North Coast Smokehouse in Ballycastle has joined the international Économusée of artisans at work. The company, a Food NI member, is the seventh artisan business here to become an integral part of the network which is supported by the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust (CCGHT).

North Coast Smokehouse specialises in handcrafted hot smoked goods produced in small batches using organic salmon. Each batch is individually and lovingly monitored by the founder and managing director Ruairidh Morrison and wife Melanie, also a founder director of the small business.

The company cures salmon as well as sea salt, black pepper and dried dulse.

The smoke for curing the award-winning salmon in particular is produced the old fashioned way, by simply burning small quantities of wood. Liquid-smokes, paints or dyes are not used.

The company’s inclusion within the network was announced by local celebrity chef Paula McIntyre.

The Économusée project provides a network for artisans to develop and combine culture, craft and tourism, creating an economic interacting platform from which these artists can encourage the promotion and development of traditional crafts, involving local communities and creating new job opportunities, in some instances allowing younger family members to share, develop and enhance the crafts and techniques of their ancestors.

By visiting the Économusée artisan workshops, tourists and locals gain an enhanced experience, learn about the history of the craft and the business, the enthusiasm of the artist along with the added opportunity of meeting the artisans face to face and discovering the beauty and authenticity of the products made and sold onsite.

Économusée project is funded by Interreg VB Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020.

The main objective is to develop services to support and foster local small businesses in order for them to not only survive, but to prosper.

Économusée food sector members include Broighter Gold in Limavady; Broughgammon Farm in Ballycastle; Ursa Minor Bakehouse, Ballycastle; and Hillstown Brewery, Ahoghill were selected in August 2015 to join the Network and were officially launched as an Économusée in 2017.

The six workshops are open all year round with artisans offering tailored individual and pre-booked group tours and are an ideal suitable wet weather attraction.

The Économusée concept (meaning ‘economic / working museum’) was developed in Québec, Canada. Its mission is to promote and keep alive traditional crafts and knowledge, whilst ensuring economic growth within rural communities.

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Ruairidh Morrison and fellow founding director Melanie of North Coast Smokehouse in Ballycastle

Draynes Farm in Lisburn has teamed up with Rademon Estate Craft Distillery in Crossgar to create a delicious dessert flavour.

A new gin and tonic sorbet has been launched by Draynes Farm using award-winning Shortcross Gin from Rademon Estate Craft Distillery.

Phillip Sanaghan, commercial manager at Draynes Farm, commenting on the new sorbet describes it as “a new twist on the gin revolution currently sweeping Northern Ireland”.

The new sorbet, he says, has” an aromatic, fragrant, juniper hit”.

“Draynes Farm Gin and Tonic Sorbet doesn’t just use any old gin. In a perfect partnership between two renowned local producers, our sorbet features the floral-meadow notes of Shortcross Gin, from Rademon. We carefullly blend this exquisite spirit with premier tonic, sugar and our own crystal-clear water in an entirely new and fascinating way.

“The resulting sorbet is full of character. The sugar serves to boost the flavours and enhance the texture, so Draynes Farm Gin and Tonic Sorbet is not overly sweet and retains its crisp, clean-cut bitterness and grassy notes.

“Whether as an intriguing amuse-bouche, the perfect aperitif before a meal or a citrusy palate-cleanser between courses, Draynes Farm Gin and Tonic Sorbet is sure to set those taste buds tingling,” he adds.

Fiona Boyd-Armstrong, managing director of Rademon Estate Craft Distillery, producer of the acclaimed and award-winning Shortcross, Northern Ireland’s original craft gin, which now exported to over 30 countries, says: “We were delighted when Draynes approached us about collaborating in the production of a unique sorbet featuring Shortcross.

“They’ve produced a really delicious sorbet to complement any meal or just to be enjoyed on its own. It has carried the distinctive flavours of the juniper and botanicals which make Shortcross such a unique tasting product,” she adds.

For more than 80 years, Draynes Farm, a family farm business, has been producing and delivering fresh milk and cream of the highest quality. They operate one of the most technology advanced dairy operations in Ireland and now use their milk to produce a successful range of ice cream flavours which have won national awards for quality and outstanding taste.

Draynes Farm, for instance, won 2 gold stars in the 2016 Great Taste Awards for its vanilla ice cream. The new sorbet joins an established portfolio of three and 10 ice cream flavours.

The Copeland Distillery in Northern Ireland has announced its first Irish whiskey, known as the ‘The 125’ Single Cask Reserve. Inspired by the Copeland Distillery’s 125-year lease on the new Donaghadee premises, ‘The 125’ reserve will offer private investors the opportunity to own one of 125 casks of this first release.

The whiskey will be distilled later this year with head distiller, William Stafford, and company founder, Gareth Irvine, overseeing all elements from grain selection to maturation. Copeland began business distilling fruit-infused gins.

Known as ‘The 125’, each investor who becomes a cask owner, will also become an important part of the Copeland Distillery, a Food NI member Each of the titles will be displayed on ‘The 125’ wall, signalling their investment and immortalising their important commitment to the distillery’s journey. Each cask owner will receive an official certificate of ownership and ‘The 125’ members card unlocking exclusive access to future events at the distillery and private tours. Members will also have the opportunity to visit their cask and request samples as it matures.

Anyone can purchase a cask of The 125, with the option of sharing an ownership with colleagues, family members and close friends available too. The distillery will also have a number of syndicate casks available for any individuals who wish to share ownership of a cask with similarly passionate whiskey drinkers.

Following distillation later this year, each cask will be filled and ‘put to sleep’ to mature for the next five years minimum in hand-selected casks. The Copeland Distillery places spirit-quality over yield, ensuring that only the highest quality new-make whiskey will be selected for maturation. The range of casks available to what will become ‘The 125’ are as follows:

• 100 ex-Bourbon casks of approximately 200 litres. Priced at a base cost of £4600 and yielding a return of over 400 bottles, these ex-bourbon casks will deliver a characterful whiskey with flavour compounds of caramel-like sweetness, spice and vanilla;
• 20 first-fill quarter, ex-bourbon casks of approximately 125 litres. Priced at a base cost £3000 and yielding over 250 bottles, these slightly smaller casks will mature at a quicker rate but deliver all the same sweetness and spice flavour as their larger counterparts;
• five sherry butts / port pipes casks of approximately 500 litres. Priced at £8000 and yielding over 1000 bottles, these ex-sherry or ex-port casks will create a slightly dry, rich-red coloured whiskey.

Once matured, ‘The 125’ will have the opportunity to decide if they would like their Single Cask Whiskey to be bottled and labelled on-site with a bespoke label, sold back to the  percent compound interest per year on casks if sold back to The Distillery’s ‘buy-back’ scheme after the minimum five years. An example of this for the 200-litre cask option is: Initial investment: £4,600.00. After five years: £5,204.48 or after 10: £5,888.39.

Gareth Irvine says: “We are gearing up to open the doors of the Copeland Distillery in just a couple months, which signals our growth as a business and the beginning of a new journey for us. The interest we’ve already had in ‘The 125’ Reserve details to us that our excitement is shared and there is a palpable confidence in our skill and ability to create quality, unique spirits.

“Having achieved so much in such a short space of time with our gin, which is now exported across the world to territories such as Australia and Europe, we’re confident that our whiskey will rise to the same success and further cement Copeland’s reputation as an impressive Northern Irish brand on the international stage. Our whiskey is the perfect marriage of traditional techniques and modern experimentation, each bottle of the whiskey will push creative boundaries and bring new flavours and character to the category,” he adds.