Chase Distillery announces return of Rock The Farm festival

Herefordshire-based distillery Chase has announced the return of drinks industry festival Rock The Farm which will be held from 3 to 4 June 2019.

Chase Distillery will invite 1,000 industry guests to the event at the Herefordshire farm where the spirits are made, in recognition of their continued support of the brand.

The festival will host live music, street food, and cocktail bars hosted by Chase and others. Distillery tours and tastings will be held over the two-day event.

The global Chase cup cocktail competition will return, allowing bartenders to compete for an extensive prize in front of a panel of industry experts.

Judges will be looking for cocktails that “showcase true sustainability within the industry, champion home-grown produce and are made from scratch craft”. The drink must, according to the requirements, “be original and a personal creation – think seasonal, local and timeless.”

The drink itself must contain minimum 30ml Chase Original Potato Vodka, Chase GB Gin, or Chase Pink Grapefruit Gin, and a maximum of six ingredients (excluding garnish). They can contain homemade ingredients. A story or rationale behind the cocktail inspiration must be included.

The winner will receive a £2,500 cash prize, an ambassadorship trip to Bar Convent Berlin or Bar Convent Brooklyn, the Rock The Farm 2019 trophy and a year’s supply of Chase spirits. Two runners up will also receive a year’s supply of Chase spirits.

Heats for the Chase Cup competition run between March and May. Regional UK Heats will take place in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester and international heats will take place across America, Australia, Hong Kong, the UAE, Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland.

To enter, competitors should visit the Rock the Farm website.

James Chase, head ambassador, said: “We’re extremely proud to create an award-winning product that comes from our humble potato farm. Rock The Farm gives us the opportunity to welcome those who share in our passion to explore Chase Distillery and celebrate with us.”

Chase Distillery was founded back in 2008, and can be credited as being the first UK gin distillery to champion the field-to-bottle approach. Chase Gin was the unlikely result of a successful potato crisp business. Founder William Chase had been farming potatoes for 20 years, mostly supplying supermarkets, when he had a ‘eureka moment’ and Tyrrells Crips was born.

When searching for the next step, he decided to set up a distillery to make potato vodka, and in 2008, the first spirit was produced.

Today, both farm-grown potatoes and apples are used in the spirits, with Chase Original or Naked Chase Vodka forming the base of Chase Gin. Chase produces five different gins: Chase GB Gin, Williams Elegant Gin, Williams Pink Grapefruit Gin, Williams Seville Orange Gin and Chase Sloe and Mulberry Gin.

All the waste produce is given to the farm’s herd of Hereford cattle, and wherever possible, Chase sources its fresh ingredients used in its gins and vodkas from the farm.