Hands up who wants to pretend to be a witch, mixing flavours in a huge cauldron, creating their own liqueur? Well, now you can. Sort of. You don’t actually get to poke sticks in a cauldron, but you can create your own drink from the comfort of your own home, sitting in front of your computer (on a broomstick wearing a witches outfit with a black cat on your lap if you wish).
Alchemist Dreams is run by Ruth Ball from her South London Victorian terrace. After you’ve created your liqueur, she’ll mix it, bottle it, seal it, tie a hand-printed personalised label to it and send it to you. The only thing she won’t do is drink it for you but that would be pretty pointless really, wouldn’t it? But if you are tempted to ask her to drink it for you because you don’t how to drink it, then there are guidelines on her website on what to drink it with. She really has thought of everything.
So, how do you go about creating your custom liqueur? The website will walk you through it but it goes like this:
Choose one or two main flavours from blackberry, blueberry, orange, lime or strawberry;
Add some accents – for example (I won’t list them all here, there’s flipping loads of them) sarsaparilla, vanilla, cinnamon, basil or black pepper;
Choose one of the beautiful bottles.
Or, if you’re hopeless at making decisions, simply choose from one of the house blends.
Don’t worry about making a hideous concoction – Ruth will email you if she really doesn’t think your combination will work, but she will of course be happy to mix it for you if you really want it.
There’s currently a Christmas offer on the website: Buy any three bottles before 30th Nov and get a fourth one free. So you can sit back, relax and put your feet up with a drink. Choose from Smug (choc & orange), Relaxed (rasp & lavender) or Classic (winter warmer).
All the liqueurs are vegetarian, vegan (including the chocolate flavour) and organic. For more information, visit the Alchemist Dreams website.