Bumper crop fuels gin bottling boom

A bumper crop of damsons and cherries is being used to produce thousands of bottles of gin and vodka on the south Shropshire border which will be sold across the UK, it has been revealed.

Tonnes of Teme Valley fruit will be crushed and crammed into flavoured spirits at Tipsage Farm, near Tenbury Wells, before being sold on to specialist retailers. Some of the recipes used are old family secrets dating back as far as 1848.

Colin Hingston, who runs Tipsy Fruit Gins from the farm, said his damson trees were already flowering which heralds a good year for fruit.

He said there would be 18,000 litres of spirits produced on the farm this year – enough to fill 36,000 bottles.

Mr Hingston, who runs the business with his wife and daughter, is maintaining family ties with the farm dating back to the 1800s, when damsons grown on the land would be sent to Manchester to dye cotton.

Mr Hingston said: "Every nine out of 10 years we are self-sufficient in the fruit we grow. This year it looks like we should once again be self-sufficient in at least damsons and cherries.

"At the moment we do six different gins and one vodka. We are producing 18,000 litres a year.

"Some of the best fruit in the world is produced in the Teme Valley and it's good to be able to put it to use."

After fruit is harvested Mr Hingston said the maturing process takes a minimum of three months.

At present the farm produces damson, raspberry, cherry, blackcurrant, sloe, Seville orange gin and a lime vodka. And, as a man of principle, Mr Hingston has insisted none of his bottles will ever grace the shelves of Britain's major supermarkets.

He said: "We used to own Ludlow Larder in Ludlow which is now Deli on the Square. Because of that experience we will never sell to supermarkets as long as I'm here, I hate supermarkets.

For details visit www.tipsage.co.uk