Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Have you ever wondered what trees taste like? That's the thought that spurred our guest, Ben Branson, to launch his latest venture, Sylva. We meet in Essex at his woodland, distillery and lab, where he crafts non-alcoholic drinks that capture the natural flavours of trees. Also the founder of Seedlip, the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, Ben has now turned his focus entirely to nature to make Sylva 'a tree company that makes drinks'. Join us to explore the production process, admire a centuries-old oak that could offer a new flavour, and discover Ben's mission to encourage others to love trees as much as he does. We also learn how Ben's ADHD and autism help fuel his curiosity and innovation, and inspired him to launch The Hidden 20%, a charity, podcast and movement finding and sharing the truth about neurodiversity.
Don't forget to rate us and subscribe! Learn more about the Woodland Trust at woodlandtrust.org.uk (woodlandtrust.org.uk/)
Transcript
You are listening to Woodland Walks, a podcast for the Woodland Trust presented by Adam Shaw. We protect and plant trees for people to enjoy, to fight climate change and to help wildlife thrive.
Adam: Well, in today's episode of Woodland Walks, I'm off to see a man who invented the world's first distilled non-alcoholic drink. It was called Seedlip and effectively he created it in his kitchen and took it to 40 countries and in the process, I think it's fair to say, helped change the world of adult drinks and it certainly spurned lots of imitators, which you may well know. He also has a different mission. Really, I think it's fair to say his mission is now at least partly to involve the environment in much of what he does. He has, for instance, won two golds at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show, and last year launched Pollen Projects, which aims to continue to disrupt the drinks industry, in particular though, by harnessing the flavour powers of trees. And that's something I suppose I've really never thought about. Anyway, so I met him at his farm, his home, his laboratory - they're all more or less the same thing - somewhere in Essex.
Ben: My name is Ben Branson. I'm the founder of Sylva.
Adam: Fantastic. So first of all, we've lots to talk about.
Ben: We do.
Adam: Because we are sitting in an amazing, is this a laboratory?
Ben: Yeah, I guess.
Adam: It doesn't feel like a laboratory, it feels something much more designery. It feels like a Porsche should be made here or something. Anyway, looking over an extraordinary landscape, and we're going to go for a walk through that. But first of all, would you tell me a little bit about what, I suppose, what's brought you here and your history and why, why you're doing what you're doing.
Ben: So I grew up on a farm and my family have been farming up in Lincolnshire for 320 years now. So that's nine generations and we're still farming. And I guess that meant I enjoyed a childhood largely outside and trees played a big part of that. Animals did, fields, produce, and hard work, I guess, not from me, but from my family.
Adam: Right. So did you ever work on the farm?
Ben: I did, yeah. And I would spend summers...
Adam: So you got your hands dirty?
Ben: Yeah, I would spend summers sitting on a tractor or going and sitting with my grandfather on a combine.
Adam: Right. And you came to prominence for something completely different. I mean, not sheep or potatoes or anything, but the non-alcoholic drink called Seedlip. So briefly, how on earth did that happen?
Ben: Yeah, Seedlip was a, I guess, a series of sort of curious accidents.
Adam: I suppose we should pause, just tell, for those who don't know, what on earth we're talking about, what is Seedlip?
Ben: So Seedlip was the, or is, the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit.
Adam: Fine.
Ben: So botanicals, distilled. and made into various different blends that you could have with tonic or in a cocktail.
Adam: Will you get annoyed or too crude to describe it as a non-alcoholic gin?
Ben: Too crude in that it is illegal to describe it as a non-alcoholic gin now *both laugh*
Adam: Oh okay, not just too crude! Okay, incorrect. But okay, in my mind, I saw it as a...
Ben: Akin to.
Adam: Akin to.
Ben: In that, in that world of a clear, botanical-driven liquid.
Adam: Fine. So we know what it is.
Ben: We know what it is. I've never worked for somebody else's drinks business before. I've never worked in manufacturing. Yeah, I learned how to distill ingredients partly through YouTube, partly through a book that was originally published in 1651. I have a 1664 copy of here called The Art of Distillation that details apothecaries' experiments for herbal remedies using distillation. So I, this started with me growing herbs at home and down the rabbit warren of Wikipedia looking at different lists of ingredients.
Adam: So why did you want to do that?
Ben: Because I'm th...
Have you ever wondered what trees taste like? That's the thought that spurred our guest, Ben Branson, to launch his latest venture, Sylva. We meet in Essex at his woodland, distillery and lab, where he crafts non-alcoholic drinks that capture the natural flavours of trees. Also the founder of Seedlip, the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, Ben has now turned his focus entirely to nature to make Sylva 'a tree company that makes drinks'. Join us to explore the production process, admire a centuries-old oak that could offer a new flavour, and discover Ben's mission to encourage others to love trees as much as he does. We also learn how Ben's ADHD and autism help fuel his curiosity and innovation, and inspired him to launch The Hidden 20%, a charity, podcast and movement finding and sharing the truth about neurodiversity.
Don't forget to rate us and subscribe! Learn more about the Woodland Trust at woodlandtrust.org.uk (woodlandtrust.org.uk/)
Transcript
You are listening to Woodland Walks, a podcast for the Woodland Trust presented by Adam Shaw. We protect and plant trees for people to enjoy, to fight climate change and to help wildlife thrive.
Adam: Well, in today's episode of Woodland Walks, I'm off to see a man who invented the world's first distilled non-alcoholic drink. It was called Seedlip and effectively he created it in his kitchen and took it to 40 countries and in the process, I think it's fair to say, helped change the world of adult drinks and it certainly spurned lots of imitators, which you may well know. He also has a different mission. Really, I think it's fair to say his mission is now at least partly to involve the environment in much of what he does. He has, for instance, won two golds at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show, and last year launched Pollen Projects, which aims to continue to disrupt the drinks industry, in particular though, by harnessing the flavour powers of trees. And that's something I suppose I've really never thought about. Anyway, so I met him at his farm, his home, his laboratory - they're all more or less the same thing - somewhere in Essex.
Ben: My name is Ben Branson. I'm the founder of Sylva.
Adam: Fantastic. So first of all, we've lots to talk about.
Ben: We do.
Adam: Because we are sitting in an amazing, is this a laboratory?
Ben: Yeah, I guess.
Adam: It doesn't feel like a laboratory, it feels something much more designery. It feels like a Porsche should be made here or something. Anyway, looking over an extraordinary landscape, and we're going to go for a walk through that. But first of all, would you tell me a little bit about what, I suppose, what's brought you here and your history and why, why you're doing what you're doing.
Ben: So I grew up on a farm and my family have been farming up in Lincolnshire for 320 years now. So that's nine generations and we're still farming. And I guess that meant I enjoyed a childhood largely outside and trees played a big part of that. Animals did, fields, produce, and hard work, I guess, not from me, but from my family.
Adam: Right. So did you ever work on the farm?
Ben: I did, yeah. And I would spend summers...
Adam: So you got your hands dirty?
Ben: Yeah, I would spend summers sitting on a tractor or going and sitting with my grandfather on a combine.
Adam: Right. And you came to prominence for something completely different. I mean, not sheep or potatoes or anything, but the non-alcoholic drink called Seedlip. So briefly, how on earth did that happen?
Ben: Yeah, Seedlip was a, I guess, a series of sort of curious accidents.
Adam: I suppose we should pause, just tell, for those who don't know, what on earth we're talking about, what is Seedlip?
Ben: So Seedlip was the, or is, the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirit.
Adam: Fine.
Ben: So botanicals, distilled. and made into various different blends that you could have with tonic or in a cocktail.
Adam: Will you get annoyed or too crude to describe it as a non-alcoholic gin?
Ben: Too crude in that it is illegal to describe it as a non-alcoholic gin now *both laugh*
Adam: Oh okay, not just too crude! Okay, incorrect. But okay, in my mind, I saw it as a...
Ben: Akin to.
Adam: Akin to.
Ben: In that, in that world of a clear, botanical-driven liquid.
Adam: Fine. So we know what it is.
Ben: We know what it is. I've never worked for somebody else's drinks business before. I've never worked in manufacturing. Yeah, I learned how to distill ingredients partly through YouTube, partly through a book that was originally published in 1651. I have a 1664 copy of here called The Art of Distillation that details apothecaries' experiments for herbal remedies using distillation. So I, this started with me growing herbs at home and down the rabbit warren of Wikipedia looking at different lists of ingredients.
Adam: So why did you want to do that?
Ben: Because I'm th...
