Birch spirit Freya set to be new trend as top London bars embrace unusual new spirit

Gin looks like it's finally had its moment in the sun, and whisky – no matter how hard publicity campaigns push it – is never going to win over everyone.

London bars are, however, cautiously introducing a new spirit, called Freya, which is mixed up using the sap of wild birch.

What sounds like a novelty tipple is actually being marketed as something like an alternative to vodka or gin.

While the advertising bluster – “it captures the flavour and spirit of the forest” – is clearly nonsense, the spirit does have a delicate profile that lends itself well to cocktails.

As such, bars including Sloane Square favourite Barts Chelsea, RISE 46, and the Gladwin brothers’ The Shed, Rabbit and Nutborne have been incorporating it into their menus, typically in classic cocktails like a Martini.

Given its light flavour, which is mainly something like pine, peaches and the subtlest hints of vanilla, the spirit, an eau-de-vie coming in at 40 per cent strength, best suits being treated like vodka. If the UK-distilled drink takes off, expect to be drinking it ice cold.

If birch water can somehow become a thing, then birch spirit looks like it might make a splash.

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