Does jam really need a wee dram?

The latest bonkers new food fad? Booze on toast! But...

LIGHTLY buttered toast, with a generous dollop of jam or orange marmalade. For years, it’s been the breakfast that we have chosen to set us up for the day.

But what about adding a splash of whisky to the marmalade or a glug of gin to the jam? It may sound like a recipe for a hangover by lunchtime, but classic spreads are now enjoying an edgy rebirth thanks to a growing demand for boozeinfused products.

‘It’s really lovely to mix, say, the finest Sicillian lemons with an earthy whisky,’ says Jennifer Williams, a specialist jam maker, whose company, Naked Jam, has seen a 40 per cent boost in the market since introducing alcohol-flavoured preserves.

‘Fruits and alcohol really complement one another in terms of taste and balance. A clean spirit, like vodka or gin, can soften the overpowering sweetness of a jam, for example.’

Jennifer suggests that if you do have jam on toast, you should team it with a good, unsalted butter as the fat will absorb the tartness of some spreads.

For those wanting to start the day with a tipsy twist, there are plenty of products on offer (don’t worry, the alcohol content gets cooked off in the preparation process). Here’s how they fared in my taste test.

DROP OF THE GOOD STUFF

Pittenweem Preserves Malt Whisky Orange Marmalade, €4 for 200g, neighbourhoodfood.ie SEVILLE oranges are blended with Bunnahabhain whisky (a single malt produced from a distillery on the Hebridean islands since 1881) for a gloriously rich combination. The initial tartness of the orange gives way to a deep smack of peaty malt.

In fact, this does linger in the same way that neat whisky can leave a chemical aftershock. It’s not a problem if you’re a spirit lover like me but it may be a sharp surprise for those who usually decline a wee dram.

My advice is to forget the toast and mix a dollop of this golden amber spread with bourbon, lemon juice and ice for the perfect sundown tipple. Trust me, it’s gorgeous. 4/5

SEXED-UP SPREAD

Spreadable Pornstar Martini, €10.50 for 225g, thebottleclub.com A MARTINI cocktail may have been Bond’s favourite tipple but even 007 might baulk at the suggestive name of this spread. Clearly this is an attempt to make staid marmalade sexy. Made from passion fruit puree, oranges, lemon and lime, it’s also ‘straddled by a vicious twist of vodka’.

The problem is that the taste is a huge let-down. I don’t pick up any vodka and the citrus hit is so sharp, it overpowers the passionfruit. If it weren’t for its dark telltale seeds, you wouldn’t know it was there. Redeemed slightly when stirred into a neat vodka with ice. But, frankly, I’m neither shaken nor stirred. 1/5

INDULGENT TREAT Pinkster Gin Jam €4.70 for 280g, thedrinkshop.com

WOW! A shade of vampy dark red, this jam is made from the gin-soaked raspberries discarded from production of the company’s signature Pinkster pink gin (for being too mushed), so there’s minimal wastage. The jam is

extremely sweet and the notes of gin are subtle. I actually found myself spooning it straight from the jar when I fancied something a little indulgent after dinner. I loved it so much that I use it in jam tarts, so adding a dash of excitement to an otherwise routine afternoon tea staple. Lovely. 5/5

RICH FLAVOUR

Summer Fruits with Pimms Jam, €5.20 for 340g, cherrytreepreserves.co.uk THIS rusty-red jam is handcooked in small batches and mixed with strawberries, red currants and Pimms, one of the signature tastes of summer and a gin-based liqueur.

It’s a really rich jam though, sadly, it was hard to detect any trace of Pimms. Instead, it tastes rather like a bog standard, off-theshelf supermarket jam.

Perhaps stir it into a glass of Pimms and lemonade to add colour and texture, though I am more inclined to serve it for afternoon tea with a floury scone and a mound of cream.

2/5

SWEET AS SHERBET

Strawberry & Champagne Jam, €6.90 for 225g, naked-jam.co.uk JAM-MAKER Jennifer Williams cooked up the idea for this jam when watching the semifinals at Wimbledon, sipping champagne and enjoying a cream tea in the sunshine.

Strawberries are collected the same day that they are picked and then marinated in champagne and sugar overnight, before being slowly cooked, and handstirred, in copper pans the very next day.

No surprise then that this jam has such a sherbet-like, slightly overpowering sweetness, but not one specifically identifiable as champagne. Even so, it’s lovely and indulgent. I have mine with with warm buttered croissants on a lazy Sunday morning. Heavenly. 4/5

FOR BUBBLY LOVERS Wooden Spoon Bucks Fizz Marmalade, €3.50 for 227g, thewoodenspoon.co.uk

I HAVE always hated Bucks Fizz (the cocktail not the pop group), but that’s because I loathe orange juice unless it’s neat and ice-cold. So when I say this marmalade accurately replicates Bucks Fizz, it’s both a plus and a minus. If you like the drink then you’ll love the fresh, taste of this tart, orangey marmalade, which offers a bubble of something slightly naughty. I’ll use it as a meat glaze but it does nothing for me on toast. 3/5