The spirit of the New Forest
Dancing Cows Distillers of gin, rum, malt liquor and fruit brandies are based in Pennington and are well worth a visit, I went myself last Friday and came away buzzing I had no idea so much went on in this hidden little place. It reminded me of my science laboratory at school with bottles of different coloured liquid but then I guess there was definitely some experimenting going on. Richard the owner has had an interesting past, he lived in the falklands for four years then ran a brewery in Lancashire for eleven years before moving to Lymington in 2014.
Tours of the distillery can be booked on the website along with vouchers if you want to give it as a present and although everything can be seen in the one room it's more about the first hand experience of seeing and tasting the newly foraged fruits the blends and making up your own mind which bottle to take home.
Richard is keen to share his knowledge and encourage people to try new things sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't, it may just takes a little time and patience. The processes in use at the distillery combines traditional and modern techniques in order to make a fine selection of gins, rums, malt liqueurs and fruit brandies.
As a member of New Forest Marque Richard uses local ingredients when ever possible this includes the barley from a local farm and foraging for angelica seeds and sourcing fruits from a local farm. Whilst we were chatting he told me he liked to "create a flavoured gin rather than a pretty one" his gin is flavoured with blueberries and has a slight blue tint to it if you hold it to the light. He went on to say "London dry basic without infusions is like bream without a sauce or seasoning".
The ultimate goal is to produce a spirt popular across the south east and for it to become known as - The spirit of the New Forest.
New suppliers of Dancing Cows products are popping up all over the place, here is just a small selection:
Solent Cellars, Lymington
Pages of Lyndhurst
New Forest Wines, Ringwood
Priory Wines,Lymington
Hollands in Milford
Christchurch Confectioner
Rosie Leas tea room at Setley Ridge, Brockenhurst
Obviously purchases can be made at the distillery where you can find Richard working away Monday to Saturday from 9am - 4.30pm and sometimes later.
Telephone 07952639465