Clik here to view.
Drinking off the land
The final versionOf course foraging is a bit of a Thing these days (doubtless part of the whole trend for “artisan” everything, slow living, etc). But I still find it rather uplifting to be able to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Test Valley Gin
In the Hampshire market town of Romsey to visit my elderly mother-in-law a few weeks ago, we were hunting for lunch among the tentatively opening shops (it’s a place with an ageing population, so I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A cocktail in a can—without the cocktail
A Champagne Cocktail made with items from the kitDespairing of face-to-face get-togethers for the time being, a friend held a virtual birthday party last night. While Zoom may be efficient for business...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brussels sprout gin?
A couple of summers ago we were visiting friends in Edinburgh and they suggested we stopped in at Summerhall where they made their own gin. This turned out to be Pickering’s Gin, and very nice it was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spiced rum death-match
I asked David, who runs the food and drink side of the Candlelight Club, if there was one of our previous Christmas cocktails that we could offer people to make at home, as a sort of vicarious seasonal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Squid's in. In the gin.
If you think Brussels sprout gin is wilfully strange, check this out. You may remember how taken I was by both the regular Caspyn Gin and the Midsummer gin from the Pocketful of Stones distillery: I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Negroni Safari
David T. Smith, drinks writer and sometime contributor to this blog, has just published a new book on the Negroni cocktail. You may wonder how one can fill a book on the subject of one cocktail, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Apples but not pears: the London Vermouth Company
I suppose no one should have been surprised that, hot on the heels of the recent gin boom, where half a dozen new gins seem to be released each week and every town or visitor attraction has its own...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pickering's Gin, 1947 Gin and Navy Strength Gin
Back in December I reviewed the Brussels Sprout gin made by Pickering’s of Summerhall in Edinburgh. We’d stumbled across it while visiting friends during festival season, spending our days in damp...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happy birthday, Luxardo!
It was nice to be invited out on "Freedom Day"—last Monday, the day that Covid-related social restrictions were lifted here in the UK (though for how long, who knows?). In this case it was to a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Harris's patented* pick-me-up bitters
D.R. Harris is an ancient pharmacy in St James’s, the heart of London’s “Clubland” (that’s “club” in the sense of gentleman’s club full of leather armchairs, not in the Ibiza sense of the word). It’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Instant Mint Julep
This is what the syrup looks like neatI found myself with a glut of fresh mint after one of the Candlelight Club events. I don’t like to see food go to waste, so I’ll usually round up all the left-over...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Taste the rainbow
One of the minis of gin I was sentI was contacted out of the blue by Jane Oake from a gin that was new to me, Rainbow Gin. She was actually hoping to get us to stock it at the Candlelight Club, but as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Red vermouth title fight
Like many people, I have Antica Formula to thank for the revelation that red vermouth could mean more than just Martini Rosso. Since then, the Second Golden Age of Cocktails has brought us many new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Maverick spirits from Brewdog
I was intrigued to notice on the supermarket shelves two spirits made by Brewdog—Lone Wolf Gin and Seven Day Vodka. Brewdog, as their name suggests, are best known for brewing beer, and have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mexican Blackbird
During lockdown the New Sheridan Club started entertaining the troops with a weekly virtual pub quiz, delivered via Zoom. This has continued post-Covid as a monthly treat, and a couple of months back...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Goodwood and Porthleven gins
A couple of new gins have come on to my radar in recent months. Of course, this is nothing but a teardrop in the ocean of gins that are constantly erupting on to the market, but one does what one...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Luxardo Espresso Liqueur
Luxardo kindly sent me a sample of their new Espresso liqueur. They describe it as “a traditional Italian liqueur obtained from a thirty-days infusion of a selected variety of fine coffees (Brazil,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is this the Martini-lover's bible?
Hot on the heels of his book Negroni (OK, a bit over two years later) m’colleague David Smith has published his new work, Martini, again written in conjunction with Keli Rivers. As its name suggests,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gimme that gomme! Making your own gomme syrup
The gum Arabic powder as it comes (against white paper for colour comparison)If you’re in the habit of perusing vintage cocktail books (of course you are) you may well have encountered references to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vintage Pimm's No.5 and No.6—unopened bottles
My two 1960s bottles. Note that I'd already opened them by the time of the photographI’ve known for a long while that the fruit-infused summer classic, “Pimm’s No.1 Cup”, was actually just one of, at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ancient Egyptian Cocktails at the Bloomsbury Club
Let the mystical pyramid choose your cocktailTo Bloomsbury, for the launch of a new cocktail menu at the Bloomsbury Club, in the bowels of the Bloomsbury Hotel—thanks to Megan and Katie from Cru for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fit for a king: Buckingham Palace gins
We were at the King’s Gallery in London to look at the exhibition about Georgian fashion, and as we drifted out we were inexorably steered towards the gift shop, where I was interested to see they sold...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gin is a cabaret, old chum
One of the last things I remember doing just before lockdown was a trip to the launch of Hendrick’s Lunar Gin with David T. Smith. This expression was more spicily floral than regular Hendrick’s and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Pink Lady cocktail
We’re attempting to move house after 31 years in the same place, a mind-boggling process that makes you realise how much stuff you have accumulated since you moved in as a twenty-something, all of...
View Article