Britain’s first public museum, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, has three delicious, organic, vegan fruit liqueurs produced by the award-winning fruit farm and winery Gibson’s Organic Liqueurs – Elderflower, Sloe Gin and Crab Apple.
Made in collaboration with Gibson’s Organic Liqueurs, the label features artwork by Simon Verelst (1644-1721), Still Life of Apple Blossom, Oil on canvas, WA1940.2.88 on a delicately attractive bottle.
The quintessentially English flavours are a tribute to the Ashmolean’s collections and the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside.
We tried the crab apple. The tree has grown in the UK for for thousands of years and has always been important for local wildlife, giving Blackbirds, Thrushes, mice and voles something good to eat.
Humans often use it for jellies but here a pure, gluten free organic grain base spirit has been used, so what you taste is the apples not the alcohol fruit and with a hint of star anise fo bit of extra character. Chilled with pudding or cheese it put some of our usual dessert wines to shame, and it can be added to a glass of fizz or to a cocktail like an Appletini. Recipe below. Neat and slightly chilled it ,goes down a treat.
Gibson’s Organic Liqueurs is one of five new brands added to the Ashmolean Museum’s Brand Licensing programme, which continues to thrive by collaborating with diverse businesses to create unique products inspired by the museum’s rich collections.
Situated just outside Burford in the Cotswolds, Gibson’s Organic Liqueurs story began in 2007 when Miles Gibson
returned home to his family farm, inspired by two years spent volunteering on organic farms around the UK, to begin planting fruit.
Five years of gradually increasing the acreage of soft fruit and experimenting with recipes, led to the production of the first commercial batches of raspberry and blackcurrant liqueurs.
The land on Gibson’s Oxfordshire farm is worked sustainably without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. Only fruit, flowers and leaves grown on the farm make it into the products, which are vegan, gluten and sulphite free.
All the drinks are available to purchase from the Ashmolean shop online and in the Gift Shop, of course.
Crab Apple, 35cl | RRP £19.95
Elderflower, 35cl | RRP £19.95. a winner of both a Great Taste gold star and a prestigious BOOM (Soil Association) award.
Sloe Gin, 35cl | RRP £24.95
Aloes are soaked, on-site, in organic Juniper Green gin, sweetened with organic sugar. They are then steeped in the gin for several months before being hand filtered and bottled. To enhance the fruitiness, they blend a hint of their
blackcurrant liqueur in with the finished sloe gin.
ASHMOLEAN APPLETINI
INGREDIENTS
50ml Gibson’s Organic Crab Apple Liqueur
50ml Cold Pressed Apple Juice
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1⁄2 tsp Maple Syrup
Lemon zest to serve
METHOD
Add crushed ice into a martini glass and set aside to chill.
Add the Gibson’s Organic Crab Apple Liqueur, cold pressed apple juice, lemon juice and maple syrup into a
shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
Discard the ice from the cocktail glass and double-strain the mixture into the glass.
Garnish with a lemon zest spiral