Meet the Supplier: Summerhouse Drinks
Transcript
National Trust for Scotland, meet our suppliers: Take one!
I’m Claire Rennie from Summerhouse Drinks, and we make our all-natural craft soft drinks here on our family farm in Aberdeenshire.
We started our business ten years ago. I was always the designated driver, as usual, in a rural area and was really fed up with dull soft drinks. So, I went to the Argos in Fraserburgh, bought a soda stream, picked some fresh mint from our garden and started playing about with recipes.
What makes our business unique is that we use real fresh ingredients in our drinks and that gives an authentic flavour to our products. They’re all natural, we don’t use any artificial ingredients and they’re pasteurised in the bottle to give an all-natural, authentic flavour and taste.
My favourite product that we supply to the National Trust for Scotland is our Scottish Raspberry Lemonade. The colour, the flavour and the provenance -- the fact that we use all raspberries grown in Angus and Perthshire -- it’s really important to us.
Here on the farm, we work really closely with the RSPB to conserve our population of corn buntings using traditional land management practices. In 2024 we’re looking at installing solar panels to help heat our pasteuriser and reduce our use of fossil fuels to do that. And all our drinks are always in glass and never in plastic. I really enjoy working with the National Trust for Scotland because they’re so supportive of smaller Scottish businesses like us. Provenance is as important to them as it is to us, and it’s fantastic to have an organisation recognise our values and our ethos.
My favourite Trust property to visit is the Hermitage near Dunkeld. It’s only a stone’s throw from where I grew up. It combines history and nature, and I just love the sight and sound of the waterfall.
I love a lot about Scotland. I love the music, I love the dancing, I love the scenery, I love our colourful history, but most of all, I love the fact that we could have four seasons in one day, any day of the year.
Summerhouse Drinks was launched in 2014 by Claire Rennie and the Summerhouse team on the family farm where the Rennie family have farmed for four generations. They decided to improve the disappointing soft drink options for non-drinkers and designated drivers on nights out.
After buying a Soda Stream, they started experimenting with herbs and botanicals growing in their walled garden and then invested in some proper bottling equipment and renovated an unused shed on the farm. That’s when the first two flavours Misty Lemonade and Hint O’ Mint Lemonade were launched. They now have a range of flavours and keep taking over more farm sheds!
We spoke to Claire to find out a little more.
What makes your business unique?
Our drinks use natural, fresh ingredients, giving our products an authentic flavour. We don’t use artificial ingredients, and they’re pasteurised in the bottle to provide an all-natural, authentic flavour and taste.
What’s your favourite flavour?
I love our Scottish Raspberry Lemonade (available from Trust cafés and tearooms). At Summerhouse, we’re incredibly proud that all the raspberries used in our drinks are grown in Angus and Perthshire.
Are there any green credentials you can tell us about?
On the farm, our team works closely with the RSPB to conserve the population of corn buntings using traditional land management practices. In 2024, we plan to install solar panels to help heat our pasteuriser and reduce our use of fossil fuels. All our drinks are bottled in glass bottles, which are currently the most widely recycled drinks containers.
What’s your favourite Trust place?
My favourite Trust property to visit is the Hermitage near Dunkeld. It’s only a stone’s throw from where I grew up. It combines history and nature, and I love the sight and sound of the waterfall.
What do you love most about Scotland?
I love a lot about Scotland. I love the music, I love the dancing, I love the scenery and I love our colourful history. But most of all, I love the fact that we could have four seasons in one day, any day of the year!
Summerhouse Drinks are available from many of our cafés and tearooms.
Our cafés and tearooms
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The Hermitage
Walk through towering Douglas firs to the folly of Ossian’s Hall, and gaze over the falls
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