Chris “Flamebaster” Roberts Champions the First Welsh Vermouth in Pembrokeshire
Last summer we welcomed Chris “Flamebaster” Roberts to the distillery as part of the Narberth episode of Flaming Feasts on the BBC. We had an absolute blast over two days of filming — plenty of conversations about foraging for botanicals, and Chris sampling the first Welsh vermouth, made right here in Pembrokeshire.
Discovering the Pembrokeshire botanicals that make the First Welsh Vermouth unique
Chris spent day one learning about how we make the first Welsh vermouth – our Sweet Vermouth [link here to sweet vermouth page] – using local Pembrokeshire botanicals. The morning started with some pretty heavy Pembrokeshire rain, but that didn’t deter Chris from heading outside to explore the plants we grow around the distillery. These are planted examples of the wild botanicals we forage along the Pembrokeshire coastline, inland estuary and hedgerows — the same botanicals that help shape the flavour of our vermouths and aperitivos.
After a couple of hours, even the hardy BBC crew needed some respite from the rain, and we headed inside the distillery. Here Chris “Flamebaster” Roberts discovered our cold vacuum still, which we use to distil foraged botanicals individually. This gentle distillation technique preserves the delicate flavours of the plants and allows us to truly capture the wild character of Pembrokeshire in our spirits.
A Pembrokeshire inspired recipe from Chris “Flamebaster” Roberts
Chris then sampled both of our Welsh vermouths, along with our fully Welsh Negroni. After much consideration he chose the Dry Vermouth to feature later in a special recipe designed to showcase the best of Pembrokeshire produce. The dish centred around a whole chicken sourced from a local Narberth butcher, slowly flamebasted in our distillery bar stone oven, and finished with a rich dry vermouth and tarragon cream sauce — using our Dry Vermouth, of course. [link here to dry vermouth page]
While filming Flaming Feasts in Narberth, Chris also stopped in at Fire & Ice to try some of their incredible ice creams, including a special Blood Orange Negroni sorbet they created using our fully Welsh Negroni. Sadly this didn’t make it into the final BBC Flaming Feasts Narberth episode, but if you’re visiting Narberth, Pembrokeshire, Fire & Ice is well worth a stop.
What exactly is Welsh Vermouth?
Chris loves using foraged herbs and botanicals in his dishes and is a genuine champion of Vermouth – he had recently taken a trip to Barcelona and knew all the best vermuterias (bars dedicated to serving Vermouth) there. Here in Britain, many people are still a little unsure about what Vermouth actually is. Vermouth is an aromatised, fortified wine infused with botanicals such as herbs, roots and spices, one of which is always wormwood – we use sea wormwood. While it was traditionally made in Italy and France, a small number of producers are now creating vermouth in the UK. Here at Still Wild we make the first Welsh vermouth, using carefully foraged botanicals from our beautiful Pembrokeshire home.
Cooking with Welsh Vermouth in the Pembrokeshire sunshine
When Chris and the BBC crew returned to the distillery to BBQ, the sun had finally emerged to show off Pembrokeshire at its absolute best. Chris is an absolute enthusiast and revelled in cooking up his feast of flamebasted Pembrokeshire chicken in tarragon and foraged Welsh vermouth sauce. We were lucky enough to try it ourselves — and can confirm it’s definitely a recipe worth recreating at home.
It was a fantastic couple of days celebrating local food, fire cooking, and the Pembrokeshire botanicals that offer up their unique, wild flavours in our first Welsh vermout
