Tasting notes

Cassis made from British blackcurrants

‘WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I went on a French exchange and was served Kir royale, and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t as nice as the blackcurrant juice we made at home,’ recalls Jo Hilditch.

The owner of White Heron, which makes British Cassis, has blackcurrants in her blood thanks to an entrepreneurial father who also grew Brussels sprouts, potatoes, raspberries and strawberries on their land in Herefordshire, finding especial success with the woody shrub and its small, black fruit.

The family had first started growing blackcurrants commercially in 1953, landing a deal to supply Ribena, but it wasn’t until 2005 (some 12 years after Hilditch joined her father’s farm) that she considered producing a liqueur. ‘The holidays I had in France were more often spent skiing, and there were the Kir royales again, being served in the bar – all too sweet and cloying.’

It was time to fashion her own version – with less sugar – and an excess batch of fruit (to the tune of 1,000 tons) provided the perfect opportunity. Unlike crème de cassis, made from fruit macerated in vodka, her British version echoes wine production: the blackcurrants are pressed and fermented before sugar is added (‘half of what the French use’), and it’s fortified with vodka to take it up to 15 per cent abv. Not nearly as sticky-sweet as the Burgundian liqueur when tasted neat, it’s even better added to a G&T, solo with elderflower tonic, or drizzled over ice cream. ‘I drink it every which way, of course,’ she says. And for Kirs abroad? ‘I’ll take a glass of champagne, but keep a little bottle of my cassis in my pocket.’ British Cassis is available at Waitrose, Majestic and Ocado from £19.99; whiteherondrinks.co.uk

Above Jo Hilditch toasting her success. Right The blackcurrants are pressed and fermented before sugar is added