The spirits of Christmas

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THESE WOMEN HAVE BEEN FORAGING, FERMENTING, DISTILLING, AND CRAFTING TIPPLES FOR US TO ENJOY. THE RESULT? DRINKS WITH PERSONALITY IN EVERY DROP

A warming fusion Jacine Rutasikwa Matugga Rum, West Lothian

On a dreich winter’s day, Matugga’s small distillery exudes a welcoming warmth, with its gleaming copper stills and comforting scent of spices and treacly molasses. “This is a genuine hands-on craft,” says Jacine Rutasikwa, who founded the distillery with her husband Paul. “There’s nothing hightech in our kit, just old-world alembic stills, fired by heat. It’s all done by Paul’s hands, and his sense of smell and taste.”

It’s a world away from their former life in London, where Paul was a civil engineer and Jacine worked in corporate marketing. After their first daughter was born in 2014, they found their priorities shifting – and a Christmas in Uganda with Paul’s family gave them the inkling of an idea. “In Jamaica, where my family’s from, sugarcane means rum,” explains Jacine. “In East Africa, sugarcane was everywhere, but rum was really hard to find. We started wondering why, and decided to create our own.”

The pair threw themselves into learning about the industry, relocating to Scotland so that Paul could study distilling. “It was intense,” nods Jacine. “We didn’t know anyone here when we moved.” They also took a risk with their signature golden rum, whose audacious smoky finish – “very out there at the time” – reflected Paul’s passion for whisky. Their spiced rum, meanwhile, was inspired by the masala chai brewed along East Africa’s coast, albeit with a hint of local honey. “We’re fusing a lot of cultures here in Livingston,” says Jacine. “East African, Caribbean and Scottish; it’s a continual dance.”

This Christmas, once the last bottle has been packaged up and posted out, the couple will be raising a glass to family and friends, old and new (a spiced rum for Jacine, golden for Paul). “One thing we’ve learned since moving to Scotland is to not work alone – we’ve really flourished through being part of a community up here. The last 18 months have been crazy, but we’re ready for whatever happens next.”

A Christmas tipple “I’d recommend a hot toddy – 35ml of Matugga Golden, 20ml of gingerbread syrup and 10ml of lime juice. Top it with warmed cloudy apple juice, then add a cinnamon stick.” matuggarum.com

“We’re fusing a lot of cultures: East African, Caribbean and Scottish; it’s a continual dance”

The forest in a bottle Lindsay Bond The Forest Distillery, Cheshire

Lindsay Bond’s Peak District distillery started on the smallest of scales, after she and her husband Karl began dabbling in gin-making at their kitchen table. Their daughter Harriet, then six, also got involved, throwing in sprigs and berries she’d picked in nearby Macclesfield Forest. From their early experiments (and after a few burnt batches), a beautifully complex gin began to emerge, laced with woodland botanicals. “Bilberries, blackberries and raspberries add sweetness, while moss, ferns and pine give an earthy, woody flavour,” says Lindsay. “We wanted to replicate the forest in a bottle.”

Nowadays, production may have scaled up significantly, but the gin remains a labour of love; ingredients are still foraged, and the botanicals hand-ground in a pestle and mortar. The result is a truly distinctive spirit, rooted in the English landscape, which scooped two double gold awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The bottle, meanwhile, is made from local Staffordshire porcelain and finished with a woodland-inspired papercut design. If its transportation requires a little extra care, that’s something Lindsay can live with. “Doing something you love makes the challenges worthwhile. Not cutting corners, and producing the best product you can, is worth the effort.”

Christmas will bring a flurry of orders for the distillery, while it’s also Lindsay and Karl’s second winter as landlords of the Cat & Fiddle, a remote coaching inn near Macclesfield, which they rescued from near dereliction. Its cellars now house their growing range of barrel-aged malt whiskies, while the inn provides fireside cheer on a windswept stretch of the moors – a “savage but also beautiful” place in winter, says Lindsay. “We’ve learned to close the minute snow begins to fall; even a five-minute delay can make the difference between getting home and being stuck there. Though if you DO end up having to stay the night, gin and whisky are on tap…”

A Christmas tipple “I love a festive spin on a Tom Collins – 50ml of Forest London Dry gin, 5ml of cranberry syrup and 10ml of lemon juice, topped with soda water.” theforestdistillery.com

The craft of creativity Jaega Wise Wild Card Brewery, London

Launched back in 2012, Walthamstow’s Wild Card Brewery has well and truly earned its place on London’s crowded craft-beer scene. Head brewer and co-founder Jaega Wise is in no doubt as to the secret of its success: “Making really good beer. As we’ve been going for longer and longer, the quality of the beer has got higher and higher; the standard I’m reaching for is the very best.” (The industry agrees; in 2018, the British Guild of Beer Writers named her its brewer of the year.)

Wild Card now brews 12,000 litres of beer a week, which equates to over 20,000 pints. Each month brings eight brand-new, delightfully esoteric specials; dry-hopped lagers named after conspiracy theories, say, or a daring salted passionfruit sour. “You can never rest on your laurels – beer moves too quickly,” explains Jaega. “It’s all about what’s coming next.” It’s also a chance for the brew team to flex their creative muscles, though not every experiment ends well. “Coconut and lime was terrible! That one went straight down the drain,” she admits.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s an industry that needs you to be a little bit beer obsessive. “It’s a world of late nights, early deliveries and hard graft. In winter it’s absolutely freezing, especially if you’re the first person in at 6 or 7am.” The payback is their customers’ feedback – “You can really make someone’s day,”

“You’re interacting with the raw materials. Grain comes in, then delicious beer goes out”

confirms Jaega – and the satisfaction of the process. “At our scale, all the equipment is manual, so you’re really interacting with the raw materials. Grain comes in, then delicious beer goes out in cans; that’s a pretty cool thing.”

At Christmas the brewery closes for a fortnight, while festive celebrations generally happen in January, when it’s quieter. “The whole team goes out for dinner,” says Jaega. “The restaurant tends to be BYOB, for obvious reasons…” A Christmas tipple “I’m always a fan of a strong stout in winter. We have one called Willful Ignorance, which is a coffee oat milk stout. It’s rich, warming and lovely – exactly what you need on a cold, dark day.” wildcardbrewery.co.uk

Drink in the landscape Amanda Saurin Wild Eve, The Isle of Harris

The Outer Hebrides in winter aren’t for the fainthearted, but Amanda Saurin is looking forward to her third Christmas there. “The seas are huge, the waves crash on the rocks, and the winds can blow you right off your feet – it makes your heart race.” An apothecary by trade, she moved to the Isle of Harris with her partner, with notions of building an eco-house and taking things a little easier. Instead, they bought a ‘wreck’ of a cottage and boggy croft, and set to work on Wild Eve, an alcohol-free botanical infusion made from the island’s plants.

Distilled in 29-bottle batches, it’s as complex and crafted as any spirit. Some ingredients are grown on the croft, like oats, chamomile and roses, while others are – somewhat perilously – foraged by the seven-strong team. “We pick wild honeysuckle from places the sheep can’t reach. That means over raging streams, up cliff sides, or both! You can feel as if you’re dicing with death, but the smell is unbelievable.” Sugar kelp, meanwhile, adds an umami note, after being painstakingly line-dried. “We’re forever running in and out, to save it from the rain…”

It’s a labour-intensive process that Amanda refuses to scale up, with production capped at 10,000 bottles a year. “Unrelenting growth is decimating the planet. Our goal is to produce enough to work as a business, without putting a strain on the island’s fragile ecosystem.”

Next year’s plans include a second Wild Eve blend and tours of the croft, including an expansive new greenhouse. “Just imagine,” she says, dreamily. “Apricots in Harris!” In the meantime, she’ll be hunkering down by the cottage’s wood-burning stove – still its sole source of heating. “With the fire blazing, the dogs gently snoring and the sound of the sea ever-present, it feels pretty special and definitely worth all the work.”

A Christmas tipple “Wild Eve is deliciously warm, so we’ll be making a mulled drink to serve over Christmas. Simply warm it through with a dash of our rosehip, rowan and plum syrup, and garnish with a slice of pink grapefruit.” wild-eve.com