The Business Curators ZINE

Castle Hill Gin

The year 2020 started with such promise and optimism before slowly decaying into insanity. I’m Tom, a 34 year old father of 1 (soon to be 2!) Huddersfield University graduate, ex large format print professional, current escape room owner and long time gin lover (any flavoursome alcohol lover come to think of it…)

Whilst the global disaster of Coronavirus meant that I had to close the doors to my other business, it also gave me the opportunity to resurrect a lifelong dream of starting a gin company. With no real experience in distilling, and only a vague opinion on exactly what I like in a gin, I started my journey in the summer of 2020 with the goal of having a finished product in my hands before Christmas.

I am not a person to hang around when I’ve got an idea – in fact, if you ask my wife she’d say I’m like a bull to a red rag once I set my eye on something. I got straight on to the task at hand, and began with the most essential part of starting a gin business… ordering, and subsequently drinking, an obscene amount of gin and telling myself I was “conducting a tasting”. From trying various local and more national brands, I found that I really enjoyed a drink packed with flavour which can be enjoyed neat as much as it can with a tonic. I then went out into the industry and gained a wealth of knowledge and met a range of gin lovers and distillers that offered plenty of advice. I found a team of experts that then helped create the first recipes and set up the production side of things.

One of the hardest parts of the journey was coming up with a name, and then creating a label that suited the brand I wanted to create. Initially I knew I wanted it to be a very local product as Huddersfield has been my home for many years, and I’m a firm advocate of the town, and what better landmark to champion the brand than Castle Hill. After weeks of dealing with different graphic designers and agencies I happened across a fantastic and quirky illustrator through a friend of ours and within a few short hours she had captured the look of the brand perfectly.

In the last few weeks of December everything started to fall into place as we finalised recipes, chose bottles, agreed on labels and started producing, all of which meant that I finally achieved my goal of having two gins that I’m immensely proud of in my hands before 2020 was up.

Our London Dry is made using eight carefully selected and perfectly balanced botanicals, providing the classic initial juniper hit, leading to floral notes with a sweet finish

Enjoy the journey of flavour either neat, on the rocks, or with a FeverTree Mediterranean tonic garnished with a lightly bruised sprig of rosemary and slice of pink grapefruit.

Smooth and elegant Lady Grey botanicals give waves of light black tea and bergamot fragrance then disappear into a silky and abiding citrus finale

The tea has been carefully chosen from the wonderful T&Cake tea rooms in Almondbury (the home of Castle Hill!)

Enjoy the journey of flavour either neat, on the rocks, or with a Fever-Tree clementine tonic garnished with a slice of lemon and twist of orange zest.

The mix of fruit will be apparent on the nose, with the soft marshmallow taste coming through from the hibiscus. The subtleness of the rhubarb ties the gin together throughout.

Perfect Serve – Fill a chilled glass with plenty of ice, add a double measure of gin and a Fever-Tree Light Elderflower tonic, garnish with a slice of crisp apple

On the nose this gin is very inviting with aromas of fresh juicy oranges and a zing of raspberry, and gives a light and refreshing taste leading to a sweet finish.

Perfect Serve – Fill a chilled glass with plenty of ice, add a double measure of gin and a Fever-Tree Light Indian tonic, garnish with a slice of orange and a couple of fresh raspberries (Castle Hill Gin, 2022).

Where can you find us?

Huddersfield,

Stuck in the Riddle

Stuck in the Riddle is a new, fun, challenging, live escape room game. We are based right in the heart of Huddersfield. Our escape games are specially designed for 2 to 7 players.

With the ability to run all three rooms at the same time, it means we can accommodate up to 21 players in one session!

Can you breakout of our murder mystery escape room, or will you stay locked in the depths of our dark dungeons? What would you do if you got lost in the woods? Can you solve the mysteries to find your way back to civilisation, by making it out of our cabin in the woods escape room? In our cape escape room you have just an hour to save the world before we’re all doomed! Can you save the world in time?

Choose your team mates wisely, as we’ll lock you up and give you exactly one hour to escape! All games are private, so once booked we will block out your slot to any others trying to book.

There’s been a murder! With blood on your shirt, suspicion quickly turns to you, you need to find the murder weapon, and who the real culprit is to prove your innocence before the police arrive to take you away!

We decided to solve an old case that baffled police for years – it’s a shame it involves sending people back to the creepy cabin in the woods that the killer used as a hideout, but it’s all in the name of justice!

It’s not every day you break into a super hero’s flat, but saving the world is a bit of a priority for us, and we think your team have just the right stuff to compleate the task!

Murder Mystery Escape Room

Can you find the real murderer before the police arrive?

Cabin in the Woods Escape Room

Can you discover the murderer's identity before he returns?

We’re re-opening an old case! Whilst attending Lord Farringdon’s annual dinner, his Lordship leaves the room for a short time and suddenly there is a loud gunshot! No one seemed to see anything, and so the last person to see him alive is the main suspect. The quick thinking Colonel jumps to conclusions and bumbles them into Lord Farringdon’s study and locks the door behind them while the police are called.

This poor soul spent the rest of their life in prison, and we have reason to believe they were not the true killer. We’ve managed to obtain some of their DNA and can thankfully implant the memory of their last hour of freedom, albeit locked in Lord Farringdon’s study, into someone’s brain so we can set the record straight once and for all.

We’re not sure who the murderer is, but you need to find out who is, where his Lordship was killed, and with which murder weapon before the police arrive in an hour.

Our murder mystery escape room is perfect for team building events, stag/hen do’s, birthday parties, date night and much more!

**Please note – There is an element of crawling required in this room by at least 1 player!

Can you solve the crime before the police arrive?

You have 60 minutes to find out who the real killer is, what room the murder was committed and the weapon they used, before the police arrive and take you away!

Since we developed our memory implant technology we’ve been asked to solve various mysteries, but this one is probably our most sinister yet!

Known only as the silent slayer, this murderer has claimed numerous lives over the years, and now that we’ve aquired some DNA from one of the victims we can finally send you back to their last memory to see if you can discover the murderer’s true identity before the victim met their demise.

Don’t worry, we’re pretty sure this technology is safe and we can get you out of there before anything bad happens.

Our Escape rooms are perfect for team building events, stag/hen do’s, birthday parties, date night and much more!

**Please note – This room can be dark at times and may contain jump scares, we therefore recommend a minimum age of 14 years old to play this room!

Will you be lost in the woods?

The Cape Escape Room

It's time to save the world!

Where can you find us?

So it turns out super heros have been living among us for as long as we can tell, and we happen to have a memory of someone that infiltrated one of these super hero’s homes in order to save the world – it seemed to be quite a difficult task, and a little bit of a waste of time as the information they found has been misplaced. No problem though, we’ll just send you back into that memory as we’re sure you’ll be able to complete the near impossible task of breaking the security systems to save the world once more!

You have 60 minutes to break into our super hero’s flat, break into the super secure room and save the world (Stuck in a Riddle, 2022)!

32 Westgate, Huddersfield, HD1 1NX

Calder Art Supplies Where can you find us?

Looking for Artist supplies and Art materials?

Here at Calder Art Supplies we stock some of the best Art materials from around the world. Winsor and Newton, Daler Rowney, Daniel Smith, Derwent and Staedtler to name just a few of the prestigious brands available. We are not just dedicated to fine art supplies as we have a range of crafting supplies, modelling supplies and graphic supplies. We have been trading for over 25 years and now stock over 11,500 individual lines. We pride ourselves at selecting the very best materials available and unlike many other companies, we are available to offer our expert advice through our art shop in the beautiful Byram Arcade in Huddersfield town centre. All our staff are practicing artists, crafters or illustrators with a 'hands on' approach to our products (Calder Art Supplies, 2022).

5 Byram Arcade, Westgate Rd, Huddersfield HD1 1ND