Made in Britain finalist: Bramley and Gage Fruit Liqueurs

Bramley and Gage from Thornbury in Glocestershire was one of the prestigious finalists in the Country Living, Waitrose and Farmers Guardian annual Made in Britain Awards.

Country Living magazine features local food producers every month - the Made in Britain Awards were launched by the magazine, together with Waitrose and Farmers Guardian, to reward those who are creating the best-quality and most innnovative foods, while keeping traditional skills alive. Five food producers of the year each received £5,000 from Waitrose to develop their business. The overall Made in Britain Food Champion, Gigha Halibut, (selected from these five) received an additional £5,000. Seven finalists were given the chance to have their product stocked in local branches of Waitrose. The Farmers Guardian Best Farm Entrepreneur will also receive £5,000 from Waitrose.  

 

Cocktail hour can be a fruity occasion when Michael Kain is mixing the drinks. The co-owner of Bramley and Gage eschews gin and tonic for a Quince Collins, a blend of gin and lemon juice with the quince liqueur first created by his mother 16 years ago. Golden, fruity and intoxicating, it has the summery bouquet of a dessert wine and the distinctive aftertaste of the pear-shaped Middle Eastern fruit that's thrived in England for centuries. When not rubbing shoulders with vodka in a Quince Martini, it's most at home by the cheeseboard, a
perfect partner to West Country cheddars or strong English blues.

"It is best at room temperature as chilling it numbs the flavour,"
says Michael, who, with his sister, Felicity Hall, bought Bramley and
"We use whole, naturally ripened fruits to get as much fruit flavour into
the liqueur as possible" Gage from his parents two years ago. Edward Bramley Kain and Penelope Gage founded the business 20 years earlier. They started making fruit liqueurs on their South Devon fruit farm and, when their sloe gin, cherry brandy and hedgerow varieties proved so popular, sold the farm in order to concentrate on them. "Felicity and I had our own careers: it was never a done deal that we'd take over the business," Michael says. "But when our parents decided to retire we had the choice of taking it on or seeing it sold on the open market."

Bramley and Gage makes seven fruit liqueurs, including Dittisham
plum, blackberry and greengage, a variety close to the family's heart because Penelope Gage's ancestors grew the first greengage tree in Britain. Elderflower liqueur, cherry brandy, sloe gin and damson gin complete the range, together with Slider - Devon cider infused with gin-soaked sloes, which counts Marco Pierre White among its fans.

 

Quince liqueur was inspired by a recipe in one of Penelope's old cookbooks for quince ratafia, a drink made from quince juice infused with brandy that dates back at least as far as the 18th century. Thanks to a string of awards and celebrity endorsements - Nigella Lawson designed a Christmas Champagne cocktail around it - quince liqueur is now one of Bramley and Gage's bestsellers. Production has moved from Devon to Gloucestershire, but Michael and Felicity remain true to their parents' methods. "We try to get as much fruit flavour into the liqueur as possible," Michael explains. "We use whole, naturally ripened fruits - never dried fruits or concentrates - and macerate them with alcohol and sugar before filtering and bottling.

 

Quinces are so hard that they have to be stewed first; we cook them just enough to soften them while retaining the fresh quince taste." The quinces usually come from Clay Barn Orchard in Essex (CL October 2008) but in bad years extra fruit has to be imported from Europe. "Last year we bought them from a village near Avignon where I used to live," Michael says. "In France or Italy, you're offered a glass of the local liqueur as an aperitif," he says. "Here, you'd ask for a gin and tonic. I'd love more people to discover our liqueurs and different ways of drinking them."

 

Bramley and Gage (01454 418046; www.bramleyandgage.co.uk)

 

Find all of this year's Made in Britain Awards winners here 

 

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