Apples & Pears is now on the shelf at Fortnum & Mason, and I think it’s the best drink we’ve ever made.
It opens with a sharp blast of fresh Bramley apple. Underneath sit two brandies: an amazing Somerset cider brandy from the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, and a beautiful pear liqueur built on Cognac. At the back is Suze, the French gentian aperitif, which takes the rest out bitter and clean. Apple, pear, root. One sip goes straight from the orchard to the cellar.
It’s a seasonal drink, and the longer we run this business, the more we fall in love with that idea. We make lots of things that are meant to sit on a shelf all year. This one was made for two or three weeks of autumn: one run, 500 bottles, with the apples at their very best. A short run lets us make a drink that only works right now, and make it exactly the way we want it.
The run is finished and the bottles are selling. The best before date is quite short, and a good part of the run has already gone. If you’d like to try it, try it now.
Better still, come and try it with me. We’re booked in to pour it at Fortnum’s Piccadilly, in the spirits department on the lower ground floor, from half past four on three dates:
Friday 30 October
Tuesday 17 November
Friday 18 December
We’re fixing a date to do the same at St Pancras, and I’ll send it out as soon as I have it. Come and say hello, try it, and tell me what you think. It’s £35 for 50cl, and it’s best poured straight from the fridge.
This went out as our weekly letter on Tuesday 27 October 2026. We write one every Tuesday: history, craft, and the last metre. Straight up.
