Q&A Q&A
Venue Insight is pleased to welcome Shaun Bebington, Founder of Pocketful of Stones.
Welcome to Venue Insight Magazine, so first up please introduce yourself and Pocketful of Stones....
I grew up on the Dolphin Coast in South Africa, moved to the UK in 2002 and as you do when you’re young, have no money, but like beer, you go and get yourself a bar job. I’ve been working in hospitality ever since so have been constantly surrounded by booze. It took a while but eventually I started to separate the good stuff from the bad; the quality beer and spirits from the poor. Once I started appreciating alcohol for what it was, one thing leads to another. From brewing beer in the kitchen, to making infusions, to eventually getting a little copper pot still, making gin.
My brother, Dale, has been and continues to be a huge inspiration. He’s one of those cocktails boys at the top of his game. Whenever we’re together it’s an introduction of new spirits, flavours and ideas. Having both grown up on the coast we decided we’d had enough of the big smoke and needed to get back to the ocean. Hence the move to Cornwall and the start up of Pocketful of Stones Distillery.
What’s your earliest memory of tasting Absinthe?...
Belfast circa 2003/4. I can’t remember the name of the bar but that’s probably from drinking Absinthe. It’s only been more recently that I’ve come to appreciate Absinthe though. I loved the journey of making Morveren and tasting some amazing Absinthe on the market already. The thing with Absinthe, much like gin, is that there are a few rules you need to stick to but after that there is so much
8 JULY 2018
WWW.VENUE-INSIGHT.COM
WITH FOUNDER SHAUN BEBINGTON
to explore. Flavours, fruits, seaweeds, herbs and spices and combinations of those that make for endless combinations.
What’s the story on Morveren?...
We’ve named our Absinthe of the tale of the mermaid of Pendour Cove. In Zennor just above Pendour Cove there is a church, in that church is a bench, on that bench is a 600 year old engraving of Morveren the mermaid. Its pretty amazing that this tale has been around for so long, passed down from generation to generation. With something that precious we could do eveything we have without the utmost respect to the ingredients we use, our production methods and the tale itself. We grown our own wormwood with Josh from Wild St Ives on the cliffs near Zennor and we use sea weed from the Cornish Seaweed Company, both of whom are very focused on sustainability and environment.
Morveren is very aniseedy, as is traditional in Absinthe, she louches very well but in a Corpse Reviver no 2 is where she really shines. If you read this before Imbibe, my brother will be shaking a few cocktails. Come on over and have a taste.
Absinthe is the most maligned and misunderstood drink in history – how are you aiming to change people’s perceptions?...
Well its a bit of a double edged sword really. I think there is a lot of interest in Absinthe because of its history. Obviously we don’t want it banned again, but it is because the ban on absinthe was enforced for so long that we are now in a situation where everyone has heard about the drink and the rumours of it causing hallucinations and debaucherous behaviour in France in the late 1800’s. What I would like to see now is people tasting the Absinthe and looking for
the subtle differences that the craft distillers have looked to achieve in their product rather than looking at it as a high percentage spirit that’s just there to get you drunk. Much like the gin world at the minute.
What does Pocketful of Stones have released so far and is there any more in the pipeline to come?...
We started out with two gins, a classic Cornish Dry Gin and our Midsummer Gin, which is infused with cucumber and dill. We then made a couple of seasonal products, a Summer Fruit Cup and a Damson Gin. This year we have laid down some cider brandy and some whisky to rest and mature. We also do Rose Gin for Tinkture and a Holborn Gin for The Holborn Gin Co is going to be out shortly. I have also been involved in a new venture, West Coast Distillers, up, well, the west coast in South Africa. We are doing a South African edition of Caspyn with African botanicals, three different bitters and hopefully an African Tequila or Mescal, although we won’t be able to call them that so an agave spirit.
Are there any other drinks you’d like to see a revival of?...
I think you are seeing a revival of the whole spirits market at the minute. We’ve taken the lead from the craft beer movement and continued on with small batch, craft, regional meticulously, developed spirits painstakingly produced through traditional methods. As long as that continues we won’t see a single corner of the spirits market unaffected and bettered. These are exciting times!
www.pocketfulofstones.com
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