MOVE over Manhattan and you can keep your Long Island iced tea, an East Lancashire micro-distillery is launching its new spirit with the perfect recipe – a Burnley cocktail.

Batch Brew started out by creating craft ales in Winchester before they chose to move to Burnley in January to create its own gin.

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Now the family-run tastemaker is mixing their premium spirit to create Burnley Bling.

The drink is a slug of gin generously mixed with the liqueur Bénédictine, known as ‘Benny’, popular across East Lancashire and on sale at Turf Moor to this day.

Bosses says the cocktail ‘pays tribute to a proud drinking tradition that can be traced back to the First World War’.

A spokesman said: “Once the world’s largest producer of cotton, this robust Lancashire town is also famous for being home to the largest single consumer of Bénédictine: The Burnley Miners Social Club.

“Adding a different twist to a drink that established itself in local people’s consciousness – when Lancashire regiments acquired a taste for it during the Great War – the Burnley bling is introducing a whole new generation to this wonderful drink.”

The distilling is currently being carried out by Oliver Sanderson in the town, who only distils small batches, producing no more than 25 litres at a time – or 960 bottles per run.

Phil Whitwell, Batch Premium Gin’s director, knew the product was a winner even before they picked up a silver medal at the World Spirit Competition in San Francisco.

He said: “We thought it would be better to focus on the north west market rather than London because London gets lots of new gins.

“The people who are helping us, we are giving them a share then they have an investment in making it successful.

“My sister lives in Rawtenstall and she does some of the delivering and we give her a bottle of gin for helping us.

“We are trying to build up demand first and then we can get the production starting up.

“We believe we have got a quality product and we spent a long time developing the recipe.”

The first product was a premium gin including frankincense and myrrh but two new lines are in the pipeline.

The Batch Sloe gin will include 12 botanicals with hand-picked Hampshire sloe berries while the Betel Nut tipple is infused with ‘mildly-stimulating’ Burmese betel nuts and is distilled five times.

The team was inspired by Spain, with its copa glasses, and the nation’s ancient connections to the Incense Route.

Mr Whitwell added: “I was over in Madrid and there is quite a big gin and tonic culture out there and a lot of them are English.

“When we came back we started experimenting, the frankincense and myrrh gives it quite a spicy note and we developed it around Christmas.”

The masters are also working on developing another 55 experimental recipes.

A 70cl bottle, which is described as having “some subtle notes of cardamoms and cloves before settling into the stable juniper backbone”, costs £36 and is best served with lime and raspberry.

 

Here’s the recipe

Lancashire Telegraph:

The Burnley Bling
Ingredients
2 parts premium bin
2 parts Benedictine
1 part Chambord
1 part fresh lime juice
1/2 part grenadine
Angostura bitters
Soda water or fizzy to dilute

Method
Put all the ingredients, except the fizzy, in a
cocktail mixer, shake over ice and serve in a
champagne glass or – as tradition would have it – a dimpled half-pint mug

Top with soda and crown with a frozen raspberry.

Adjust the bitter/sweetness - balance with suitable drops of bitters.