delicious fish are caught. 

We met Jeremy, the Waitrose fisheries and aquaculture manager, at the harbour, just as the sun was setting and were given a briefing by fisherman, Peter Bullock and then – it was time to set sail! 

Sardine fishing can take between two and seven hours so there was a certain amount of excitement met with trepidation as we set off! Peter explained that the reason we had to fish at night was because that’s when the slippery, six-inch fish congregate off the coast in vast shoals. After about an hour of being on the water, it was suddenly all actions go as Peter frantically abandoned the cockpit and, alongside his two colleagues, brought in a catch of around four tonnes, after 45 minutes of intense hauling of the net. The beautifully luminescent sardines were then taken back to shore and packed with ice. Within two days, they’d then be in Waitrose branches around the country – ethically sourced, high-quality fish that can be traced exactly to a single fishery. 

It was then back to solid ground for a meal in a local restaurant (with a main of local fish, of course) and then, back to my hotel – safe to say after all that sea air, I slept well!

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