How do you forage ingredients safely and respectfully in an urban environment? Marcis poses this question to Ken, an experienced forager and manager of Tower Hamlets cemetery and public park in London, known for its natural diversity. Together they outline the key guidelines for the budding forager and then show how, using simple techniques, to forage commonly found ingredients such as wild garlic and sweet woodruff, extract the flavour and use it in delicious drinks like a Wild Garlic Martini cocktail.

Experienced forager and Forage Teacher.  Worked in Nature Conservation since 2000 and has spent his life amongst nature. Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park - A closed historic cemetery (1841-1966) and public park.  Now a designated local nature reserve (since 2001) and the most urban woodland in London.  A place for wildlife, people, heritage, and education. Home to rare and uncommon plants and animals.

Kenneth Greenway

James Wood

Marcis’ bartending career spans over 15 years, during which he opened London’s iconic drinking spots Zetter Townhouse, Satan’s Whiskers and Dandelyan and managed Sager + Wilde, winner of a Tales of the Cocktail award in 2018. He has travelled Mexico sourcing unique small-batch agave distillates and rum, and hosted pop-up events from New York to Stockholm. Marcis believes in researching forgotten techniques and wild ingredients to connect with our culinary history, and as a vehicle for positive ecological change.

Marcis Dzelzainis

Rewilding

Urban foraging

Creativity: it's something we value, however we often don't understand what it is and how it can help us. Mark looks at why creativity must be anchored in purpose and how you can help shape an idea using a simple process and technique called POINT. Watch to learn more.

Mark has been working on sustainability and innovation for over 30 years. He works with some of the largest and smallest companies in the world to introduce new products and services, build innovation culture, deliver start-up thinking and look at trends and insights that will change their world. He is also an environmental expert delivering Net Zero, Circular Economy and Net Gain strategies for loads of great businesses. He is an author, TV ‘expert’ and public speaker. 

Mark Shayler

How to have ideas

Why creativity needs a purpose

How do you extract the very best from seasonal ingredients at their peak and lengthen their use beyond just their fresh state? Monica showcases how the use of simple, inexpensive techniques can prolong the use of seasonal ingredients in the bar, whilst also creating multiple layers of flavour in your drinks.

Monica Berg is a bartender and entrepreneur. Her work includes Muyu liqueurs and London bar(s) Tayēr + Elementary with partner Alex Kratena – no 2 on The Worlds 50 Best Bars 2022. Monica has been awarded “International Bartender of The Year” at the Spirited Awards, “Bartender’s Bartender” by The Worlds 50 Best Bars and is currently ‘most influential person in the Bar World 100’ by Drinks International. She is co-founder of P(OUR), which works to expand drinks knowledge across the bar community and support those protecting regional biodiversity.

Monica Berg

Our approach to drinks

Seasonality

Dr Anne Brock is Master Distiller for BOMBAY SAPPHIRE and sits on the board of directors at the Gin Guild. With a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Oxford University, Anne joined BOMBAY SAPPHIRE in 2017 after several years’ experience in distillery management and gin production. Alongside the Master of Botanicals, Ivano Tonutti, Anne leads a 20-strong team at Laverstoke Mill to produce every drop and bottle of BOMBAY SAPPHIRE enjoyed around the world.

Dr Anne Brock

Recently appointed as the new Master of Botanicals for BOMBAY SAPPHIRE, Alessandro is responsible for sustainably sourcing each of the 10 individual botanical ingredients used to create our gin. The botanicals are sourced from only a handful of suppliers and growers in designated regions around the world.  After the botanicals have been harvested each season, Alessandro and his team perform rigorous quality control checks to select only the highest quality botanicals for the next stage of production. 

Dr Alessandro Garneri

Ivano Tonutti held the position of Master of Botanicals until March 2023, with a career spanning 33 years to date. With a doctorate in Chemistry, he was appointed Master of Botanicals for BOMBAY SAPPHIRE in 2002, and since then has been responsible for the consistent quality and flavour profile of each ingredient, by sustainably sourcing botanicals from only a handful of suppliers and growers in designated regions around the world. 

Ivano’s expertise, energy and leadership transformed the way BOMBAY SAPPHIRE sources and ensures the quality of its botanicals. Ivano was fundamental to the strides BOMBAY SAPPHIRE made in creating sustainability best-practice to drive its ambitious Good Spirited ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) targets. 


Dr Ivano Tonutti

Bombay Sapphire Gin

A guided tasting

This episode is about creating your very own wild larder, with easy, techniques and processes to extract the maximum flavour from wild ingredients. From the creation of cordials, tinctures and syrups to direct infusions, these processes and methods will help liven up any drink you choose to create.

Creating your wild larder

How can we use problems as a stimulus for innovation and new ideas? Mark looks at ways to spark ideas that force you to look differently at an opportunity or problem and align creative thinking with what people really care about.

Start with a problem

When creating drinks we often look to achieve a sense of balance. One of the most common ways to do this is to add sweetness or sugar. In this episode Monica delves into the approaches she takes to impact and impart flavour with the help of sweeteners; from sugar and fruit syrups to cordials.

Balancing the need for sweetness

A hands-on demonstration analysing the differences between traditional pot still distillation versus the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE signature Vapour Infusion distillation method, designed to extract the truest natural flavours from our selected botanicals.

Impact of distillation

How do you use wild ingredients in your venue? What flavours are you looking for and what ingredients are in season? Marcis meets James Wood, a commercial forager in the UK who provides the link between foragers and the food and drinks industry. He shares the importance and benefits of working with a good commercial forager, from providing transparency and traceability of ingredients and their source, to ensuring the right permissions are in place with land owners. 

Foraged ingredients in a commercial setting

How do you have better ideas? There are many ways you can stimulate the way you think to generate ideas that are better and stronger. Mark looks at some processes he uses to stimulate compelling ideas more frequently.

How to have better ideas

If you had to choose between staying true to a recipe or achieving the best flavour, which would you choose? Many drink recipes have remained the same, despite a change and evolution in ingredients, spirits and also peoples' preferences and tastes. With all this change Monica asks 'are traditional recipes still as relevant today as they once were?' 

Recipe vs flavour

A personal tour of the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Distillery by Dr Anne Brock, Master Distiller at Laverstoke Mill. This state-of-the-art facility in rural Hampshire (England) is where every drop of BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin is produced. Here you'll be guided through each and every step of the production process and have behind the scenes access to how BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is fundamentally different by design.

Our distillery: Laverstoke Mill

Why does regenerative farming make such a big impact on flavour? Marcis talks to urban farmer and food grower Max Onslow about his passion for driving radical change in how we produce, distribute and eat food. Farming isn't just for the countryside, but can be brought into the cities to reduce food miles and is one of the key components to  localise how we source fresh ingredients for the food and drink in our bars and restaurants.

Max Onslow is an urban farmer who follows a regenerative, natural approach to gardening; he has grown organic food in Britain and Spain for the past ten years, seeking to maximise flavour and biodiversity simultaneously.

Max recently regenerated an abandoned site in North-East London, producing a market garden yielding food and flowers sold directly to some of London’s top restaurants and florists, whilst educating and inspiring local people about natural gardening.

Max Onslow

Regenerative farming

We all come up with ideas in different ways, and we all find ourselves stuck at some point, so how do we overcome this 'block' when it comes to an idea? Mark looks at six individuals we can learn and draw inspiration from to help us get over and beyond these creative blocks.

Lessons from the best

Yes, the shaker is one of the most important tools in a bartender's arsenal, but what about the humble knife? This remains one of the most essential tools behind the bar, but how to do you take care of it properly? Here the team at Tayēr + Elementary show you how; from sharpening this prized implement, to keep it in tip-top condition for the long term.

Whilst Leo Colson started as a bartender in Sydney, Australia, he gained a passion for the industry whilst working with Alex Kratena at London’s award-winning Artesian bar at the Langham Hotel. Leo then took time working in Tokyo and Hong Kong before re-joining Alex and Monica Berg as they opened their London bar Tayer+Elementary. Leo is currently Europe-based and working on new projects.

Leo Colson

Lucas Fournier turned towards a career in hospitality after first studying to work in the construction industry. He trained in Lille and Paris and headed to London in 2018, working in several bars before starting at Tayer+Elementary, where he worked for two years. In 2022, Lucas decided to go back home to France where he is involved in a new bar opening in Hotel Clarance, in Lille.

Lucas Fournier

Practical Skills

The cutting edge

An immersive journey charting how each and every batch of sustainably sourced botanicals used to produce BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin is analysed and processed. This dedicated facility and analytical laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland - previously led by Masters of Botanicals, Dr. Ivano Tonutti and now Dr. Alessandro Garneri - ensures that only the very best ingredients are used to form the heart and basis of this iconic spirit. Learn about  the lengths the team go to in order to uphold and maintain these high standards.

Our botanicals: upholding quality

How does soil health make a big difference to flavour? Max and Marcis look at top tips to encourage soil life to thrive and make healthier crops that taste much better. Marcis shows us not only how nettles can act as a natural fertilizer to add nutrition back into the soil, but also how to make a delicious syrup for drinks by making a wild nettle oleo saccharrum.

Principles of regenerative farming

Constraining our beliefs stops us thinking differently; sometimes the most exciting ideas and concepts stem from unexpected places. Mark takes us through a process to help find the good in some of our bad ideas, to help our good ideas be even better! 

How thinking wrong can be right

The ability to repair and restore chipped glassware prevents unnecessary waste and cost. Rather than throw this glassware in the bin, the team at Tayēr + Elementary show you how they bring a new lease of life to glassware that would once have been thrown away.

Fixing rather than throwing

This is all about going local. Max and Marcis walk us through the differences between large scale farmers and local growers who grow specifically for flavour, variety and interest on the plate and in the bar. Having a closer connection to the food that you source can not only reduce your food miles and carbon footprint, but also ensure what you are sourcing is in season and full of flavour.

Going local

Data is in the past, insights are the future; the magic is working out what people will do next. How can we use data to gather insight to develop and hone new ideas?

Data is dead

Many bars today  use batching as a way of serving drinks quickly and efficiently; here Monica explains how you can make sure your batched cocktails taste the same as those made to order.

Batching & dilution

When people think of spice they think of the traditional flavours sourced from the likes of India, Central America and Asia, often overlooking those found in, for example, Europe. Marcis demonstrates how these ingredients can be utilised in gin's take on a Pina Colada, aptly named the Gina Colada.

Reimagining classics

Alternatives to exotic herbs & spices

Who is your customer? Who are you selling to? For years we've used stereotypes to categorise customers in distinct ways that now appear to have less relevance than before. Mark explains why it isn't who we are, but what we believe in that defines how we make choices and spend our money, and how you can apply this way of thinking to drive a more successful business offering.

Building & Testing Ideas

Who is your customer?

Understanding the true cost of your drinks and creations is fundamental to a bar's profit and loss. As much as it's important to make delicious cocktails, bars need to ensure a venue still makes money. Monica delves into the fundamentals of costing your cocktails.

Costing your cocktail

How can you reimagine classics without mass produced sugars? Have you ever heard of birch syrup, wild honey and apple caramel? Well, these natural alternatives to refined sugar and commercial sugars are wonderful ingredients to have in your arsenal, demonstrated by Marcis in a twist on the classic Bees Knees cocktail.

Alternatives to sugar

How do you know who you're competing against? Mark examines how you should look beyond the usual competition, and instead focus on those businesses that make your customers feel the same way as you do.

Who else is doing this?

What do you have to consider when opening a bar? This is one of the most common questions that Monica gets asked. In this episode Monica shares the five main things she wished she knew before embarking on the process of opening Tayēr + Elementary. 

Pricing & business

Which other ingredients can replace lemon and lime in drinks? Marcis shows us, and explains how these acids can add an interesting dimension to your mixed drinks and where they might work best. He ends with a riff on a gin classic: the Bramble cocktail.

Alternatives to citrus

You've got an idea. You want to test it and see if there's a demand for your idea. Well, good news! It's never been cheaper and it's never been quicker to do this. Mark explains how…

How to test ideas fast

Monica believes the most important part of a successful bar is to build a great team; this can be one of the best investments you can make for your bar. People need purpose and an environment where they are allowed to make mistakes, learn and grow. By understanding individual strengths and weaknesses, you can bring together people who complement each other with different skill sets who, when working as one, can drive the business forward successfully. 

Bar Business

Maintaining a healthy business

How do you take an idea from something in your head to a reality? Mark shares his business canvas template to simplify the process and help you define your unique proposition. 

Tina’s long corporate background and unique skills as a non-classical marketeer led her to set up Tijeanne Ltd. in 2015. Specialising in marketing, brand partnerships and events, she helps small businesses, community-preneurs, household brands and individuals enhance, grow and promote their business and has worked with brands such as Nike UK, ODEON, C4, Nissan, adidas, WWE, Barclays, Visa and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Tina Malcolm

Bringing ideas to life

From idea to business

Even the greatest ideas or businesses started small; the key is - they all started. Mark looks at examples of well known businesses that took a leap of faith and the risk to get started. So don't just sit on an idea - have the confidence to let it fly. 

What to do next?

How to you market your product, concept or idea? How do you tell a compelling story? Mark and Tina look at how to market your business, how you can grow it, and how you can give it wings! 

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