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What we do

Welcome to 7th Raven, home to the manufacturing of creative cocktails and nitro coffee.

We use the finest natural ingredients available to us and develop innovative production processes on our never-ending journey for improvement.

Who we are

We are a proudly family owned and operated business located next to the mighty Blackwater River & just on the southern tip of the majestic Knockmealdown Mountain range in West Waterford, Ireland.

Busy work at our stand at Bloom Inn

So what defines us?

In 2019 we were challenged to produce a perfect espresso martini which, when poured from a bar stout tap, would form its trademark thick golden head.

With our knowledge of producing nitro coffee and, using our inhouse freshly roasted coffee to replace the coffee concentrates used in commercial coffee liqueurs, we were able to produce a unique smooth, rich espresso martini with natural chocolate notes. And it formed a glorious golden head when poured from a stout tap.

This experience has now defined how we approach our work. Rather than following industry norms, we use our skills, knowledge and resource base, add to it extensive primary research and trials, to produce the best cocktails we can make using the finest, natural most fresh ingredients at our disposal.

Where we’ve been.

Our coffee story begins in 2002 with a retail coffee shop opened
by Dave and Sharon McLaughlin in Downtown Birmingham, Alabama. A few years after opening, sourcing quality African Arabica specialty coffees became extremely difficult and increasingly expensive.

To overcome this problem, Dave learnt to roast and in 2007, they purchased their first 5 kg coffee roaster. Dave took to roasting and soon scored 4 coffees above 90 points.

The operation moved to the Southport Corridor in Chicago North, a few blocks away from Wrigley Field. Demand for Dave’s roasted coffee grew to the point where a larger roaster was purchased (an Italian direct-heat 15 kg roaster named Gino) and the business focused solely on wholesale coffee roasting.

A few years later, they started producing Nitro coffee.

2016 saw significant political changes in the USA. Dave and Sharon took the opportunity to move to Ireland – home of Dave’s paternal family.

Due to the growth in the business, Dave soon convinced his youngest son Sean to join them in Ireland. Today Sean provides both the technical skills and
creativity that gives our range of cocktails their distinct heart and quality.

Espresso Martini

It all begins with great roasted coffee. Sourcing quality green coffee beans and roasting them to perfection is the start to making a great tasting espresso martini.

Our coffees are sourced from Africa, the original home to all coffees in the world (and the McLaughlin family).


Our coffees are selected and roasted specifically to give our espresso martini great body, a natural sweetness and strong chocolate notes.

Then we pass the coffee onto Sean to do his magic blending and balancing the espresso and nitro with a 3-year-old aged rum, Madagascan vanilla and a few other ingredients to give us the very best espresso martini we can offer you.

Strawberry
Daiquiri

Anyone whose made a strawberry daiquiri using fresh strawberries knows the pain and rewards. On the one hand there’s separation, seeds, sorrow and a great big mess.

Wexford strawberries collected from the farm for our strawberry daiquiri

But, on the other hand, if successful, the taste of the strawberry daiquiri will be
glorious and distinctly different from those made choosing the easier route of using commercial strawberry syrups or purees.


With having some of the very best strawberries in the world next door to us,
Wexford strawberries, and enjoying the challenge, we couldn’t resist.

Again, blended and balanced by Sean with a 3-year-old aged rum and other quality ingredients, we present to you the very best strawberry daiquiri
we can produce.

Mojito

It’s simple. And it’s great. No need to complicate things with this wonderfully refreshing cocktail. Made with only 3 main ingredients (rum, lime and mint) the trick is in the quality of the ingredients used and having the right balance between each of them.


We use our 3-year-old aged rum as the base for our Mojito. After blending with lime, some mint extract (we make it so that fresh mint needs to be added to the glass) and water, the Mojito is then infused with CO2 over a few days. This process carbonates the Mojito.

So fill your tall glass with either cubed or crushed ice and fresh mint, Then pour from the tap or bottle. It’s as simple as that. Enjoy.

Mojito Tap

Pornstar
Martini

Without a doubt, the most popular cocktail since 2020. When we first started producing Pornstar martini, we were using commercial passion fruit
puree and passion fruit liqueur.

When COVID hit, these ingredients were unavailable. At that stage, we were all ready researching producing these ingredients inhouse.

After extensive research and trials we first developed our own Passion fruit puree and then our own Passion fruit liqueur using actual passion fruit.

The challenge faced now is securing a regular and economically viable source of pure passion fruit.

Events

Cocktails are great for events and weddings. Having premium quality cocktails on-tap means they are served quickly and efficiently increasing customer satisfaction and decreasing staff stress.

There are other benefits to using this source for cocktails.

Firstly, there is the issue of sourcing ingredients. For any range of cocktails served at an event, there is a multitude of ingredients needed. Each one needs to be ordered n the necessary quantity and storage requirements need to be followed very carefully to avoid spoilage.

Secondly, consistency. This is another challenge when serving cocktails at any event or wedding. Especially when the pressure is on to serve, unless the bar staff are well trained and experienced, consistency of the cocktails will be the first casualty of the event.

Without the option of serving premium quality cocktails on-tap, both service levels and consistency of quality will be impacted.

Make one call to us and your cocktails are covered. Kegerators are supplied,
commissioned and collected after the event. Cocktails are selected with the organisers and made fresh to order.

7th Raven Bloom 2022
Bloom Inn Show

Production

Our production philosophy is to create premium quality cocktails using natural, fresh local and in-house ingredients wherever available. Each cocktail is made from different ingredients, requires different gases during infusion and the time taken for that infusion also varies significantly.

There is also the challenge of producing a cocktail with the characteristic that make the cocktail so distinct.

The best example is this is the ability of espresso martini to form a great head when poured from the tap.

Below is a picture of our latest cocktail: An Irish Cream Espresso Martini. Poured straight from the stout tap.

However, we continue to grow and learn. There’s still so many great ingredients out there and so many cocktail yet to keg.

It’s a journey, never-ending and most enjoyable.

Scaling this up to reach higher capacity levels has been the challenge we confronted over the past 4 years. Sometimes we’ve been successful. Other times (not often) we’ve been beaten. And then it is back to the drawing
board.

Every order is made fresh. Fresh ingredients. Fresh cocktails.

Our proud and joy, GINO – an Italian direct heat 15 kg batch roaster.

Kegs

From our coffee roasting and nitro coffee origins, it was a natural progression to making kegs of espresso martini. Infusing gas into a cocktail takes place after all the ingredients have been carefully measured and thoroughly mixed.

Over the years, we have developed our knowledge and skills to produce kegs of Pornstar Martini, Strawberry Daiquiri, Mojito, Sex-on-the-beach and
Gin-and-tonic.

Our present capacity ranges from 5 to 10 pallets a week. Each pallet holds 33 x 30 litre kegs which, if serving a 120ml (4 shot) cocktail, equates to 8,250 cocktails per week or 35,000 cocktails a month

Bottles

Our range of 770ml bottles includes Pornstar Martini, Strawberry Daiquiri,
and Mojito.

Each bottle is filled under pressure, However, for best results in serving these cocktails from the bottle, our serving suggestions are highly
recommended.

In order to form a head on either the Pornstar Martini or Espresso Martini, pour a glass-fill of the cocktail into a cocktail shaker (which is filled with ice), shake thoroughly and pour back into the glass.

A coup glass of around 200-230ml is recommended for both these cocktails.

Garnish the Espresso Martini with a few roasted beans atop the head formed on the cocktail.

Ideally, for the Pornstar Martini, place a slice of passion fruit atop the cocktail (as shown below).

Our Mojito is pre-infused. Do not shake. Fill a tall glass with ice, preferably crushed, add fresh mint and pour the Mojito from the bottle.

The Strawberry Daiquiri is ready from the bottle. Just fill the tall glass with ice, preferably crushed, and pour from the bottle. Add a sliced strawberry to the side of the tall glass.