Sarah Woodhouse, Director at AMBITIOUS PR and TR100 Judge, Explains What She’s Looking for From Entrants Vanilla, Ginger, Cinnamon & Coconut jump out of the glass at first nosing. The texture is creamy and smooth with flavors of Caramel, Baking Spice, Pineapple & Fresh Herbs.

Maturation takes place in re-constituted ex-bourbon barrels that have been shaved and re-charred, imbuing the spirit with creamy vanilla & spice from the American white oak. High-grade Molasses are mixed with the soft natural waters of the Tha Chin River and fermented in large stainless steel tanks for up to 48hrs.The finish speaks volumes of the tropical aging with clear notes of Oak, Cedar Wood, a touch of Smoke, and a slight tannic grip from the barrel. Scott Simpkin, Senior Associate at Seedrs and TR100 Judge, Explains What He’s Looking for From Entrants After 5 long years in the tropical climate of Central Thailand, the rum has had plenty of interaction with the oak and is finally ready to be bottled. Dalston’s originally came about as a combination of a gap in the market and a slight problem with authority. Almost every category in food & drink has been premiumised by the sort of ‘craft’ wave that started about 10 years ago – and was incredibly exciting – but which hadn’t touched soft drinks. There seemed to be a gap in the market as shops and establishments were just full of these drinks which were basically sugar, flavourings, an acidulent, and water.

Dalston’s has kept developing and has removed all refined sugar from our drinks. Our sales took a huge hit but as we were in good growth we ended up growing by 10% in 2020 rather than the 100% we were on course for. We’ve also started selling online – like everyone else, and I think we’ve now got more opportunity than ever to build our online sales. Dalston’s is a drinks company started in a nightclub in Dalston, London. We make ‘soda with soul’, tasty drinks from real fruit and sparkling water. The soul part comes from three guiding principles – make drinks better for you, make drinks that are better for the environment, and make drinks that taste great. We’d always used less sugar than others in our category but last year took the step of removing refined sugar from our drinks completely. At Dalston’s we work with best-in-class suppliers and farms to source excellent ingredients, and our recipes often come about as a result of discovering a particularly vibrant ingredient on a farm visit. We make drinks using classic British flavours like rhubarb, elderflower, cherry (as well as the classics ginger beer and lemonade).The wash is distilled in one of several double-column stills to create a spirit that is pure and crisp while retaining some of the rich flavor characteristics from the raw material and fermentation.