Aperitif appreciation

Aperitif appreciation

London – Last week at our Food and Drink Network Evening, Andrew MacLeod Smith, director of Sweetdram, spoke to the crowds about his company’s new launch, the liqueur Escubac and setting up a viral distilling company.

Andrew MacLeod Smith, co-founder of Sweetdram

London – Last week at our Food and Drink Network Evening, Andrew MacLeod Smith of Sweetdram spoke to the crowds about his company’s new launch, the liqueur Escubac and setting up a viral distilling company.

  • Viral distilling means that although Sweetdram’s home is in East London, it actually produces its liqueurs in distilleries across the globe
  • This approach enables a more fluid and experimental approach to drinks-making

Visitors were able to try Escubac and Tonic, the saffron-tinted drink that MacLeod calls a modern liqueur. ‘It is refined and aromatic, and much drier than a lot of products in the market at the moment,’ he told Daniela Walker, senior journalist at LS:N Global. ‘We think that means you get a sippable liqueur, something that you would enjoy in the same way as a premium whisky.’

Escubac is Sweetdram’s first product, but the company will continue to use the viral distilling method, experimenting with recipes in its East London workshop and collaborating with established distilleries on new product launches. 

The Big Picture

Escubac was made from an 18th-century recipe, but reformulated to suit modern-day sophisticated palates. For more on taking the old and making it new again, read our Ancient Appetites microtrend.

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