“A good vinegar should be mellow and rounded. The acidity should be secondary to the flavour.”
— The Slow Vinegar Company
The Slow Vinegar Story
The Slow Vinegar Story: A Conversation with the Creators of Time-Honoured Taste
In a world where fast food and instant gratification reign, Wiltshire based The Slow Vinegar Company is quietly championing a different approach — one rooted in patience, creativity, and the transformative power of fermentation. We sat down with the Andrew and Sarah who are behind this small-batch, award-winning brand to find out how a background in art and design evolved into a thriving business fermenting flavour, one bottle at a time.
From Creative to Culinary
You come from a background in art and design – what drew you to the world of fermentation and vinegar?
Good question! Andrew has always been interested in fermentation. He used to brew wine and they weren’t always successful. There was a bit of a light bulb moment when a batch of elderflower wine turned a bit vinegary – the rest is history!
Artistry in Every Bottle
Do you see your vinegar making as a kind of art – choosing colours, textures, layers of flavour like you would a palette?
Absolutely. Food, cooking and creativity in the kitchen has a lot of synergies with creating artistically. A lot of thought, consideration and mess! Eventually you get a finished result you are happy with.
Design Thinking in the Kitchen
Has your creative process from the art world helped you when developing new flavours or rethinking traditional vinegar uses?
It’s been interesting developing our vinegars and thinking about the range as a holistic group of flavours that makes sense on every level. This is most definitely part of any design or creative process. We wanted to think about seasonality, sweet/savoury/ colour/flavour etc etc. Everything needs to come together and have a reason to be there.
“The flavour development, complexity, depth, and ‘roundedness’ are things that take time and attention”.
— The Slow Vinegar Company
Building a Brand, Slowly
Does your design background also influence how you approach branding, packaging, and storytelling for The Slow Vinegar Company?
We really loved designing all of our own packaging – it would have been very difficult handing that over to anyone else! We get a lot of compliments about the bottles and labels so that’s great for us.
Creative Batches
What’s been the wildest flavour experiment so far – and did it work?
Hmm – Wild Garlic has been interesting. The wine is somewhat unpalatable (understatement!) but the vinegar is delicious and has turned out to be our best seller and our best award winner.
Time is the Secret Ingredient
Your vinegars are aged slowly. What does that process bring to the final flavour that quicker methods just can’t achieve?
Absolutely – slowly and carefully. The flavour development, complexity, depth, and ‘roundedness’ are things that take time and attention. We had a flavour profile analysis done on one of our vinegars versus a supermarket vinegar. They were pole apart in terms of flavour aromas. The list for ours was a few pages long, compared to the supermarket vinegar, just a few lines.
Intuition vs. Science
How do you decide how long to age each vinegar – is it instinct, science, or a bit of both?
It’s both. We test regularly when the vinegar is fermenting, checking the acid levels. Once it’s reached perfect acidity, we will leave it for as long as possible before bottling. Usually 9 – 12 months. We will often age the vinegars over more the original fruit to add depth of flavour.
A Labour of Love
What’s the most surprising or challenging part of making vinegar from scratch?
It takes ages! We have two distinct processes to master – the alcohol fermentation and the acetic fermentation. If you don’t have great wine, you won’t have great vinegar. We’ve had a lot of interesting failures, the occasional disaster, (beetroot vinegar spraying all over the room when a pump broke was a particularly spectacular moment!) But mostly a positive, fascinating learning curve.
Flavour, Food & Fermentation
Signature Style
How would you describe the “Slow Vinegar” flavour philosophy in three words?
Slow, careful, delicious.
Beyond the Bottle
What are some of your favourite, unexpected ways to use vinegar in cooking?
There isn’t much that can’t be improved with a dash of acid. It balances out all the other flavours. Treat it as a seasoning, much like salt and pepper. Add to soup – transformative. Add to frying onions with a tiny bit of sugar – brilliant caramelised onions. Add to gravy – it extends and brings out all the other flavours. The sweet vinegars are wonderful in cocktails or G and T’s.
Perfect Pairings
If someone’s new to slow vinegar, which variety should they try first – and how would you serve it?
Wild garlic is a good all rounder, add to soups, stews, frying onions or other veg. Sprinkle over roast veg and roast potatoes. The orange and lemon vinegar is wonderful drizzled over roast carrots with a bit of honey.
Foodie Favourites
Which of your vinegars do you find yourself reaching for most often when cooking at home?
We use the ginger vinegar a lot in quick pickles. Cube some cucumber and celery, add the ginger vinegar and serve with salmon steaks or other fish.
We use them all in salad dressings, particularly the wild garlic and the orange and lemon.
The blackcurrant syrup is delicious drizzled over breakfast granola and yogurt.
Fermentation Fascination
Do you think vinegar and fermented foods are finally getting the spotlight they deserve?
Fermented food seems to be gaining attention at the moment which is wonderful. There seems to be no denying the health benefits of ‘live’ fermented foods and vinegars. We are very happy to part of the fermentation revelation. In the UK we are a little behind the ‘vinegar’ curve compared to other European countries. Time to catch up!
Seasonal Creativity
How do the seasons influence your production or flavour inspiration?
Completely. We make wines with seasonally available produce, so have a calendar of making that flows with the rhythm of the seasons. We forage some of the produce which obviously is only around for a short time. If we can’t grow or forage we buy from local suppliers at the right time for the fruits to be at their best.
From Kitchen to Customers
How do you help people understand that vinegar isn’t just for chips – that it can be a real flavour hero?
We have produced a small leaflet which we give to retail outlets for their point of sale, but are also hoping to bring out a recipe book to help buyers understand how they might use the vinegars in their cooking. Obviously the more we can talk to people the better, so we are always happy to do tastings etc.
Passion for Produce
Sourcing Matters
You use UK-grown fruit and herbs where possible – how important is that local connection to you?
Very important. We forage locally, and always try and buy from farmers and suppliers as locally as possible. Our oranges and lemons need to come from abroad but we use a Crowdfarming scheme where we buy from small producers who get paid fairly for their produce.
Sustainable & Small Batch
What are the benefits (and challenges!) of keeping things slow and small in today’s fast-paced food world?
We are a tiny family business. Just two of us doing absolutely everything. Slow can be slightly scary at times when we are running low in ready stock. We’ve always prioritised and maintained quality over quantity. If we run out we run out! So far we haven’t actually not been able to fulfil an order but we’ve come close once or twice!
If Bottles Could Speak
What would you want people to feel or think when they first taste one of your vinegars?
That they have never tasted anything quite like it before – it’s vinegar but not as you know it!
Quick-Fire Round
Let’s lift the lid on your flavour favourites…
• Sweet or sharp? Both!
• Balsamic – yay or nay? Yay. We love balsamics but our vinegars are a bit different.
• Fruity or floral notes? Fruity, though our elderflower is floral and delicious.
• Sweet and sour or sharp and savoury? Both, but if we had to choose, sweet and sour.
• Most underrated use for vinegar? Every soup should have a dash of vinegar.
• Drizzle it or dash it? Dash
• Sourdough or focaccia? Sourdough
• Slow food or fast fusion? Slow food.
• Bottle design: minimal or bold? Minimal and tasteful.
• What’s always in your kitchen cupboard? Lots of different vinegars (including balsamics), mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, horseradish and mango chutney.
Don’t forget to try out some slow wine vinegars yourself – view our current range here
