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 Elderflower Power!
We are still on the theme of the amazing elderflower this month. We closed up shop as planned and headed to the Dalmeny Estate just outside Edinburgh to gather elderflower for this season's deliciously fresh  Elderflower Vinegar which is now ready to order and perfect for your Summer salads. More about our picking adventures and our 5th birthday party below! Rosie has also succeeded in giving us a new flavour for Summer. Together we have refined our unique Gooseberry Gin Liqueur 17% and although we have not been out picking those berries, gooseberries are very much in season and wow does this new version taste good! Try it as a long, cool Summer drink with tonic, ice and a slice of lemon. Sit back, relaxxxxx...... I think you've got the idea!
to order any of our products either visit our new Demijohn Online Shop or call us on +44 (0)141 3373600
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Demijohn News - July 2009
 Our News: Crikey it has been busy! Since I last wrote, we have been scorching around the country to various shows in Yorkshire, Birmingham and up here in Scotland. We met up with some old friends and even encouraged a whole load of new enthusiasts to try a little of what Demijohn has to offer for themselves. But there is not doubt in my mind  that the main event of the last month or so has been our elderflower picking mission which took place on the 1st July. Not only did this provide us with enough elderflowers to ensure a healthy supply of Elderflower Vinegar for at least part of this year, but it also appropriately marked our 5th successful year in business, an amazing feat when I think of how we began!  Elderflower picking may well appear a somewhat romantic and summery activity, however as we were to find out there is a rather more prickly and wet side in reality. Closing the shops early that day, (for which I apologise now to any customers who found themselves at a locked door!), we converged en masse on the Sinclair's Farm on the Dalmeny Estate, just North of  Edinburgh. Anne Sinclair, who is the guru behind production of our Elderflower Vinegar and a number of our other soft fruit vinegars, kindly gave us a brief on some of the secrets behind how our delicious vinegars are made and some top picking tips. Then it was off into the hedgerows and borders we went, for about two and half hours. Initially the sun shone brightly, and with only the nettles and thistles to contain our enthusiasm, we gathered like there was no tomorrow. Various brave volunteer guests came out with us, including one rather famous  personality, Euan McIlwraith from BBC Radio Scotland who had come to interview us for his popular broadcast on the Out of Doors Show on Saturday mornings. Well, you can just imagine what happened. 10 minutes into the interview the heavens opened. Forked lightning, terrible thunder and rain like stair rods. Charming! Luckily if you missed Euan's interview you can listen to his BBC pod cast. (Our interview starts at 0.20.28 on the recording). As you can imagine a little rain was not going to stop our play. Only 30 minutes later we were back out picking again and doing a little drying out! Our efforts produced enough elderflowers for about 110 litres of vinegar, a great achievement. That evening we carried on, now dry, in the warm evening sun with a BBQ to  celebrate our Demijohn 5th Birthday. Luckily this part was not recorded on the radio, but you can imagine that a few cocktails were made and consumed as well as a pile of spicy sausages and wonderful Buffalo burgers! We are already planning the next hedgerow picking mission in October to gather sloe berries in Galloway again for our Sloe Gin. More on this nearer the time. But if you are newly enthused by the idea of getting out there and picking some sloe berries for us, get in contact now and you could even earn some pocket money!
Product News
 If there was an olive oil to complement our new Elderlfower Vinegar for dressing a salad it would have to be the January 2009 harvest of our Kabbadates Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil. A marriage of tastes made in heaven. You may think I am getting all romantic on you, but it is not like that! There will actually never be enough of either of these products sadly, as the best things in life are nearly always in short supply. There is indeed another saying which I have claimed for myself. "Very rarely in life are things that taste good, good for you." Just think of cooking with cream, butter and salt? The dish always tastes wonderful and chefs know it! Well an Elderflower Vinegar and Kabbadates Olive Oil dressing  bucks this trend spectacularly. So if you haven't tried either yet, come and see us soon so as not to miss out! While we have sadly run out of our Damson Gin, we now have back in stock our Sloe Gin from part of the 2008 crop. There is not much to go around so be quick! Also our attractive and cleverly stackable Impilabile bottles are now back in stock in the shops. And finally...we have a new 8 Year Old Caol Ila Single Islay Malt on tap which is causing quite a stir. It may be the youngest Caol Ila we have ever stocked, but it is also possibly the smoothest. Its magical taste is appealing to nearly all Islay Malt lovers who try it. So, if you are a smokey whisky fan, drop in for a quick sniff, as it won't last forever!
Coming soon: More new Whiskies, some new and fruity liqueurs and some new bottle racks. More in the next newsletter.
 Event News
Our next event for the Summer is the gigantic CLA Game Fair. This year it is held at Belvoir Castle, Grantham between 24th and 26th July and we will be on Stand 26 in the British Food Village. We are seriously hoping that this year will be cooler than our first CLA last year, but at least we will have some refreshing drinks on the stand if we do see you there! Do not forget your bottles if you would like to refill.
Staff News
 Our Birthday BBQ marked the sad departure of both Amy Thomas and Ceara East. Amy, after graduating with an impressive first Class Honours Degree from Edinburgh University, leaves us for London and the business of travel. Ceara has departed on her travels to Nepal and Canada for up to a year as part of her degree, although we are hoping very much that she will return and rejoin us for a 3rd time when she eventually arrives back in the UK. We wish them both all the best of luck! Happily we welcome another 2 new members to our team to fill their places. Sarah Kwan has joined Edinburgh and Fiona MacGregor has joined Glasgow. Both are massively enthusiastic and have proved to be fast learners!
Do let me know if you have any great ideas or suggestions about us, whether good or bad, as I am all ears. Simply email me at info@demijohn.co.uk and I think you will be surprised when I respond! If you Twitter, so do I (occasionally!), visit http://twitter.com/demijohnthedeli for my updates.
Angus Ferguson
Managing Director
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