Feragaia, Scotland's First Nonalcoholic Distillery

I think

There's a lot to be said about colonialist histories, monarchies, the complications of the Windsors, and specifically Queen Elizabeth II and her recent death, but no one wants to hear what I think about all of that. (Plus, the outpouring from the United States, especially white Americans, has perplexed me—and I met her! I get that the queen represented a kind of calm continuity as essentially the head of state for the Brits, and I know our nation has bound itself to England in many ways, beginning in the late 19th century, plus we have this fascination with the royals and the sometimes lurid details of their drama, but she was never actually a part of American life. I guess her sheer commitment and longevity are meaningful. Wait—I said I wasn’t going to take up space with this!) I would direct you instead to an Instagram post from writer Marcie Alvis Walker, who beautifully articulated her internal conflict over the matter.

I will say that I have Scotland on my mind. (Note that earlier this year, a poll by the think tank British Future found that more than a third of Scots said the end of the queen’s reign would be the right time to abolish the monarchy and become a republic.) This is not only because of the news, or because I have some Scottish family (shout out to my McIntosh cousins), or because it's home to the most hauntingly beautiful seaside landscape, but also because Jamie Wild and Bill Garnock, Scotland-based co-founders of a nonalcoholic spirit called Feragaia, completed construction on one of the first nonalcoholic distilleries if not the first in the historically heavy-drinking country two weeks ago. (See, there is something relevant to the Good Drinks newsletter here!) Located in Fife, it will be open to the public by the end of the month. (Feragaia was previously made at a private distillery elsewhere in the country.)

I had a conversation with Wild a few months ago, but I feel called to share part of it now. Before I do so, though, I want to make very clear that the thoughts expressed in the first paragraph are mine and not Wild's or Garnock's. Neither the queen nor the monarchy was a topic of our conversation at all.

I spent a very cold January in the highlands some years ago.

You had a Burns night, did you?

Oh, yes.

We've been trying to work out how we can sort of contemporize Burns night a little bit, making it alcohol-free and toying around with this slightly new-age vision of what Scotland is. As we know, it's famed for tartan and shortbread and whiskey, which is all very evocative and romantic, but I think the reality of Scotland now, especially if you're in Edinburgh or Glasgow, is that you've got this exciting, innovative stuff going on.

We launched Feragaia in Glasgow three years ago at a trade fair. I was expecting to get quite a lot of challenging skepticism around what we were doing, but Feragaia's generally been embraced here. I think that really speaks to the progressive attitude that Scotland has.

So how did it all start for you?

Bill, who is Scottish and who lives on a small family farm in Fife, and I—I'm actually originally from Cornwall, England—were both attracted to the spirits world after school. It's so competitive, and spirits are quite unlike other consumer products. There's such loyalty to brands and there's such passion and interest in it. So Bill worked for Edrington Americas and Quintessential Brands and I for Sipsmith and then Pernod Ricard, but we eventually had a discussion around our lives and what we'd like to see. Two strands really emerged.

One was, for me, I've grown up in a very alcohol-dependent world. Alcohol is so closely linked to every social occasion, and it's quite hard to avoid it. But when you're ambitious and you want to be healthy... I started reassessing my routines and habits, and there are other people, too, who've realized that, Actually, the way I'm living my life at the moment needs to change and update. I'm bursting at the edges because I'm putting in too much. I'm trying to socialize, trying to keep up with my family, trying to work as hard as I can, trying to do fitness, trying to go on holiday and explore—it's just too much.

I'm not saying that this drink is going to solve all of humanity's issues, but I think it can solve a few personal issues. So it's more of a selfish endeavor, Feragaia, because I wanted to create something that could build people's confidence in alcohol-free drinks so they don't feel ashamed or uncomfortable going for them.

That was emerging along with the thoughts around the process in which alcohol-free spirits are made. At the time, there were a couple on the market, but they were either gin mimics or they were quite reliant on using alcohol in the process. Bill and I felt there was a more confident philosophy to build an alcohol-free spirit around.

What do you mean by that?

We didn't want to rely on the thing we were trying to avoid. We wanted to make a product that never touches alcohol and is not mimicking the flavor.

So, that was the starting point. In 2018, we left our jobs and went about developing the liquid and also the brand.

So, tell me about that liquid!

We wanted depth of flavor, something that challenges you, slows you down, and makes you want to unpick what's in there. That’s what separates it from a drink that you'd have during the day, like a juice or a tea.

So, we've got fourteen land and sea botanicals, many of which we harvest around the distillery in Fife. The local botanicals are lemon verbena and blackcurrant leaf, sugar kelp that we grow on our own seaweed line, bay leaf, and chamomile. So, we gather them [and source the others] and then we then go through this process of maceration, which is where we had to get quite creative.

Alcohol is aggressive and so it's very effective at extracting flavor, but of course we don't have that. Instead, we use our won maceration and extraction methods, some of which involve temperature change (heating and chilling), to break down the botanical matter and extract those essences and oils. But we certainly have to overcompensate; I think we use six times more botanical matter than we would if we were using alcohol in order to get the flavor that we do.

We then steam distill at higher temperatures through a traditional copper pot still. Some of the hardier botanicals completely overpower the more delicate lemon verbena and camomile, so in order to protect the lighter notes, we run them separately. Then, we blend them together and let that rest for about two months, because the flavors take a bit of time to intertwine with one another. And once it settles into that Feragaia flavor, we cut it with Scottish water—a very pure and clean source—and bottle it.

As far as the distillery goes, we just want to throw open the doors and show people that this is a properly distilled product: These are the botanicals; this is the process that we go through.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Feragaia's flavor drinks exactly as Wild said it would: On the top, vibrance comes from lemon verbena and blackcurrant leaf. The body of the flavor comes from bay leaf, chamomile, and I assume the sugar kelp—I don't know what sugar kelp tastes like, so I can't pick it out, but my fiancé said that he got a hint of a tequila vibe as he moved towards the bottom of his glass, and I can only imagine, from what I've read, that the seaweed is responsible for that combination of what he described as “vanilla and honey but also savory notes.” Finally, pink peppercorn and cayenne pepper give Feragaia some depth and a peppery finish.

I like it both with both tonic and soda water, each of which allows different qualities to shine: The tonic, with its quinine bitterness and sweetness, amplified both and was an overall weightier serve. With soda water, the flavors were cleaner and sharper, and the chamomile and pink peppercorn were the stars. I'm not sure if Wild and Garnock intended for Feragaia to also be drunk on its own—most alcohol-free spirits aren't built for that—but both my fiancé and I enjoyed sipping it straight, both neat and on a rock. The chamomile came through more intensely and so did the kick from cayenne pepper, plus without being lengthened out, the liquid felt creamier on the palate.

All told, this is one of my top five favorite alcohol-free spirits*, and I would gladly purchase another bottle once I finish the one in front of me.

In non-Feragaia tasting news:

• I mentioned Spring, an Ontario-based brand, in the last newsletter, which was published before I had a chance to taste the label’s first four products. My fiancé and I have since drunk them all, and we were wowed by the Bright Green, a sparkling lovage vinegar beverage that unfurls itself unlike most nonalcoholic drinks I've had. It’s so unusual and interesting: honey and lavender, almost, on the nose; then vinegar and must; then it's a quick shift to the celery-like herb. The other three, unfortunately, felt less complex and somewhat unbalanced. I’m a fan of the makers behind Spring, though, and I know this endeavor has been all about experimentation, so I look forward to following their work as they continue.

• I haven't been the biggest fan of Wilderton's first two products, but the third, Bittersweet Aperitivo, which launched last month, is excellent. It’s properly bitter, both on its own and when it’s lengthened with soda water, and I got a hint of cherry cough drop, not at all in a bad way. My friend Samantha Weiss-Hills, deputy commerce editor at Domino, gave the product a shout-out recently and I totally agree with her.

* I also know what to expect from nonalcoholic spirits. They’re going to feel thinner and leave less of an impression on the palate—that sort of smack that comes at your tongue and throat from an alcoholic spirit, and alcohol-free ones of course don’t have—but if you know to go in with an open mind, not expecting them to operate exactly the same way, drinking them can be quite a pleasant experience. This one certainly is, anyway.