It took sustainable Scottish drinks company Highland Boundary seven years to perfect the recipe for its newest launch.
Wild Scottish Bitters lays claim to being the first aromatic bitters recipe to feature native Scottish plants.
The company is hoping the Scottish-made product will help Scotland’s bars to cut their carbon footprint by offering an alternative to brands that are imported from overseas.
Distillery co-founder, Dr Marian Bruce, said sustainability is an essential tenet of Highland Boundary as ‘there is no business as usual nor profits on a dead planet’.
She argued that there needs to be a ‘paradigm shift’ in how companies do business.
“We work individually with each wild plant to determine the conditions to extract the best flavour, then we combine them to achieve the final recipe that brings an aromatic bitterness essential to cocktails and which enhances the flavours of other cocktail ingredients,” she said.
Co-founder Simon Montador said Scotland has ‘lost the cultural connection’ with most of its native flora.
“At Highland Boundary distillery we work only with wild Scottish plants to research and restore this knowledge and aim to re-connect people back to nature through the unique flavours found in our wild landscapes,” said Montador.
Wild Scottish Bitters joins Highland Boundary’s existing range of Wild Scottish Spirits, which come in Birch and Elderflower and Larch and Honeysuckle flavours.
To promote the new bitters Highland Boundary has teamed with another Scottish drinks company, Whisky Row, to promote serves which feature both companies’ products. These include an Old Fashioned which mixes Whisky Row’s Smooth & Sweet whisky with Wild Scottish Bitters and sugar syrup.
A launch event was held at Edinburgh cocktail and whisky bar Tipsy Midgie.
Montador said: “With whisky being one of Scotland’s biggest exports these Wild Scottish Bitters build on our heritage of great drinks distilling. It’s fantastic to collaborate with the progressive team from Whisky Row to launch the first ever Scottish cocktail bitters at Edinburgh’s favourite whisky bar. The bitters bring a lovely balance to both traditional and modern cocktails and we look forward to seeing how cocktail bartenders and enthusiasts will use them going forward.”
