Food feature: Lovely Drinks

Wednesday 8th July 2009

Mark Taylor meets the couple behind the cottage industry success story that is Lovely Drinks

If one drink encapsulates the taste of an English summer, it’s the light, floral flavour of elderflower.

There is something about this refreshing soft drink that evokes memories of village greens, picnics, cricket and summer fetes.

It’s as quintessentially English as John Betjeman, afternoon tea and Alan Bennett.

Until recently, most elderflower drinks on the market have been mass-produced by large companies but a Bristol couple is now producing a range of elderflower drinks from a converted shed next to their Barrow Gurney home with elderflowers picked from their own garden.

It all started three summers ago when Rick Freeman had an abundance of elderflowers in his garden and started making elderflower cordial after a friend gave him a recipe.

Some of it he left as cordial and the rest he made into elderflower champagne.

He served it to friends who kept telling him how ‘lovely’ it was and that gave him the idea to register the domain name and the company Lovely Drinks with the idea of doing something with it at some point.

Then he pretty much left the bottles in the shed and just served it to friends when they visited. One of those friends was Victoria Earle, now his partner, who shared an interest in local, seasonal food and drink.

Former journalist and PR executive Victoria was so impressed with Rick’s homemade drinks that she spotted its potential beyond the confines of the shed.

“I tried the elderflower and rose champagne and thought it was fantastic and that we could sell it,” says Victoria.

The next step for the couple was to show their elderflower drinks to a wider audience and they attended the Love Food festival in Bristol last August.

Says Victoria: “We had no idea how it would sell as it was the first time we had attended a market but people seemed to love it and it almost sold out. That was when we realised that it might have potential as an ongoing business so we thought we would just give it a go.”

Rick and Victoria decided to create a small range of drinks including an elderflower and ginger drink. They also wanted to use Somerset apples for an elderflower and apple drink.

The couple bought a small pasteuriser and Rick set up a “very Heath Robinson” bottling set-up and they began making more cordial and drinks in the shed behind the house.

“When we first began, Rick was using a beer barrel that he bought from a homebrew shop to mix the drinks and then poured them into bottles.

“Now it’s a bit more sophisticated – but not much. He mixes the drinks in stainless steel barrels, the mixed drink is then pushed out using CO2 via a tap and series of filters, a system which we bought from a guy who fits out pubs.

“Rick still shakes up the barrels during the process so the CO2 mixes with the drinks and gives them the light fizz. It’s still very basic.”

After attending a second Love Food festival in October, Lovely Drinks were approached by Mike and Jo Pettifor who own Revival Café in Bristol’s Corn Street. They ordered some and Rick and Victoria suddenly found themselves supplying the trade for the first time.

The drinks are now sold at a number of local food markets, as well as Southville Deli, Agnes Bakery in St Nicholas Market, Culinaria in Redland and Bordeaux Quay Deli. It is also sold in farm shops across Somerset.

Although the couple are still holding down day jobs, they have increased production and do everything themselves, from making the drinks and bottling them to web design and delivery. Rick’s children, Olly and Eva, have also been helping them out.

Says Victoria: “Between the two of us we have quite a mix of skills which means we can do everything ourselves.

“Rick trained in horticulture in his teens and always had a passion for gardening. He also trained in art and design and worked as a web designer before moving into IT, managing systems and doing database programming.

“I initially trained as a journalist and then moved into PR, marketing and fundraising. I co-owned and ran a media company in the Nineties so we have most skills covered.

“Rick works full-time and I do part-time admin work to pay the bills but I mostly focus on the administration, retail sales and deliveries for Lovely Drinks. A lot of my time is spent washing and labelling bottles though.”

Lovely Drinks are now producing 1,000-1,200 bottles a month and this month it will be double that as they will be attending this weekend’s Bristol Wine and Food Fair, where they have their own stand but are also supplying the bar with their products.

Working seven days a week to keep up with production, it’s hard work and everything is done by hand, but the couple are enjoying every bit of it.

“We still use a food processor to grate the ginger and juice the lemons,” laughs Victoria. “It is very labour intensive but on the other hand we like the ‘hands-on’ aspect.

“I think the fact that we make it ourselves is part of the appeal – it means our hearts are really in it and somehow people pick up on that.

“I don’t ever want us to become divorced from the process of making the drinks.”

Lovely Drinks will be at the Bristol Wine and Food Fair at Harbourside this weekend. For more details, see the Lovely Drinks website at: www.lovelydrinks.co.uk