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As Seen On Dragon’s Den

Victor’s Drinks is a range of easy to make cider and ale kits that redefine the way people view the current homebrew market. The product has been developed to be as simple as possible taking home brewing away from the confines of the devoted hobbyist.

The idea for Victor’s Drinks started at the University of Manchester when co-founder Alex would make his own cider to cater for their parties. Everyone loved the cider and they were always interested to hear how it was made but didn’t want to do it themselves because of the high start-up costs, variable results and large storage requirements afterwards. Alex and fellow co-founder Ralph saw a gap in the market and over the next 5 years developed a make-it-yourself drinks kit to solve all these problems. That solution is Victor’s Drinks.

How is it made? Pour in 18 pints of warm water, add a sachet of yeast and after 10 days the drink is ready to consume and can be poured straight from the box into a glass.

After launching in October 2013 with an apple cider they have now expanded the range to include elderflower cider, mixed berry cider, pale ale and dark ale. The 20 pint version retails at £24.99 and they will also be launching a 10 pint version shortly.

Victor’s Drinks make the perfect gift, is a fun and easy way to make your own drink and – true it’s origins – is great for parties.

Victor’s Drinks is a range of easy to make cider and ale kits that redefine the way people view the current homebrew market. The product has been developed to be as simple as possible taking home brewing away from the confines of the devoted hobbyist.

The idea for Victor’s Drinks started at the University of Manchester when co-founder Alex would make his own cider to cater for their parties. Everyone loved the cider and they were always interested to hear how it was made but didn’t want to do it themselves because of the high start-up costs, variable results and large storage requirements afterwards. Alex and fellow co-founder Ralph saw a gap in the market and over the next 5 years developed a make-it-yourself drinks kit to solve all these problems. That solution is Victor’s Drinks.

How is it made? Pour in 18 pints of warm water, add a sachet of yeast and after 10 days the drink is ready to consume and can be poured straight from the box into a glass.

After launching in October 2013 with an apple cider they have now expanded the range to include elderflower cider, mixed berry cider, pale ale and dark ale. The 20 pint version retails at £24.99 and they will also be launching a 10 pint version shortly.

Victor’s Drinks make the perfect gift, is a fun and easy way to make your own drink and – true it’s origins – is great for parties.

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Company Links

Home

https://www.facebook.com/VictorsDrinks
https://twitter.com/VictorsDrinks

Purchase Links

http://www.firebox.com/product/6656/Victors-Drinks-Beer-Making-Kits
http://www.firebox.com/product/6255/Victors-Drinks-Cider-Making-Kit

History

Alex Dixon (28) and Ralph Broadbent (27) met at University and hosted many parties during their years studying. Their parties grew and so did the requirement for alcohol. Alex experimented with home brewing, to the delight of his friends who always loved it, although for Alex there was a lot of time, effort and money required to get there. In the following three years Ralph and Alex spent time coming up with a way of changing the way people viewed home brewing and in October 2013 launched the first batch of apple cider drinks kits which is an extremely simple way to make your own alcohol while also having a fantastic taste. Alongside Victor’s Drinks Ralph and Alex put on a number of music festivals across the UK including the award winning 15,000 strong Y-Not Festival in Derbyshire.

Why Victor’s Drinks?

The name Victor’s Drinks is derived from the word “Victory”, and is based around the personal accomplishment gained from creating your own drink. The box is designed like a trophy and #TasteVictory is used across their social media channels.

How Does It Work?

The product is based on bag in box technology, and comes ready filled with a specially formulated syrup which gives the drink its flavour. In order to create the drink the customer just removes the cap (which also acts as a valve), removes the plastic seal (which keeps the syrup fresh), adds the supplied sachet of yeast and fills with 18 pints of warm water before leaving at room temperature for 10 days, following which, the drink can be poured directly into a glass. Inside the box the sugar in the syrup and the yeast combine to create the alcohol. Once the drink is ready it can be drunk within 3 weeks.

The Product

The box should ideally be kept somewhere at room temperature and not moved for 10 days. You can keep the cider for up to 3 weeks and the longer you leave it the dryer the taste becomes. The ales are also ready after 10 days. The box features a push tap for easy pouring.

Locations

Victor’s Drinks is based in London Fields, close to Alex and Ralph’s current London home in Angel.
Alex was born in Poole and lived with his family in Wareham until moving to Manchester University at the age of 18.
Ralph is from Biggin near Ashbourne and like Alex moved to Manchester after his A-levels.

Dragon’s Den

Victor’s Drinks received an offer of investment as seen on August 3rd episode. After initial worries all but one of the Dragon’s opted “out” and they rejected a sole “offer” from Duncan Bannatyne however Alex and Ralph returned with a counter-offer and a deal was agreed for £40,000 for 25% share, which if after 3 years all profit targets are hit, will reduce to 15%. Following the programme (filmed in April) Ralph and Alex have been working hard on the brand are are excited about re-launching in the coming months.
Watch the episode here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d4nbc

Stockists

Victor’s Drinks is available on their own website as well as at Firebox, Menkind, Fenwicks, QD Stores, Hawkins Bazaar and a variety of independent gift shops and garden centres with a rrp of £24.99

Ingredients

Apple Cider: apple juice concentrate, water, natural flavouring , apple, malt extract. Contains gluten.
Mixed Berry Cider: apple juice concentrate, sugar, elderberry juice concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate, raspberry juice concentrate, natural flavouring, wild berry, apple, pomegranate, strawberry, malic acid. Gluten-free.
Elderflower Cider: apple juice concentrate, water, elderflower extract, citric acid. Gluten-free.
Ales: hopped barley, malt extract (barley, malted barley, water, iso-hop concentrate). Contains gluten.
Alcohol content.

For all varieties approx 4.5% after 10 days (varies depending on conditions)

Victor’s Drinks always advise drinking in moderation.