By mid-2025 the Vermouth Actually idea had gone quiet again.

I had told plenty of people about the project, but I still couldn’t quite bring myself to face the mountain of paperwork required to make it legal. Selling alcohol in the UK is not exactly simple. There’s a personal licence, a premises licence, alcohol storage permissions, food premises registration, alcohol duty registration – and even the requirement to advertise in the local newspaper that you intend to sell alcohol from your home so that neighbours have the opportunity to object.

It’s… a lot.

So once again I stepped away from the idea.

Not completely, though. I’ve noticed over the years that once I put an idea out into the world, it tends to find its way back to me eventually. Sometimes it’s about waiting for the right moment, sometimes the right people. Call it karma, manifesting, luck, or just the stars aligning.

And in October 2025, the stars absolutely aligned for Vermouth Actually.

I was at a networking event on the Brighton i360 when a good friend and local legend approached me – Karl Elwood.

Karl is an exceptional wine merchant, an expert wine speaker, and an all-round top gent. A few years earlier we had even launched a monthly networking event together called the Business Leaders Wine Club – a relaxed evening of curated wines, paired cheeses and charcuterie, and some excellent conversation. It’s still going strong – check it out: https://businessleaderswine.club/

Karl was, of course, one of the people I had told about the vermouth project several times before, and this time he had a question.

“Have you finished it yet?”

He explained that he wanted to run a tasting night at the Business Leaders Wine Club in November – just a month away. The theme would be winter drinks: port, madeira, sherry, and vermouth.

And he wanted to feature MY vermouth.

Of course, I told him it wasn’t ready – very upsetting as it was a brilliant opportunity.

At that moment we were standing right at the top of the i360, looking out over Brighton and Hove lit up at night. I turned away for a moment to admire the view. When I turned back, Karl had pulled another local legend into the conversation.

The Inimitable Faye Collier-Rolls.

Faye is the owner of Devil’s Dyke Distillery, home to Brighton’s finest gins – and Brighton has a lot of gin.

Karl explained that he was disappointed my vermouth wasn’t ready. Faye looked at me for a moment and said, very simply: “Let’s just fucking do it.”

Her proposal was incredible. She suggested that I come to Devil’s Dyke Distillery and make the vermouth there under her guidance. She would help oversee the process, sense-check the recipe, and make sure everything was compliant. In other words – she was offering to help me bring the drink to life properly.

I was gobsmacked. And naturally, I said yes.

Side-note: Faye later told me that she had forgotten to eat dinner before coming out that evening. Two glasses of red wine may well have influenced her decision-making. To this day she insists she was “trollied” when she made the offer!!

The very next week after the i360 event I turned up at Devil’s Dyke Distillery with my ingredients, pots, and pans to show Faye what I had been doing in my kitchen for the last few years – making vermouth one bottle at-a-time.

She helped me properly calculate the ABV and tweak the recipe to bring it up slightly. She explained stabilisers, helped refine the sugar balance, and even guided me through what legally needed to appear on the label if the bottle was ever going to be sold to the public.

A week later I returned again with more ingredients and this time we made a proper batch – Forty bottles!!

It took the entire day (we’re a bit quicker now) but the result was incredible. Easily the best batch I had ever made. And then came the moment that really blew me away. Faye showed me how to properly filter the vermouth.

Watching the liquid run through the filter and emerge crystal clear on the other side – glowing amber in the light – was a magical moment. Suddenly the drink looked as good as it tasted.

At that moment it finally felt real. The vermouth was finished, and it was at a standard that could actually be sold.

Technically it would need to be sold through the Devil’s Dyke Distillery website for the time being, because I still wasn’t fully licensed myself.

But in essence… MY drink was on sale.

Which meant there was only one thing left to do.

Launch it.