Beech Leaf Vodka Liqueur & two shot glasses

A gorgeous and unusual vodka liqueur made from the tender spring leaves of the beech tree grown in our very own woodland, Waterclose Copse.

Everything about the English Beech tree (Fagus Sylvatica), from it’s smooth grey bark, brilliant green leaves and strange three sided nut is both curious and beautiful. Beech is a remarkable wood used in everything from drums to clogs, being light in colour, stable and exceptionally strong. Divining sticks are traditionally made from beech twigs and in France the leaves were used to stuff mattresses as an alternative to straw. The French called these lilts de parlement, speaking beds! They can live for over a thousand years in coppiced stands, and specimen trees can live over 500 years.

Throughout Europe beech wood was cut into thin slices and used as tablets before the invention of paper. The anglo-saxon word for beech is bok, and in Sweden the word bok means both book and beech. The nuts can be pressed to produce an edible cooking oil and a substitute for coffee.

In mythology the beech tree has long been associated with love, femininity and wisdom, and has always been referred to as the Queen tree, the oak being the King. Her edible fruit and dense protective canopy a powerful symbol of nurture and protection. The Celts called it the tree of wishes, and if you placed a fallen branch into the ground and made a wish the Fairy Queen would listen. Helen of Troy carved her lover’s name into the trunk of a beech tree as many other lover’s had done before her. This association with naughtiness is wonderfully represented by the famous Kissing Beech at Kilravock Castle in Invernesshire. In 1690 the owner was caught kissing a maidservant under its branches and today the tree, still flourishing and measuring 5 metres around the trunk, is emblazoned with hundreds of lovers initials and heart and arrow symbols.

We were inspired to make our Beech Leaf Vodka liqueur by the ancient drink Beech Leaf Noyau, and by the abundance of beech in our woodlands, which in the spring play host to a stunning carpet of English bluebells that perfectly match the blue-grey bark and vivid green leaves emerging after the long winter. We pick our beech leaves early in the season, when they are delicate and tender (amazing in a salad) and steep then gently for months to create a smooth, fresh flavour that is totally unique and brings a smile to your face.