Yorkshire firms collaborate to create bespoke gin

Two of Yorkshire’s food and drink brands, Cooper King Distillery and Skosh restaurant, have collaborated to craft a limited-edition gin which teams perfectly with Skosh’s eclectic small plate menu.

The teams at Cooper King Distillery and Skosh have been hard at work for months developing and distilling a range of unique ingredients which best reflect Skosh’s varied menu. The signature botanicals Skosh wanted to include were black cardamom, nori, mandarin and Szechuan peppercorn. The gin has incorporated all these complex flavours to compliment the dishes on offer at the restaurant.

Skosh – meaning a ‘small amount’ in Japanese – opened in 2016 and is the brainchild of York chef, Neil Bentinck, whose aim was to create a restaurant that served small plates of refined Asian-inspired cuisine. The varied menu is influenced by Bentinck’s Indian family heritage and travels around the world which incorporates a multitude of flavours utilising Yorkshire and British produce.

Cooper King Distillery, which launched its inaugural product, Cooper King Dry Gin earlier this year, has produced a limited number of bottles of the craft Skosh gin which will be served as the restaurant’s signature house gin from Friday 14 December.

Abbie Neilson, co-founder of Cooper King Distillery said“We’ve absolutely loved working with the creative team at Skosh to help turn their passion for flavour into a delicious bespoke gin. The resulting Skosh gin is truly unique, with a beautiful layering of intriguing botanicals which can make a cracking G&T.

“We are so proud to be supporting such an exciting restaurant in our home county of Yorkshire and to help them enhance their already awe-inspiring menu. We know they will continue to go from success-to-success, accompanied along the way with some amazing cocktails.”

Bentinck, owner and head chef at Skosh, added: “We met Chris and Abbie a while back and decided from the off, that with their passion and knowledge, we could create a very special and unusual gin for our customers at the restaurant.  We really wanted to include some full-on flavours in the gin. Abbie and Chris embraced the concept and truly showed their understanding and knowledge of distilling and balanced the flavours in our bespoke gin to perfection!”

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