Beverage products and producers at Fiskars Festival
Our visit to Slow Food event in the village of Fiskars was nice. The local producers presented their product selections and we were able to sample a variety of products and drinks.
Ägräs Handicraft Drinks
The whiskey is clear in colour when it is distilled and still raw. Ägräs handicraft whiskey is worth tasting also in its raw version. Currently, whiskey matures in barrels, which makes its color and flavor deeper.
The production family also includes different Gin products. Nettle and carrot gin and aquavit.
The Gin drink from Nettle was a pleasant taste experience. Taste is softer than normal grapefruit in gin.
Ägräs Distillery is a distillery in Fiskars, which produces quality products using Finnish wild herbs and ancient doctrines. The philosophy combines many of the key features of Fiskars Ruuk; Hands-on skills, uniqueness, use of natural raw materials and innovatively.
People interested in handicraft production can reserve a three-producer tour to dive into the world of flavours and explore three beverage producers in Fiskars; Fiskars Brewery, Ägräs Distiller and Kuura cider production facilities and products. You can also visit Ägräs Distillery Tap Room to explore the production.
Coffee, tea and other hot beverages
The Castle Guard’s Lodge
In addition to alcoholic beverages, there were also a few stands that sold coffee and tea at the Slow Food festival. I myself tried a cup coffee from the The Castle Guard’s Lodge’s stand (Slottsknektens Stuga/ Linnanvoudin tupa). Along with coffee they also sold tea, warm juice, salmon sandwiches and carrot cake. The Castle Guard’s Lodge started as a restaurant already in 1893 and so it has long traditions in the Raseborg area, where the Slow Food festival took place. It is a very historical restaurant and cafeteria and it locates next to the ruins of the medieval castle of Raseborg.
The coffee itself tasted really good, but as I am not the best at telling subtle differences between different types of coffee, it could have been any filter coffee from a supermarket. But very good nonetheless.
Mulled wine with chili
One of the best inventions that I discovered at the Slow Food festival was this mulled wine that had chili added to it. There were two flavors to choose from: Roco and Haba. Roco contains rocoto-chili, blackcurrant and cherry juice. In Haba flavor there is apple and elderflower juice and habanero chili. Me and my friend tasted both flavors and they were very good and quite spicy and warming.
The mulled wines are manufactured by a company called Ruukkikylän Herkut that makes handcrafted foods and drinks. Their products include mustards, olives, vinegars and salad dressings for example. They also organize food themed events.
Both mulled wine flavors were sold out quickly. On Saturday afternoon you could only buy bottled versions. Warming mulled wine with chili was the best possible product to sell in an outdoor event, especially because the weather happened to be freezing.
Sources:
https://www.visitraseborg.com/en/plan-your-trip/meetings-and-parties/
http://www.raaseporinlinna.fi/fi/palvelut-snappertunassa/linnanvouti
http://www.raaseporinlinna.fi/fi/palvelut-snappertunassa/48-raaseporin-linnanraunio
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ruukkikylanherkut/about/?ref=page_internal
Queen Kombucha
Queen Kombucha production facilities are located in Tammisaari. They use in their product’s domestic berries and fruits, or if ingredients are from foreign country’s they are produced in organic production. Their kombucha doesn´t contain any additives, artificial carbonic acid or concentrates. They also use in their production ECO sertified electricity. You can get Queen Kombucha from Raasepori, Salo and Lohja food circuits. You can also get it in Natural Food Stores and Cafes from Raasepori region.
Kombucha- Fermented tea
Kombucha is fermented tea drink that is produced with special kombucha culture (SCOBY- Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). Growth of kombucha is fueled by tea bases sugar and tea leaves nutrients and forms lactic acids in the drink. It contains lot of amino acids, B- and C- vitamin, organic acids and good bacteria. Kombuchas flavor depends from a season.
Manufacture of kombucha as a method is ancient and it has been practiced in Asia for thousands of years already. It’s vigorously growing health trend in USA, Sweden and now Finland. Many people use kombucha like wine or instead of it.
Usually in production of kombucha you use black tea and sugar, but you can also use green tea. Queen kombucha uses in their product Organic sugar and green tea. Honey that they use comes from Jyrkänpesän Hunaja which is in Kirkkonummi. When you use honey and green tea in making of kombucha it’s called JUN. Queen Kombucha is not be pasteurized or use microfiltration so there may develop mycelium or sediment. You can store it safely for months even years in closed bottle because of the low pH.
Cold beverages; Ciders
Kuura Cider
Kuura Cider Oy is a Finnish company which produces authentic ciders from Finnish apples, respecting European cider traditions. They are involved creating a cider culture that is raw based and passionate about good taste. The year of the foundation was 2014 and the managing director is Petri Halmetoja.
Ciders are hand made from domestic apple grown close by and they offer many types of ciders with different methods. Their products are certified by the Finnish Genuine Cider Society as a testament to their comprehensive domestic work. Locality, handwork and quality combined with innovations are important values to the company. Concrete examples are the first Finnish cider with wild yeast and first Ice Cider.
In Fiskars Kuura Cider Oy has their own shop where you can buy many kinds of ciders. There were very dry ciders to very sweet ones. Their specialty Ice Cider was very sweet, and it is recommended with desserts. The great thing also is that you can buy a tasting ticket which allows you to taste one of the ciders you choose from the selection. It is also possible to visit a small group of their production facilities in connection with the shop. They have organized meetings for groups of friends, hobby groups and work groups.
You can buy Kuura Cider products at the Kuura Shop, Fiskars restaurants and well-stocked Alko stores. Visit their websit
Source: http://www.kuuracider.fi/
Text and pictures: Krista Väisänen, Lotta Jänkävaara, Satu Harmainen, Jasmine Rinkinen (Course Food Culture/Group Drink Drank Drunk)