Select a region
They say you shouldn’t drink seawater, but no one said anything about the seaweed…Two friends have teamed up to celebrate the taste of a little known Jersey delicacy in the first rum to come out of the island.
Ben Clyde-Smith and Harry Coulthard are the brains behind ‘Tidal Rum’, which has hit the local shelves after a ‘spirited’ soft launch of the Caribbean-Jersey fusion drink at the Streetlife Festival last month.
Claiming to be Jersey’s first-ever rum, the drink combines flavours from five islands in total: Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic and Jersey.
Bringing together a blend of the four aged Caribbean rums, Tidal Rum also contains a local twist as it's infused with oak-smoked Pepper Dulse seaweed foraged at low-tide in Jersey.
Pictured: The distillery works with a local forager to sustainably harvest the "little-known" Jersey botanical.
The botanical – also known as the ‘truffle of the sea’ – can only be harvested seasonally on spring tides and Harry and Ben, who together form 'Shorts Boy Distillery' (SBD), were introduced to it by local forager Kazz Padidar.
“Raw Pepper Dulse has an incredible rich deep and earthy flavour. Foraging with [Kazz] at low tide is great fun and we wanted to share that moment of discovery and intense flavour in our Tidal Rum," SBD say.
“We responsibly harvest the Dulse in season between October and May from sustainable sources. When foraging, it is important to trim rather than pick. Our ambition is to create and maintain an environment in which Dulse can flourish in clean water and optimum conditions.”
Ben and Harry say that it was growing up by the sea which gave them a shared passion for all things maritime. As they got older and having sampled rums from across the world, the pair wanted their own drink to evoke the subtle coastal flavours they know and love.
View this post on Instagram
Commenting on the launch of the “island-born” drink, Harry said: “We wanted to create a refined rum with a subtle taste of the sea with hints of tide and seaboard impressing the palate with each glug.”
Making his own recommendations for how to drink ‘Tidal Rum’, Ben advised spirit samplers to “drink it on the rocks or in your favourite rum cocktail” in order to achieve “that fresh, seagoing vibe.”
After the drink’s ‘soft launch’, ‘Tidal Rum’ has now hit the shelves at LoveWine and Midland Stores.
Going forward, SBD hopes to create a range of more beverages inspired by the sea and cask finish a batch in the near future.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.