​Never heard of a liquid deli? It’s not surprising, as there hasn’t been one in England until now. Sue Mason meets Angus Ferguson, the entrepreneur behind Demijohn, which has just opened in York . . .

Angus Ferguson at Demijohn in York, which stocks 60 lines of liquid delights

Damson Gin? Step Right In. Those are the words chalked on a board outside Demijohn in Museum Street, York, which is now home to England’s first liquid deli.

Liquid what? Well, instead of stuffed olives, Parma ham and Camembert, in a liquid deli you have olive oils, vinegars, spirits and liqueurs. And in the very best deli traditions, these are not pre-packaged but in huge demijohns.

Which means even when you’ve done the first fun bit (sampling it all), there’s a whole lot more fun to be had choosing the bottle you’re going to take it home in.

There are long thin bottles, squat fat bottles, heart-shaped glass containers and even stacking ones. And when you’ve chosen your liquid and its bottle, it will be beautifully inscribed for you.

It’s a great shopping experience and a particularly great foodie experience and it’s the brainchild of Angus Ferguson.

“I was an industrial design student in Newcastle and during my course, I went to work in Italy,” explains Angus, speaking with no trace of accent to betray his Scottish heritage. “I was in Naples and we used to get our wine from cantinas in our own big Jerry can. It was cheap as chips and I loved the idea that you could do that.”

After university he was in the Army for 10 years and travelled all over the world. “I lived in Italy, Germany, Hong Kong and New Zealand and I loved seeing how different cultures did different things,” he said.

“I’ve visited most countries in Europe and eaten my way round the world.”

Shops like Demijohn are very common on the Continent, according to Angus. “European customers who come in know exactly what’s going on here,” he says.

“I suppose we are more like an old-fashioned grocers, because you can try things, fill up and come back for refills. It works very well because it is so flexible. We ask, do you want a big bottle or a small one? Is it a gift? Do you want it personalised?”

Some customers might not be attracted so much by the bottles, but by the flavours, which are incredibly intense; Angus pours me a tiny sample of first some liqueurs, then oils and vinegars, and believe me, the elderflower vinegar was more delicious than a lot of wines I’ve tasted.

“There’s an underworld of producers out there,” says Angus, pouring me some raspberry vodka. The flavour is so obviously that of real raspberries – there is no insipid artificial flavouring involved here!

There’s a Seville orange gin, inspired by a trip to Spain, and even a rhubarb vodka. “We like to go to people and say, what have you got in that back cupboard?” says Angus. “They forget that some of their products are remarkable.”

“I suppose we are more like an old-fashioned grocers, because you can try things, fill up and come back for refills,” says Angus

I don’t sample every drink on the shelf, but the website reveals there’s cucumber vodka, gooseberry gin or butterscotch cream liqueur available.

“When we started we had 20 lines and now we have 60,” explains Angus, who opened the first Demijohn in Edinburgh in 2004 and one in Glasgow three years ago.

“We don’t want to increase that, just the quality or choice.”

He explains there is only a finite amount of stock, because you can only harvest so many elderflowers or sloes, even in a good year, and when the sloe gin is gone, it’s gone.

“Fundamentally, there are only so many products out there that we would want and we only want the hand-made variety,” he says. “We are about to bring in a grapefruit vodka that we have been developing with a couple of gardeners in Wales.”

Oil was Angus’s first love, he explains. “Italians do what I do,” he says. “They live to eat. We met a Scottish family who owned a Tuscan estate that produces oil. There was oil on one side and wine on the other.”

He gives me a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil and while it is palatable, what comes next is tastier. “We worked with an apple supplier to produce this apple vinegar,” he says. “It’s not at all like cider vinegar – it’s delicious.”

Then there is a concentrated olive oil from Greece, mixed with bramble vinegar. “It’s great for pasta sauces, risotto, ice-cream and fruit salad,” says Angus.

The elderflowers in the elderflower vinegar – so tasty you could drink it by the glass – came from an Edinburgh estate. “We went to pick some,” says Angus. “It was great fun – apart from the rain.”

He’s picked sloes too. “Sloe gin is a British phenomenon,” he says. “In 2007 and 2008 we closed up the shops and went picking. In 2007 we picked 160kg in four hours but last year the conditions were so bad that we only ended up with about 1/7th of that.”

Demijohn is based in a former shoe shop in Museum Street. “We chose York because it’s like a big village,” explains Angus.

“It’s busy, but there’s a very nice feel. We found the shop by chance. I was coming down regularly to look for premises and on the bank holiday in May, I noticed this place was closed.

“The way York has reacted to us has been amazing. The night before we opened, a Frenchman hammered on the door wanting to buy whisky to take back to France. We had to ask him to come back the next morning when we were open and he did.”

Like many customers, he had come across to England on the ferry to Hull but city residents have really taken to the shop, says Angus, and the tasting evenings they’ve already held have been very popular.

“York people get very excited and we’ve had a really fast start.”

Although it is a liquid deli, you will also find very unusual preserves, such as apricot and orange chutney and plum and brandy jam; they do, after all, have ingredients in common and they’re a complementary item for the hampers Demijohn sells.

Pricewise, liqueurs range from £10 (for 200ml) to £20 (for two litres), vinegars are £5-6 for a 200ml bottle and olive oils, £6-£7.

Angus and his wife Frances – who produces the catalogue – use the oils and vinegars on a daily basis, he says, and their three young children love them. What about the other (alcoholic) products?

“Our booze cabinet is the most interesting booze cabinet in the world – but the children aren’t quite into the whisky yet”.

Demijohn is at 11 Museum Street, York. Tel: 0141 3373600.