WHO would have imagined that Scotland, a force to be reckoned with when it comes to craft whisky, gin and beer production, could also be leading the artisan soft drinks revolution?
Although too new a market yet to be measured, it does seem to be the case, not only because of the increasing popularity of Dry January for those who have overindulged over the festive period. The Office of National Statistics reports that young people are less likely to have consumed alcohol in the past week than those who are older.
More than 20 per cent of Scots say they are teetotal; a staggering statistic, if you’ll pardon the pun, given that, 10 years ago, it was 11 per cent. Alcohol consumption fell to 36 per cent last year from 41 per cent a decade ago.
This can partly be explained by Scotland’s more stringent drink-driving law (50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, compared to 80mg in the rest of the UK) which has spawned a new generation of abstinent designated drivers coupled with the growing Muslim population.
Bon Accord, the 100-year-old company originally based in Arbroath and reborn and based in Edinburgh, produces soft drinks that are either sugar-free or use natural sweeteners, including a Scottish tonic water designed to accompany the vast range of artisan gins available. Summerhouse Drinks in Aberdeenshire uses Scottish-grown fruit and herbs for its range of artisan lemonades and a tonic water. It sells direct to the public at farm shops, delicatessens and farmers’ markets.
But Gregor Leckie, a GP’s son who attended Fettes College and who recently installed himself in the Glasgow Collective at the Barrowlands to develop his own soft drinks company, is going one step further with what he calls raw sodas using techniques employed by Michelin-starred chefs for food. As far as I know, he is the first to do so. He’s already running “taster kegs” at various pop-ups and events and in the next weeks he’s poised to have his first permanent outlet in a Michelin-rated Glasgow restaurant. He also has one of Edinburgh’s most progressive restaurants in his sights.
Fruits and vegetables such as cranberries, candy beetroot and pineapples are mixed with spices and herbs, vacuum sealed and placed in his bespoke sous-vide water bath to “cold-cook” until they reach what he calls “biting point”. He also creates his own low-sugar organic syrups to add to the juices before triple-carbonating them while avoiding the aggressive fizziness of many commercial brands. Each can be made and delivered within six hours.
This 24 year old modern-day alchemist - or molecular sommelier - says he loves “playing with specific ingredients in a coherent manner” and his work chimes with the foodie obsession with provenance. His ambition is to create a range of site-specific sodas using foraged ingredients. “I’m not aiming to take out Schweppes but I do want to start a counter-culture,” he told me.
He’s hesitant to divulge the exact process he’s taken 18 months to perfect, with good reason. It’s surely only a matter of time before the big brands look to tap into the emerging market he is curating.
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