Taste of Dublin 2016; Our Winning Stand!

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BlackCastleDrinksTasteofDublin

Would you look at us! We made it, we actually won the Bank of Ireland competition for a Free stand at the Taste of Dublin 2016 Festival. We received over 3000 public votes after being shortlisted to 5 small food businesses and came out on top. Just; organisers said it was so close between all entries!

The Bank of Ireland team and their designers did a fab job on our stand. The concept we wanted to achieve was a Craft Soda Bar so with a raised counter, double fridge and stools we were able to invite festivals goers to prop up our bar and have a refreshing Black Castle craft soft drink!

Over the 4 day festival we sold more than 1,500 bottles and were thrilled with the response we got from the public. As a new company we cannot explain how great it was for brand awareness, helping get the word out there about our new grown up soft drinks. 

We were mentioned by the craft beer blog Simon Say's Beer, where our crafts sodas stood along side some great brews! http://simonsaysbeer.com/2016/06/19/taste-of-dublin/ 

We were mentioned by the craft beer blog Simon Say's Beer, where our crafts sodas stood along side some great brews! http://simonsaysbeer.com/2016/06/19/taste-of-dublin/ 

We were also ask to supply the Citroen DS Hospitality event during Taste of Dublin as they wanted a sophisticated non-alcoholic option for their guests. One lovely tweeted the following...

 What a brilliant festival, thanks to Bank of Ireland, Taste of Dublin and everyone who voted for us and helped get us there! 

Below is a short video featuring ourselves and last year's winners The Little Milk Company, giving you a taste  of our experience! (pun intended!)

Indie Pop Stars Black Castle Drinks in The Sunday Irish Times!

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Black Castle Drinks Sunday Times Ireland

This bank holiday Sunday we were featured in an excellent article on the soft drink movement in Ireland written by Corinna Hardgrave for the Sunday Times in Ireland. 

We were thrilled to be the featured so prominently and love the picture - John's face makes us laugh out loud!! Our Black Castle craft sodas were in good company too, with Poacher's Tonic and Wild Orchard soft drinks also featured. 

Link to Sunday Times http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/indie-pop-stars-ntxtzlwnj

Our delicious craft soda cocktail, The Red Setter also appeared! It's a citrus and spicey twist on a classic 'Jemmy & Red'. Check out the cocktail recipe below. 

Black Castle Red Lemonade
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THE RED SETTER

This twist on the ‘jemmy & red’ is made up of refreshing citrus flavours and fragrant spices using our Spiced Red Lemonade.

You’ll need:
Black Castle Spiced Red Lemonade
40ml Irish Whiskey
20ml Triple Sec
2 Dashes of Aromatic Bitters

Garnish with a large wedge of pink grapefruit and enjoy! 

Black Castle Drinks @ Enterprise Town Wicklow

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Black Castle Drinks

This April Fools Day we took part in a great initiative by Bank of Ireland called Enterprise Town, bringing local businesses and local people together. Held in a the new school Colaiste Chill Mhantan, there were over 70 businesses showing off their products and services. Gavin Duffy of Dragon's Den gave an inspiring and, it has to be said, entertaining talk on seeking out investment on his show as well as motivation and top tips on how to make it as a business. He was a true gent and made sure to give each business owner his time. 

We also took part in a short panel discussion along with Leigh Williams of Wicklow Brewery as well as Louise Fleming from the Local Enterprise Office in Wicklow. 

Riva O'Malley

Black Castle Soft Drinks @ Hospitality Expo Dublin

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hospitalityexpotradeshow

This year we held a stand at the Hospitality Expo in the RDS in their Food Village and were delighted to meet a huge range of prospective clients from the hospitality industry. 

John

There's John living the dream, driving a huge transit van full of our soft drinks and stand on our way up to the trade show!

And here is our stand, decked out in all its glory! Complete with new posters of our cocktails taken by friend and Wicklow photographer Shane Doyle!

Happy to report we've been following up with lots of new clients and we should see our premium soft drinks popping up on even more shop shelves and pub menus!