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Pash-ion for Vodka #18 Legend of the Kremlin
The “legend” of the Kremlin is that in the first half of the 15th century (1400–1450 AD) there was a monk, whose name was Isidore and he created the first Russian vodka within the walls of the Chudov...
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Tonic Ice and the Gin that's only sold in one shop in THE WORLD!
Today I'm going to write about a special gin, one that is only available from one shop in the whole world, Taurus Gin. The shop itself is located just south of Guildford in the village of Bramley and...
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Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes… The difference between Deaths Door's vodka in 2009...
Few spirits have split opinion here at The Institute as Death Door's Gin, I'm a quite a big fan, but Mr Hartley less so.What was the source of this disagreement? I think the fennel was a huge part of...
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Gin & Tonic—Hold The Ice?
When chatting to the Canadian founder of Iceberg Gin (and vodka) he explained that the key to spirits was the purity of the water source (in his case Death Flow Icebergs)—which made me question that,...
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Pash-ion for Vodka #19 - Iceberg Vodka
Iceberg vodka is Canadian spirit and was released in September 1995 by the Canadian Iceberg Vodka Corporation. As with all vodkas Iceberg has a USP and its particular difference is the water source...
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Curiosity Cabinet #10 - Banana Malibu
Every now and then, I like to mooch over to France with Mrs. B, J-Money and The Bear; we have a day trip and keep our eyes peeled for alcoholic curiosities. It is from such a trip that we have...
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You Old Rascal!
I’ve spent quite a lot of time looking at wildly flavoured ciders, or beer producers entering the cider foray with silly names and pretentious marketing campaigns. Today, however, the cider that I’ll...
View ArticlePastis Portfolio Vol:1 - Lidanis
One of the most interesting questions that I have ever heard asked at a drinks’ industry question and answer session was: “What is your second favourite drink?”. The question was asked of Mr. Martin...
View ArticleCuriosity Cabinet #11 - Tiramisu Liqueur
There are plenty of Italian liqueurs available, from from the nuts and bean of Amaretto or coffee liqueurs to the fruit notes of Maraschino and Limoncello, and more besides. This being the Curiosity...
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Plain Cocktails from the Raj
A Tiffin Spice cocktail, made with homemade saffron vodkaIt was more a play on words that prompted us to give our mid-September Candlelight Club party the theme “Indian Summer” (last weekend looked...
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Premixes for preteens?
The premixes in their shaker-shaped bottlesFollowing DBS’s review on this blog of the pre-mixed cocktails from the Authentic Cocktail Company, I was contacted by the chaps behind another range, Coppa,...
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Oval Vodka
Many people will claim that all vodka tastes the same to them, which explains why so many brands essentially look to marketing and packaging to differentiate themselves. The process of making vodka...
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Akvavit: gin's caraway cousin
I briefly visited Denmark earlier this year, so I took the opportunity to bring back some examples of akvavit, the national spirit over there. Akvavit is similar to gin in that it is a distilled spirit...
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Halloween cocktails
I don’t normally go in for visually gimmicky cocktails (in fact I’m even fairly suspicious of garnishes unless, like, say, a lemon peel twist, they clearly add something to the smell and taste). But...
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Kopparberg Cloudberry - Sparkling Cider
On a recent trip to Tesco, while on my usual stroll down the cider aisle on the lookout for something new to try, I came across Kopparberg Cloudberry, which is an apple cider with a hint of cloudberry....
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Kopparberg Blackberry & Lime and Kopparberg Winter Fruits
On a recent brunch visit to J.D. Wetherspoons I was pleased to see two new varieties of Kopparberg Cider in this watering hole. For a long time Wetherspoons have had exclusive deals with the Swedish...
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Beefeater 24 global cocktail competition
The 14 hopefuls set up their stations as guests sample the cocktails and make their choicesI was invited to help judge the Beefeater 24 Global Competition last Wednesday evening at the Shoreditch...
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Kopparberg Naked Apple sparkling cider
Continuing our recent spate of cider articles, perfect to refresh yourself in this warm weather. Today we will look at another Kopparberg, namely Naked Apple.* This was released in late april 2012 and...
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Fentimans & Bloom Pre-mixed Gin & Tonic
Fans of the site will know that I have a penchant fro premixes and it has been a puzzlement to me that no-one had made a very decent pre-mixed gin and tonic so imagine my intrigue when I saw that...
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Bootlegger white grain spirit
The utilitarian bottle and deliberately ragged labelIt was at the London Boutique Bar Show last year that I first encountered Bootlegger. All their branding screams “Prohibition”—the utilitarian...
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