NI duo invest £25k to launch range of hand-crafted cocktails

SIPS by Dylan has been created in response to the repeated lockdowns in order to provide some easy enjoyment and inject some fun into our home lives.

Founder and managing director, James Deery, is a restauranteur by trade and suffered the closure of his restaurant, JECS Bar and Grill in Newtownabbey, repeatedly throughout the last year.

“This is a project we have been working on since lockdown one and we’re delighted to now bring a range of eight flavours to market,” James explained.

“With the restaurant closed and the staff out of work we have built an entirely new product development area in the restaurant where we create all our flavours in-house using only the finest of ingredients. At present we are employing 10 staff on the project who are working in team bubbles to create and bottle each handcrafted cocktail.

“Obviously, the way in which we socialise and unwind has been dramatically changed in the last 11 months, but we believe that a Saturday night or a special occasion can still be just that – special.

“During lockdown, many of us tried and many of us also failed to create our own cocktails, but this is expensive and time consuming, and now we’re left with strange bottles of booze cluttering up our fridges and cupboards!

“Not only will you need a vast variety of drink but also all the accompanying accoutrements such as, shakers, strainers, muddlers, spoons and the like – it’s a lot of hassle and we decided that if we could make a range of cocktails that would not only take the hassle out creating a unique drink, but one that would also be of an incredibly high standard then we hoped we would be on to a winner!”

James continued: “One stockist, Kevin O’Reilly from Anjo Wines & O’Reilly’s Off Sales, a Newry based importer of fine wines, beers and spirits, has been searching for a product like this for some time and are delighted to welcome SIPs by Dylan to theirfive O’Reilly’s stores as well as distributing to other independent off sales.

“Our ethos is to bring customers a selection of high quality drinks and to be leading the way in the industry when an exciting new product lands.

“We are living in strange times and people are very much searching for something exciting to bring light and fun into their lives, I think SIPS really does this and I’m confident that this range of delicious cocktails sits very well with our other brands, I’m looking forward to an exciting relationship with SIPS by Dylan as the brand grows and develops.”

What began as a hobby and a passion for insurance sales man, and now ‘flavour creator’, Dylan Hill, has now developed into this new business venture, one he is incredibly proud of.

“Making cocktails has for a long time been a passion of mine and during lockdown it became something I spent more and more time on – I was always striving for greatness, and I am so happy with the collection we have now,” says Dylan.

“Innovation and the confidence to try new things has been key to the success so far.Each cocktail uses top quality ingredients and has been crafted to create that perfect foamy head if shaken over ice, but we’ve also added our own unique collection of ‘TIPS’ by Dylan – these are the special touches that I would add if creating the cocktail at home, but that can’t be bottled.

“Tips such as sprinkling grated Ferrero Rocher over the Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Martini or adding a few drops of Angostura Bitters to the Sweet and Sour spice really jazz up the flavours and add the wow factor that is expected from a cocktail!

“The range includes some much loved classics with unique twists such as the Misty Cosmo and the Mojito but also boasts some completely new concoctions that we hope will become future classics.”

The range is available to buy now at www.sipsbydylan.co.uk

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