A spirited passion for flavour

Award-winning Cornish spirits company Curio is taking taste buds by storm.

A Mullion-based spirits company has taken flavours to a whole new level with a range of award-winning, seductive tipples that are curious by nature and Curio by name.

Inspired husband and wife team William and Rubina Tyler-Street are both the brains and backbone of the Curio Spirits Company, unleashing their first creations to local hoteliers in 2014, to much fanfare. Since then the Curio stable has gone from strength to strength producing new and exciting innovative drinks.

“You’ll find that each Curio spirit always has an aspect of tea,  a nod to William’s heritage.”

“Both William and I have always had an interest in spirits and flavours and having Asian backgrounds has meant that we have always had a real desire for taste and how different spices work together,” said Rubina. “So it was a natural progression that we transferred our love of flavour and taste from our cooking to our drinks.” Curio is a company with flavour innovation at its heart. Although William’s family is originally from Cornwall he was born in Assam, where his father was a tea planter. You’ll find that each Curio spirit always has an aspect of tea, a nod to William’s heritage. Rubina’s background was also a driving factor for the business. Working as an enterprise facilitator in Bradford, she helped nurture small businesses; a skill she was able to transfer to their own enterprise when she met William after moving to Cornwall.

William and Rubina started distilling small batches, just a few 100 metres from the sea – a location that added inspiration to their first gin. “We decided to infuse our first gin with rock samphire; a crisp, local botanical harvested from the clifftops,” Rubina explained. This gin was Curio Rock Samphire – and the accolades and awards soon followed. Curio can now be found in the finest gin parlours in the UK, and as far away as Hong Kong. It’s this passion for flavour and sourcing local ingredients that set Curio spirits apart.

Rubina added: “We have wild angelica growing in our back field. We’ve harvested enough for a new recipe we are working on for next year. It’s important for us to be able to control the provenance of the ingredients we use and if that means reducing our carbon footprint, then all the better.” William and Rubina’s aptitude for flavour combinations meant that the Curio range of drinks has grown to seven distinctly delicious spirits. “William is an alchemist. He would start a new gin every day if he could,” laughed Rubina.