Scotland


<p>There’s a lot of noise in drinks right now about sustainability, low and no and what’s trending behind the bar. Anna Šebelová isn’t especially interested in any of that. Forager and drinks developer at Timberyard in Edinburgh, she’d rather talk about responsibility, preserving flavours properly and making drinks that people actually want to drink.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1500" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Anna-Sebelova.jpeg" alt="Anna Sebelova" class="wp-image-4792" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Anna-Sebelova.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Anna-Sebelova-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Anna-Sebelova-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Anna-Sebelova-768x1152.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>For the last seven years working on the drinks programme at Michelin-starred Edinburgh restaurant Timberyard, she’s helped shape one of Scotland’s most thoughtful drinks offerings. It’s so good, earlier this year the restaurant picked up a National Restaurant Award for the Best Cocktail List in the UK.</p>



<p>And it’s not all booze. Anna is a passionate advocate for giving non-alc options an equal billing. Let’s hear all the designated drivers say cheers to that!</p>



<p>Over to Anna.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-your-first-job-in-drinks">What was your first job in drinks?</h2>



<p>I’ve been in hospitality pretty much my whole working life – about 16 years now.</p>



<p>It started more as a part-time job than something I thought would become a career, so I moved around quite a lot. Coffee shops, speciality coffee, bars. Then I had a couple of years where I decided I would be a bartender, so I went through quite extensive training back home in the Czech Republic and really loved it. I loved snowballing all the knowledge I’d gained from making coffee together with drinks knowledge to be creative.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But when I actually started working afterwards, I realised getting into bed at three or four in the morning just wasn’t sustainable for me.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-did-you-end-up-in-scotland">How did you end up in Scotland?</h2>



<p>I moved around quite a lot in my twenties. I spent time in Italy, a little bit in Norway, then went back home and realised very quickly I needed to leave again.</p>



<p>Edinburgh just seemed like somewhere with a really amazing hospitality scene. The bar scene here is incredible. The restaurant scene is amazing for the size of the city.&nbsp;</p>



<p>I didn’t really have a clear plan as such. It just felt like a nice place to move to. One of the people who taught me was really into Scotch, so when I came to Scotland I felt like I was in a fairy tale because suddenly all of the distilleries we used to talk about were on my doorstep.</p>



<p>Though at the time everyone thought I was mad because it rains all the time. Now suddenly all my friends want to visit.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-biggest-career-highlight">Your biggest career highlight?</h2>



<p>Winning the Best Cocktail List was amazing, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily a career highlight for me as much as just generally being happy that these awards are becoming more of a thing.</p>



<p>I’ve always been a bit annoyed that restaurants put so much thought into food and then the drinks can feel overlooked. You can go somewhere incredible and every ingredient on the plate has provenance, but the soft drinks are Coca-Cola and Sprite.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/IMG_8813-1024x683.jpeg" alt="Anna Sebelova foraging" class="wp-image-4789" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/IMG_8813-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/IMG_8813-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/IMG_8813-768x513.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/IMG_8813.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>At Timberyard the drinks programme already existed before I arrived. They were making soft drinks from scratch, foraging, thinking differently. It feels nice that people are starting to notice restaurants are putting effort into drinks as well.</p>



<p>Now I focus a little bit more on foraging and the soft drinks side. The cocktail side belongs to one of my colleagues too, which makes the award feel even nicer.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-would-you-sum-up-your-drinks-philosophy-in-one-sentence">How would you sum up your drinks philosophy in one sentence?</h2>



<p>Seasonality and responsibility. I actually prefer the word responsibility over sustainability, which has become one of those words that gets thrown around so much that it’s kind of lost meaning.</p>



<p>For us it’s responsibility towards suppliers, staff and guests. It’s not sustainability for the sake of sustainability.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Copy-of-_MG_3647-1024x683.jpg" alt="Timberyard preserves" class="wp-image-4790" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Copy-of-_MG_3647-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Copy-of-_MG_3647-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Copy-of-_MG_3647-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/Copy-of-_MG_3647.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>A lot of my job is preserving flavours and making sure we have variety throughout the whole year. We don’t really buy fruit in winter, so what I don’t preserve, I don’t have. We do shrubs, jams, preserve as much as possible and use it later. But not everything that’s foraged tastes good just because it’s foraged!</p>



<p>I think that reflects my upbringing as much as anything. I grew up in a small village in Eastern Europe and preserving vegetables and fruit was just normal life.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-memorable-work-moment">Most memorable work moment?</h2>



<p>We’ve been doing a whole soft pairing alongside the wine pairing for years and people are still surprised that it exists. But then they try it and they realise there’s so much creativity there.</p>



<p>Sometimes one person drinks wine and the other does the soft pairings and, when they sit side by side, the person drinking soft often ends up having the more interesting experience, because there’s so much more variety in ingredients and more creativity. Also, by dessert they still remember everything.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-best-bar-you-ve-ever-been-to">The best bar you’ve ever been to?</h2>



<p>That’s so difficult to answer!</p>



<p>Bars feel really tied to occasions and who you’re with. If we’re talking big cities and really fine-tuned cocktails, I’d probably say <a href="https://www.threesheets-bar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Three Sheets</a> in London.</p>



<p>Here in Edinburgh, it’s <a href="https://www.luckyliquorco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lucky Liquor</a>. When I first moved here I used to love going because they had this whole thing where they worked with a set number of spirits and built all the cocktails around those. Every time you went it felt different.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-drink-do-you-think-people-should-appreciate-more">What drink do you think people should appreciate more?</h2>



<p>Maybe a Sazerac? We actually have one on the menu right now. It’s similar to an Old Fashioned but with a herbal note. We use fennel liqueur instead of absinthe and I know every time I put it on the menu it’s going to need explaining and it stays on longer than I think it will because people don’t immediately go for it.</p>



<p>But I love it. It’s such a nice thing to sip on.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-overrated-drink-and-the-better-alternative">Most overrated drink and the better alternative?</h2>



<p>I don’t think there are any overrated drinks. You can overdo quantity. I love a martini, but I think people forget – especially if they go for a dry martini – that they’re basically drinking a whole glass of gin. One is lovely. Five maybe isn’t.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1500" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/MG_4403.jpeg" alt="Timberyard drinks" class="wp-image-4791" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/MG_4403.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/MG_4403-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/MG_4403-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2026/06/MG_4403-768x1152.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>And I think garnishes can be overrated too. Sometimes I look at drinks and think ‘does this really need to be here?’ Even citrus peels. We don’t really use them. We make sprays instead because the wastage can be huge. I don’t mind a functional garnish. We have a little fermented cherry tomato in a dirty martini right now, it’s made with fermented tomato brine instead of an olive brine. An olive in a dirty martini that you actually eat? Perfect.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-s-a-hot-summer-day-what-are-you-drinking">It’s a hot summer day. What are you drinking?</h2>



<p>Other than water? Something herbal. Lots of people like a spritz – Aperol or Campari – but if somebody can make you a really good mojito, fresh in front of you, definitely go for that.</p>



<p>I love a South Side when it’s hot – gin, lemon, sugar syrup and smashed fresh mint. Highballs are good too –&nbsp;you want something ice cold, refreshing, with less alcohol and more herbs.</p>



<p><em><a href="http://timberyard.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Timberyard</a>, 10 Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh EH3 9DS</em></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



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</ul>


Drinks on me! Anna Šebelová is pouring drinks with purpose at Timberyard

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