I’ll be honest, when fellow co-founder and director Dan Harris asked us ‘do we want to launch our own vodka?, there was a bit of a pause.

We’re a production company. We make videos, films, podcasts, documentaries, all sorts of quality content, but we’ve never considered our own spirits.

When we told the rest of the team, there were equally baffled looks. Why on earth is a production company launching a vodka?

The reason is simple. We’re not just a production company.

EatSleep Media developed out of a love of all things Welsh football, including the culture, the music, the fashion, away trips and, yes, enjoying a drink or two!

A few years ago we acquired the Facebook page called Welsh Football Fans, and that, when merged with our own channels across multiple platforms gave us an audience of more than 60 thousand people, all of whom are passionate Welsh football fans.

The Welsh Football Fans website is a legacy of those early days when we were cocking about with off-the-shelf consumer cameras and turning up to press conferences like we’d just walked in off the terraces.

It has been a pleasure growing and collaborating with so many of these people, and we’re still doing it today.

So, when Dan said, ‘do we want to launch our own vodka’, it wasn’t from the POV of a production company, it was a way of accessing a large audience we have built up a long-lasting and sustainable relationship with.

A limited edition run of 1000 individually numbered bottles - credit: Cardiff Distillery

We took a lot of care choosing the right taste (I mean, A LOT of care) and collaborated with a Welsh footballing institution, a man who has pretty much launched his own cult with his brilliant illustrations and merchandise - A Guy Called Minty.

It’s a product we believe in. It’s a product which celebrates all that is Welsh football, And it’s a product distilled right here in Wales, thankfully, by people who know what they are doing.

We’ve met a few brewers and distiller-ers on our travels. We’ve even recorded a podcast on a tour of a gin making school underneath a castle out in the Vale of Glamorgan, like some alcoholic Aladdin’s cave!

And once again, co-founder Dan’s ability to talk to anyone about pretty much anything until they agreed to everything to make him stop had presented us with an opportunity.

Our vodka being poured into our bottles - credit: Cardiff Distillery

The vodka is made by the good people of Cardiff Distillery. They make their own spirits as well as liquids for a variety of others.

There has been something of a boon in new, rapidly growing distilleries in south Wales, tapping into the gin or rum markets, or finding their own niche.

For instance, as well as it’s own very fine gin, Cardiff Distillery also makes a low-ish alcohol spirit with 10 per cent ABV. As opposed to the usual 35-40 per cent products.

As well as their own spirits they also make white label liquids for anyone who has an idea.

And this is how it came about. Dan explained our market, Cardiff Distillery said they could make something for it. A month later and we’re sat in CD’s premises just off Penarth Road pretending to take our flavour tasting very, very seriously.

We sampled vodkas with welsh cake flavouring and even lava bread and honey. Using Welsh ingredients was important to us as the primary market will be Welsh football fans.

Eventually we settled on a very more-ish Welsh sea salt and caramel flavour, and it is blinkin’ lush.

After that we brought in our usual designer to design the label, and we struck up a deal with a man who has built his own Welsh footballing following, A Guy Called Minty.

It was important to us to striker a partnership as it shows we care about the community and want to connect with the people in it.

We’ve limited the run to only 1000 bottles, adding an element of exclusivity as each bottle is individually numbered.

After that, we needed a snappy slogan to market the product with:

If it works, we may consider dipping back into the market.

If it doesn’t, well, guess what everyone’s getting for Christmas!

Oh, and speaking of which. Interested?

You can get your hands on our limited edition Welsh sea salt and caramel vodka right here.

Yes, we’ve launched our own vodka!