Ricky Gervais urges followers to buy vodka made from British apples - Fruit & Vine

Ricky Gervais urges followers to buy vodka made from British apples

The comedian is co-owner of Dutch Barn Vodka, which is made with British apples.

Ricky Gervais standing on stage against black background
Image: Raph_PH/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0

Ricky Gervais has been promoting his Dutch Barn Vodka on social media, which is made at Ellers Farm Distillery in Yorkshire, using waste British apples.

Gervais urged his 14.9 million followers on X to ‘Buy something’, with a link to the Dutch Barn Vodka website.

He also posted a video to Instagram captioned: ‘Honest advertising’, in which he says:

“Hi, I’m Ricky Gervais, world famous comedian. But I’ll tell you what isn’t funny – the effects that strong liquor can have on your wellbeing.”

He then lists numerous negative impacts of alcohol before pointing to a bottle of Dutch Barn Vodka.

screen grab of Ricky Gervais post on X, showing a bottle of Dutch Barn Vodka with a trophy cabinet in the background. Caption reads: Work's over for the week. What am I mixing this with?

Gervais became co-owner of the Ellers Farm Distillery in November 2023. 

It was founded by Chris Fraser to tackle waste apples on his Yorkshire orchard. An old Dutch barn later became home to the distillery in 2021, hence the brand name.

The drink is now stocked in supermarkets across the UK. 

READ MORE: Cider manufacturer Thatchers wins court battle with Aldi

READ MORE: Which supermarket sold the most British apples so far?

Partial to a drink

According to the website, Gervais is “partial to a drink, yes – but he also wanted to work with a sustainable spirits business that’s actually doing some good.

“So after diving in feet (and bottle) first, he took the reins on creative leadership whilst making sure everyone knows about Dutch Barn Vodka.” 

The vodka is made using only British apples, and distilled at least 70 times through 70 distillation plates, the company says on its website.

The spirit’s methanol levels are reduced to 1.5mg/1,000 litres, far below most vodkas. Some potato spirit is then added to give a creamy mouthfeel. 

Ellers Farm Distillery also says it has designed a unique carbon process to give a purer vodka, and unlike many distilleries, it rests the vodka before bottling.

Read more drinks news.


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