Belvoir Fruit Farms – where summer is put inside bottles

Finally, a flavoured sparkling drink which tastes exactly like the fruits and flowers its manufacturer put on the label. The cordials and presses from Belvoir Fruit Farms in the United Kingdom are the real thing, bubbling with the actual juices of berries, mangoes and peaches, as well as flower extracts.

We were introduced to the wickedly wonderful concoctions of Belvoir Fruit Farms one afternoon in mid-September, when dainty glass bottles of Elderflower & Rose Presse soaking in a tub of ice were more than a welcome sight for sore eyes.

They taste as good as they look! Made with sparkling spring water, elderberry juice, elderflowers and rose extract, and sweetened with organic sugar, this drink was elegantly floral with a crisp finish. Unlike artificially sweetened beverages, there was no lingering sticky aftertaste in the mouth. It was, for lack of a more appropriate and less abused word, refreshing – it actually quenched my thirst without making me lose appetite for lunch. Belvoir Fruit Farms products are free of artificial flavouring and colouring.

Speaking of food, Belvoir cordials can be creatively used in savoury marinades, sauces and dressings. At the launch event, held at Briton-run Rabbit Carrot Gun, we got to taste mini roast beef Yorkshire puddings which had blackcurrant apple cordial in it and chicken sliders marinated in orange cordial.

Belvoir’s signature ingredient is its elderflower, which is grown on its own farms, located in the Vale of Belvoir in the United Kingdom. The elderflowers are handpicked and made into cordials and presses, both of which can be made into delicious cocktails, mocktails and desserts. (For the uninitiated, cordials are like Ribena, you dilute it in water to make a beverage. Presses are ready-to-drink beverages made from fresh fruit juice and sugar.)

After lunch, Rabbit Carrot Gun’s owner, Lord Richard Trenchard, showed us how to concoct an English Garden cocktail at his pub-next-door, The Trenchard Arms.

Here’s what you need:

2 shots of rum
couple of lime wedges
elderflower cordial
fresh green apple juice
crushed mint leaves

shake everything together in a decanter and pour out into four glasses. what a treat.

A variety of recipes are available here.

Don’t be mistaken, it’s not just at British pubs that you’ll get a chance to savour the scintillating products of Belvoir Fruit Farms. You can pick up Belvoir Fruit Farms cordials and presses at supermarkets such as Cold Storage, FairPrice Finest, Meidi-Ya and Marketplace by Jasons. You can order them online at organicdelivery.sg and healthygourmet.sg. The Organic Cordials (50 cl) are $11.90 each, the Cordials (500 ml) are $9.90 each and it’s $6.70 for the presses (750 ml).

Of course, you can always order them to go with your meal at Rabbit Carrot Gun, and adjourn to The Trenchard Arms for a tipple after.

Rabbit Carrot Gun is at 49E East Coast Road.