Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Our pub brings gin and polo together
The 2019 Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards has attracted scores of entries, and there’s still time to take part ahead of the closing date on March 4.
Sue Bradley catches up with last year’s winner of the ‘best drink’ category
ENTERING the 2019 Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards has been double the work for the winner of last year’s best drink category.
For not only has Richard Hine been busy telling us about the continued success of British Polo Gin, he’s had plenty to say about the country pub he’s now running.
Richard and his team have been steadily making their mark on the hostelry, The Fostons Ash near Birdlip, since taking it on eight months ago. He first got to know the free house while supplying it with British Polo Gin for a year and a half and had been struck by its close proximity to no fewer than four of Gloucestershire’s polo clubs.
“It has a really good location – right in the middle of polo country,” laughs Richard.
“Edgeworth, Longdole, Cirencester and the Beaufort polo clubs are all close by and it’s even possible to ride here on horseback.
“What we’ve looked to do with the pub is to bring together the polo community and the gin community and make The Fostons Ash the base for British Polo Gin.”
Alongside a comprehensive range of spirits, the bar is stocked with plenty of locally-made beers, including ales from Stroud Brewery, Birdlip’s Clavell & Hind, Uley Brewery and Goff’s of Winchcombe. The house lager is made by Bath Ales.
Meanwhile the wine on offer includes bottles from Woodchester Valley Vineyard and the Royal Agricultural University’s Cotswold Hills label.
The low number of food miles travelled by many of the drinks is matched by head chef Danny Field’s philosophy in the kitchen, with pigeon, pheasant and venison from the locality all on the menu, the latter marinated in British Polo Gin’s own sloe gin. At the same time his quest to find the freshest possible fruit and vegetables has led him to develop relationships with a number of vegetable and fruit growers from within the vicinity.
Richard is the first to admit that taking on a country pub has brought plenty of challenges, but he says the positive response he’s had from customers has made it all worthwhile. He’s especially pleased that The Foston’s Ash is popular with members of classic car clubs, who drive there for meets.
“The past eight months have been quite a steep learning curve really,” says 26-year-old Richard, who runs the hostelry with various members of his family and a close friend.
“I’m really pleased that it already feels like a real community pub. My friends in London are all doing corporate jobs but I love what I’m doing here: it can mean unusual hours but it’s lovely to be able to take the dog out for a walk in the woods close to the pub when I want to. I feel really lucky and privileged to be doing what I’m doing.”
While opening a new pub has taken up a lot of his time, Richard hasn’t taken his eye off of British Polo Gin, a smooth and flavoursome quadruple-distilled organic spirit made with 14 botanicals including elderflower, vanilla, cinnamon, citrus, liquorice, juniper, angelica root and cardamom. Three months after winning the ‘best drink’ award from the Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards, the spirit garnered no fewer than three stars from The Great Taste Awards.
“We were delighted: only 192 products out of 12,634 entries achieved that feat in the 2018 competition and no other gin achieved the prestigious three star award,” explains Richard.
This year will see British Polo Gin appearing at a variety of events and Richard is working with companies such as Bentley Drivers’ Club and the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club to create bespoke gins.
At the same time there are plans to launch a new strawberry and rose gin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first polo match played in the UK.
“It’s a quintessentially British taste: we’re bringing out 1,000 bottles as a limited release and will be launching the gin at the Fostons Ash in May,” Richard explains.
The Hine family has long been associated with the game of polo, with Richard’s uncles Andrew and William representing England and dad Nick earning an enviable reputation over the years.
Richard became interested in gin while spending his gap year working in Australia after completing his degree in history.
“I was working in a gin bar in Perth and used to get a lot of requests for a really smooth gin from people who found the traditional London dry gin a bit heavy, but found there weren’t really any alternatives,” he explains.
Fate played a hand when Richard had to undergo surgery to fix a severed tendon, and he ended up filling his time looking into the history of gin.
His research revealed how gin and tonic first began to appear during the 1850s, when Indian tonic water was given to soldiers to provide them with the quinine they needed to fight malaria. British officers mixed theirs with gin, leading to the birth of the popular drink. Officers, and particularly members of the British Calvary, went on to begin playing polo after the Indian Mutiny of 1857 in an effort to match the horsemanship of their opponents.
“Gin and polo are inherently linked,” Richard explains. “This gave me the idea to come home and make British Polo Gin.”
Richard, whose family home is in Bishop’s Norton, sold the two best mares he had trained in order to launch his spirit.
“I looked at buying my own distillery but it was too expensive, so instead I found a small organic distillery in Carmarthen, where I used to spend my childhood holidays with my grandmother, to make it to my recipe,” he explained. “They hand-
My friends in London are all doing corporate jobs but I love what I’m doing here. I feel lucky
and privileged to be doing what I’m doing
RICHARD HINE