4 minute read
Shaken & stirred
Henry Chevallier Guild, an eighth generation cyder and vinegar maker who has been instrumental in making Aspall an internationally renowned brand, is now turning his attention to range of alcohol-free botanical syrups. We find out if setting up Nonsuch Shrubs has turned him into a softy.
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For the past two decades, Henry and his brother Barry have been synonymous with the brand Aspall and are responsible for creating a range of products that are now recognised around the world. A chilled bottle of Aspall Cyder is indeed a thing of delectation, especially on a hot summer’s day after a few hours in the garden, and their organic vinegars are a store cupboard staple in many a Suffolk household. However, in 2018, after realising that in order for the brand to continue to grow and develop they needed serious investment, they sold it to the multinational drinks company, Morson Coors. The family still own the apple orchards just outside Debenham, continuing to supply Aspall with the juice, and Henry and Barry have been retained on the Board to make sure the transition runs smoothly.
Throughout his time at Aspall, Henry was always interested in the technical and chemical processes, especially making vinegar from cyder, and his new venture, Nonsuch Shrubs, was born out of this curiosity. During a particularly lack lustre ‘dry October’, when he and his wife Lizzie were bored with the alternatives on offer, Henry decided to make a drink that would
satisfy their need for something a little different. “We wanted something that had body and behaved like an alcohol-based drink – it needed to be sipped, poured over ice and have layers of flavour.” Knowing that the Victorians were partial to summer refreshers or ‘temperance tonics’, Henry started experimenting with his own vinegar-based drinks, balanced with fruit sugars and botanicals.
“Once I started looking into this in more detail, I discovered that fruit vinegars, or shrubs as they were known, have been around for centuries and were particularly popular with members of court during the Ottoman Empire.” The word shrub is derived from the Arabic word ‘sharab’, which was a drink originally made from the vinegar used to preserve the precious date harvests, and even further back, the legionnaires of Ancient Rome drank posca, a medicinal mixture of vinegar, herbs and water. It seems they knew what they were doing, as Henry’s own concoctions went down a treat with friends who were at the wheel or off the drink, and so in 2018, with newfound time on his hands, he founded Nonsuch Shrubs.
From his workshop over at Bentwaters, Henry has tried and tested a variety of flavours and combinations, and there are currently six shrub syrups and sodas to enjoy. These include such fabulous combinations as Wild Hedgerow & Rose; Blackcurrant and Juniper; Blood Orange & Bitter Lemon; and Caramelised Pineapple & Ginger. All share the same organic vinegar base - supplied by Aspall - and Henry sources the fruits and botanicals from the hedgerows of Suffolk to the
far-flung shores of Spain and Sicily. The cyder vinegar gives them an acidity which is perfectly balanced by the fruit sugars, whilst the botanicals give the drinks a slight bitterness, adding body and a depth of flavour that makes them behave more like their alcoholic counterparts.
Henry’s aim is to reinvent shrubs for the 21st century, making them relevant, modern, and fashionable. The shrubs syrups are brilliantly versatile as they can be mixed with soda or sparkling water to make a long refreshing summer drink or used as the base for an alcohol-free cocktail. Interestingly, during lockdown, Henry also discovered that they are the perfect mixer for nearly any type of alcohol. “The four shrub syrups work in such harmony with spirits that we are now looking at working with bars and restaurants to create our own specialised cocktail lists. We have used them for everything from a Harvey Wallbanger, where the Blood Orange & Bitter Lemon is shaken over ice with vodka and Galliano, to our take on the classic Cosmopolitan, which swaps out the cranberry and Cointreau for Wild Hedgerow & Rose.”
Nonsuch is a suffix for different apple varieties, the word meaning ‘without compare’, and I must agree that there is nothing on the soft drinks market that comes anywhere close to Henry’s botanical shrubs. I am also rather curious to have a little cocktail shake-up and have my eye on a Mexican Breakfast Margarita followed by a Pink Grapefruit & Pineapple Spritz – well, I’m not driving!
