Introducing Naked Eve; Exclusive to The Star, one of The Polizzi Collection hotels
The Star becomes first hotel in England to serve botanical infusion drink Wild Eve Recipe No.1
Award winning Apothecary and herbalist, Amanda Saurin, is excited to announce her newly launched ‘magic in a bottle’ Wild Eve Recipe No. 1 is now served at The Star in Alfriston, at the foot of the South Downs, and will soon be available throughout the entire Polizzi Collection.
Incomparable to anything else on the market, Wild Eve is well thought out, rich and as intense as an alcoholic drink. It has heat, length, and real complexity with that moreish desire to keep on sipping. This innovative, small batch non-alcoholic drink is hand crafted from an exclusive selection of organic flowers, fruits, leaves and seaweeds, hand foraged on the Isle of Harris, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
With the most extraordinary set of plants at the team’s disposal from mountain, machair meadow and sea, Amanda has used her learning from years of thinking, testing and coming to understand the best ways of extracting flavour. It draws on decades of acquiring plant knowledge, understanding plant medicine and a theory that plants, like essential oils for perfumery, can be categorised into top, middle and base notes to construct something really exciting.
The Wild Eve team is honored to share the news that The Star, named the best hotel in the South East by The Sunday Times, is the very first hotel in England to serve Wild Eve Recipe No. 1. The exceptional bar team have created their own signature cocktail, named Naked Eve, comprised of simple ingredients that truly complement the complexity of Wild Eve. The hotel is a striking grade ll listed 16th century building in the medieval village of Alfriston, located near the Seven Sisters and in the South Downs National Park. It is part of The Polizzi Collection, and underwent an extensive renovation with mother and daughter duo Olga and Alex Polizzi at the helm.
Alex Polizzi shall be taking Wild Eve Recipe No. 1 to the two other hotels in The Polizzi Collection, Hotel Endsleigh and Hotel Tresanton, at the end of this month, where the Naked Eve will also be served.
Naked Eve is available now, £8
‘Naked Eve’ Recipe
· 25ml Wild Eve
· 25ml Apple Juice
· Soda Water
The Process of making Wild Eve Recipe No. 1
The small local team that creates Wild Eve require time, skill, and a vigilant eye to spy the perfect picking stage – often abandoning their work to rush out on a fine day to collect the harvest. The weather on Harris makes the process particularly challenging, the plants are slower to emerge from the cold ground, slower to reach maturity and then much faster to dash to seed.
Besides the challenges, the weather on Harris is enchanting and crucial to the premium finish. The water is amongst the softest in Europe which allows the flavours of the foraged ingredients to develop without interruption. From the wild roses growing on the land to the sugar kelp hand dived in the pristine waters, to the chamomile and oats growing on the croft and the chili plants that fill the windowsills, each of the botanicals are vital.
Drying the botanicals is a game of cat and mouse – the sudden rain requires quick release pegs to grab seaweeds off the line before dampening and delaying the sugars’ defining moments. Some plants require weeks of careful management to bring out the full flavor profile, some need to be cut small by hand to capture the taste, and others need heat or smoke to reveal themselves. Wild Eve is a dance with nature, born out of decades of learning and experience, captured in one wonderful drink.
The extracting processes are slow, gentle, and considered, where each plant is handled carefully and respectfully.
This means Wild Eve will not be found anywhere demanding volume production including large supermarket chains. Instead, Wild Eve is boutique, created in small, sustainable batches, to be purchased directly with the distillers or through carefully selected stores that share their ethos.