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Discover Sylva HAZEL
Sylva HAZEL is an aged non-alcoholic spirit made in small batches at our distillery using wood from our forest.
THE PROCESS
We turn grain & wood into delicious sipping spirits.
As Bonafide Nature nerds, we go to extreme lengths foraging, selecting & preparing the most flavourful cereals & woods from nature. We have created a pioneering production & maturation process to make the best possible dark non-alcoholic liquids we can; Liquids you can sit down with, take a moment & sip.
“Trees are the lungs of the world; we want to show people they’re also the most incredible & underestimated larder.”
- Ben
A never-before approach for never-before liquids
SOURCING
We source a diverse selection of local & exotic woods & cereals. Our wood inventory currently includes over 50 varieties including Ash, Hawthorne, Black Walnut, Silver Birch, Panga Panga, Coconut, Sweet Chestnut, Mango, Cherry & Limousin.
GRAIN PROCESS
We use various different preparation & extraction techniques to capture as much complex base grain flavour including malting, toasting, roasting, smoking, vacuum distillation & gravity percolation.
WOOD PROCESS
From harvesting & foraging wood from our own forest to splitting, charring, roasting & chipping, we are going to extreme lengths to understand wood’s potential and capture its amazing array of flavour.
SONIC AGEING
Our bespoke process of using oxygen, pressure, heat and ultrasound reaction chambers to age our liquids extracting all the flavours, colour and character from wood.
OUR FLAGSHIP LAB
The home of quiet rebellion
Surrounded by meadows, waterways & forest, our first countryside lab sits on the Essex/Suffolk border in the grounds of a Benedictine Monastery & Mill. This idyllic, rich backdrop & full larder is contrasted with cutting-edge equipment & progressive thinking—honouring the heritage of dark spirits whilst embracing the freedom to push forward.
BEHIND THE SCENES
"I come from a family of grain growers, woodworkers, inventors & timber merchants, so Sylva is a very special project both personally & professionally. I am excited to celebrate wood’s unique & diverse flavours using innovative extraction & maturation techniques so people can slow down and sip something delicious.”
BEN BRANSON
THE ARCHIVE
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"The absolute best alcohol free option on the market"
"I love this stuff. it's non-alcoholic and it's delicious. I've gone through about four bottles of it, in not a very long time"
"This is the first dark non-alcoholic spirit i've encountered where I immediately wanted another glass. A huge step forward for the non-alc category."
What an incredible drink you have made here. I'm absolutely in love with it. The levels and depths of flavours are immense