Lumber Distillers to open Eat.Drink.Distil with a Gin School to follow
Lumber Distillers have announced the opening of a new distillery, bar and restaurant experience with a future phase gin school in Newbury called Eat.Drink.Distil.
The distillery will be moving and expanding its headquarters and operational home to the heart of Parkway Shopping Centre in Newbury, West Berkshire, from May 2022.
The new venture, Eat.Drink.Distil, will be the first of its kind in Newbury, near to where the concept pop-up bar and shop was in December 2021.
Founder Peter Lumber is widely respected for turning several failing pubs into award winning gastro success stories. With two decades of experience, Lumber knows the food and drinks industry as a passion and a way of life. Lumber set up Lumber Distillers in 2019 and has been operating from The Newbury Pub where Lumber has been the landlord for a tenure of 10 years.
Eat.Drink.Distil will bring together food, drinks and a unique experience to the West Berkshire area.
- Eat will encompass a brand-new menu of fresh and tasty treats, run in partnership with local chef Lewis Spreadbury of Bread & Butter.
- Drink. Grab a morning coffee, a lunchtime pitstop, or cocktails and tastings after dark. This area of the brand will be headed up by London trained mixologist Daniel Jorge Alvarez who currently leads as Senior Brand Ambassador for Lumber.
- Distil. The award-winning distillery will fully relocate the new site, at the heart of Eat. Drink. Distil and you’ll no doubt catch a regular glimpse of Lumber and the team hard at work on the copper stills. “Laima”, the original and currently the only still used for distillation will remain in action and take pride of place behind the bar. To join her is some new kit which will allow additional production now needed due to growing demand, and to better manage the increase in requests for collaborations and contract distilling commitments.
The new facility in future will also be home to a brand-new gin school, completing the experience and bringing something different to Newbury.
Commenting on the upcoming launch, Peter Lumber said: “Following a successful decade of running The Newbury as well as the distillery for the last few years, I’ll be handing over the reins to a new landlord and focussing solely on the distillery venture from May. The opening of Eat.Drink.Distil is the culmination of a lifelong dream.
“Combining our love of food, passion for craft spirits and commitment to local producers and businesses, this venture is a natural progression for us and we’re proper chuffed that it’s all coming together.
“The new location will allow people to not only enjoy great food, carefully crafted drinks from the bar, continued 137 Distillery tasting events, visitors will also see and learn the process of distilling from start to finish when we open the gin school shortly after our initial launch in May. They’ll see every ingredient, every bit of kit we use, and they can get a greater appreciation of what craft spirits are all about.”
Eat.Drink.Distil have already begun actively recruiting for additional brand ambassadors, experienced mixologists and baristas wanting to join the new venture.
“The customer experience is at the heart of every aspect of our business and it’s the driving force behind Eat.Drink.Distil. We will be expanding the 137 family and we are especially keen to mentor and inspire local talent”, said Lumber.
Andrew Marmot, Centre Manager at Parkway Shopping said: “we are very excited to welcome Eat-Drink-Distil to Parkway as our latest new tenant. They are a fantastic local and regional operator who will be offering awarding winning gins and other drinks in a unique environment, delivering a drinking and dining experience unlike anything else for visitors to Parkway.”
In 2021, the distillery received the coveted 3-star taste award and have won over 60 awards since opening which, according to the firm, is more than any other independent distiller in the UK. The 137 range is stocked in Harrods and over 125 boutiques, indies, restaurant chains and pubs.
