Camille Hobby Limon has hospitality running through her veins, from working in her folks’ hotel as a teen to Le Chef in The Hamptons, through to running iconic London pubs and launching one of the world’s best bars 69 Colebrooke Row. She’s also responsible for INTUNE drinks tasting so damn good, on which she collaborated with Crucible to create. We talk to her about flavourful drinks from concept to can.
How did you come up with the flavours of INTUNE?
I wanted to create grown up drinks using ingredients that sing without using too much sugar. So we did our research, spoke to lots of people, and started off by playing around with what you’d like to drink at different times of day. Grapefruit & Mint with a background of quince (which I love as a Brit) and passion fruit balanced well and we found refreshing. Pomegranate with ginger created the dryness and kick I was looking for as an afternoon awakener. And hops… I always knew that I wanted to get hops into the drinks because they are related to hemp and sit well together. The addition of elderflower on an apple base made for an elegant evening drink.
What were you looking to achieve with the drinks?
A really good grown up soft drink as an alternative to a cup of tea in the afternoon or a beer at the end of the day – to give you the feeling you’ve taken a pause.
Was it hard to work with CBD as an ingredient?
YES harder than we thought due to its spicy bitter flavour. This might explain why we had previously found it so hard to find a great tasting CBD product on the market. We worked around the CBD to make it part of a flavour as a taste enhancer of sorts, like black pepper in cooking.
Were calories / sugar content a factor?
Yes I was keen not to add much sugar but we didn’t want to compromise on taste. I knew I didn’t want to use sugar substitutes so opted for natural beet sugar from the UK.
Which is your favourite flavour?
The Grapefruit & Mint is my first child and favourite!
When do you drink them?
I drink them in the morning before my sea swim in Brighton, or during lunch. Whilst for many people looking to find focus / feel calmer a can or two of INTUNE is all the CBD they need, I take a higher daily dose of CBD of up to 50mg for arthritis. So I use an oil and top up with INTUNE.
Do you mix them?
I love INTUNE as a spritz with wine and also our non-alcoholic serve Enliven with Everleaf.
Enliven ingredients / method
50ml Everleaf, pour over ice, top up with INTUNE Grapefruit & Mint, garnish with a twist of grapefruit and sprig of mint (tall glass).