Tag: welsh witch

The story of how it all began…

 

Welsh Witch Craft Spirits was born in 2019, with the launch of our first product, the original Welsh Witch Dry Gin. Prior to this, our Welsh Witch founder Jade had been providing clients with her talents through her mobile bar hire. This was disrupted due to the pandemic, which overturned many businesses and forced owners to adapt and change. After dabbling in creating her own spirits for a while, Jade worked hard on flavour developing, licensing and branding designs to launch the Original Dry Gin into the world. 

 

It didn’t come without obstacles though; the December 2019 initial product launch went extraordinarily well but as we all know 2020 wreaked havoc on the entire world. The following year brought its own set of problems for small businesses and retailers alike. But we came out the other side and we’re doing what we love to do. Keep reading if you want to learn more about your favourite witchy spirits and how they’re made, the inspirations behind them and what the future brings for the Wild Moon Distillery. 

 

Who makes Welsh Witch Craft Spirits?

 

When we say small business, we mean small business. The entire process is carried out and monitored solely by Jade, the Welsh Witch herself. Since making potions as a little girl, she has turned her love of botanicals into a magical line of products which ooze magic and warmth. This means there is high quality control, small batches of botanical goodness, and an underlying passion for luxurious spirits and ingredients. Since the birth of her own little witchling in 2022, Jade sometimes receives help from family and friends in the Wild Moon Distillery, however she is absolutely the powerhouse of the mythical business. Each stage of the process – from label designing and branding, to bottling and hand-waxing the corks – requires finesse and expert craftsmanship. Through her spirits, Jade hopes to bring forth more education around spirituality, witch culture and her love of her hometown Wrexham, in the beautiful country of Wales.

 

Our Welsh Witch Jade – the woman behind the magical brand

 

A business with Welsh heritage at its heart

 

From the moment of business conception, Welsh heritage has been weaved into Jade’s business from the get-go. Fighting the oppressing stigmas Wales has faced, Jade thought it was time to put it back on the map with her delicious hand-crafted tipples. Very proud of her roots, she wanted to bring the cultural folklore (the Mabinogion) and age-old traditions of Wales to the modern day consumer. Intertwined with a rich dedication to paganism and spirituality, the luxe spirits created by Welsh Witch are both a marvel for the eyes and the tastebuds. 

 

Welsh Witch Craft Spirits are made using locally foraged ingredients, meaningful botanicals and ritual practices to cleanse the spirits and charge them with reiki energy in the full moon. These practices are very important in reinforcing the pagan Celtic roots of the business and standing apart from competition by mindfully creating each batch and treating each product with care and attention. 

 

The rituality of creating Wheel of the Year gins lends inspiration from the Pagan Wheel of the Year, in which there are eight annual festive seasons all of which have their own traditions and meanings. This line of products is continually evolving this year. There are already Beltane, Imbolc, Lithia and Ostara gins on offer, so you’ve joined us at a very exciting time in our business! Sign up to our newsletter here to make sure you don’t miss out on our new launches!

 

A delicate and magical process

 

Fine-tuning a bespoke process is no easy task, but the Welsh Witch has created a distillation routine that creates beautifully finessed products every time. Years of hard work and inspiration led to the birth of the craft spirit range, when Jade began spreading the word about the beautiful Welsh folklore and traditions surrounding them. 

 

The core products, the Original Dry Gin and the Original Spiced Rum, pay homage to Welsh roots. The Spiced Rum is influenced by spices in a Welsh bara brith (a type of spiced tea loaf) for instance, creating feelings of instant nostalgia and warmth, among sophisticated flavours and a smooth finish. 

 

The fact the spirits are made in small batches allows careful monitoring of flavour infusions. Each spirit is flavoured with locally sourced or foraged high quality ingredients, such as gorseflower, violets or blackberries. Flavours are hand-selected due to both taste aspects and spiritual aspects; how they are linked to each Sabbat of the Wheel of the Year. For example, blackberries are sacred to Brigid, the Pagan goddess of Imbolc; they are a goddess plant and used for healing and attracting prosperity.  

Struggles and determination

 

Running any business isn’t easy, but product-based businesses have been hit hard with setbacks and obstacles during the pandemic. Not to mention, competition is fierce too, as more and more individuals take the plunge and launch their own artisan creations. 

 

Notably, Jade’s Welsh spirits have found a new and unlikely rival in their region: Ryan Reynolds. The Hollywood tycoon has recently invested in shares of Aviation Gin, as well as overtaking local Welsh football club, Wrexham. Jade takes this in her stride though, and hopes that the business deal will help encourage consumers to support their local Welsh businesses. We also think that any press about gin is good, so any spotlight he can bring to Wales is fine by us! Besides, you can never have too much gin, right?

 

Of course, running a business can be very hard work. A small business, is arguably even harder. Switching off isn’t an option, and often business hours spill over into the early hours and the work-life balance becomes askew. But that’s just what we do. While we aren’t yet running in the big leagues with huge gin companies such as Edinburgh Gin or Hendricks, we know that we have an important and special niche of magical witches, spiritual flavour enthusiasts and anybody who’s on a taste adventure. This is something we actively protect, because we’re very passionate about what we stand for, and we know others will be too. 

 

What are our favourites?

 

We asked Jade the all important question: what her favourite products are. Of course, that’s like asking a mother to pick her favourite child, but she does have a soft spot for the signature Dry Gin, as it was the first product to launch and set the wheels in motion for the magic to happen. It’s also gone on to win multiple awards at various spirit festivals, including two silver awards. 

 

Jade also gave a special mention to the Beltane edition gin, as the story behind it has a deep-rooted history and significance in Jade’s life, plus, she is a Beltane baby, so has to be a little bit biased! She’s currently enjoying drinking the Original Spiced Rum, and recommends you absolutely try it if you haven’t yet.

 

 

What is the future of Welsh Witch Craft Spirits?

 

Over the next 5 years, we are aiming for the moon. We hope to take our witchy spirits global, spreading our magic across the world. The aim is to continue spreading awareness of the beauty and culture of Wales while offering a unique and luxurious experience for anyone who wishes to try one of our spiritual potions. We want Welsh Witch to become a known brand when thinking of high quality spirits and we want to adorn every gin enthusiast’s tipple cabinet. 

 

There are also some other big dreams in the works for the next few years, so you’ll absolutely want to stick around for those! We can’t wait to see what the future has in store.  

 

Cariad a goleuni

The Wild Moon Distillery