Vodka made from milk - yes really!
Friday of last week I travelled outside of my usual 15 mile range to sample the delights of Black Cow Vodka. This unique brand offers a tour of their distillery and a four course lunch for £70.00 which represents really good value and a really fun thing to do with friends or family.
Black Cow Vodka is unique in so much as it is made from milk it uses the historically useless by product (whey) made in the cheese making process and turns it into superior premium vodka.
On arrival I must admit I wondered if we had arrived at the correct address, my geography is shocking so I quite expected to get lost, we drove past several stables with the occupants staring out at us and then parked up in a courtyard.
Still unsure we were in the right place until I spotted the iconic black cow logo.
We had arrived with time to spare and were warmly welcomed by Rebecca our host for the day. I must admit to being surprised by the inside of the building it had a very modern feel in comparison to the outside. The kitchen and bar area has been beautifully finished with clean white surfaces and the dining table already set for lunch with fluffy rugs adorning the long bench seating. Have a look at the lights weighted with vodka bottles to achieve the correct height, nice touch.
The artwork on the walls had been produced by co founder Paul Archard and certainly became a talking point with the guests as we ate lunch.
When all the guests had arrived we sat on high stools around the bar ready for our first cocktail, the delightful Expresso Martini. I just love the gold cocktail shaker and regret not buying one to bring home, the larger one even has the black cow logo in the inside.
Apparently the key to making a good Expresso Martini is all in the shaking! I clearly need more practice with that as the creamy top of my expresso was half the thickness of everyone else, (less talking more shaking).
Unlike any other tour I have been on we continued to sip on our Martini whilst touring the distillery. I'm not sure if this is because none of us looked keen to leave it unfinished whilst we walked around.
Ermintrude the still, is a real thing of beauty, she reminded me of a woodwind instrument and watching her in action really is musical, you can watch the jets of alcohol rising through the layers.
Rebecca explained the process behind using milk to produce vodka and guided us through to the bottling area which is surprisingly small for the quantity of bottles produced. I love the branding of this company from the glasses with black cows on them to the boxes depicting a scene of the area.
Next came another signature cocktail called the Highland Fling accompanied by smoked salmon, a selection of cocktail recipes are recorded on their website.
Lunch was absolutely delicious and every dish had a nod to The Black Cow, thank you so much Rebecca.
If you have yet to try Black Cow Vodka it is now available at Morrisons and Marks & Spencer and of course you can buy it on line. Or why not even book a tour for yourselves.
Personally I think this tour lends itself to so much more, I would of loved to of seen more of the area, seen the cows, slept in a converted stable/glamped and more importantly not to have driven home! Maybe the powers that be will read this and take it on board.