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Bone in the throat
A friend announced that his favourite cocktails were the White Russian (vodka, Kahlua and milk/cream) and The Bone.The what? I googled it and discovered it was invented by David Wondrich, apparently...
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Happiness is a torpedo on the sun deck
While looking for poster imagery that captured the tone of a Candlelight Club party last month to celebrate the golden age of luxury ocean liners, I came across the delightful image above. I found...
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Palmetto: secrets of the old-school shiners
While writing the post about O’Donnell Moonshine I was reminded about an email I’d yet to respond to, from another “moonshine” manufacturer. This one is from the Palmetto Distillery in South Carolina,...
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From grain to glass in the city of dreaming spires
Tom with the TOAD, Physic and Ashmolean ginsI was lucky enough to be given a tour of The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD) last Sunday by none other than Tom Nicolson, founder, chairman and CEO. After a...
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Maraschino: is wood good?
Luxardo's maraschino and Sangue Morlacco cherry brandy. The blossom isfrom Greenwich park here in London and I doubt it is marasca cherryMaraschino is an ancient cocktail ingredient, a liqueur made...
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Pale fire: the perfect aperitif for a summer's day
During my investigations into Luxardo’s famous maraschino I came across Luxardo Bitter—I’d not heard of it before but it is an amaro made from an infusion of various herbs, spices and fruits. The basic...
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Cornish gin update
I was back in Cornwall on holiday last month and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the range of locally produced gins had expanded.In a seafront bar in St Ives I tasted a sample of the murky St Ives gin, cold...
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Locksley gin: the taste of Lincoln Green?
On the way back from Scotland we broke our journey for Mrs H. to attend a get-together of seashell collectors at the Chatsworth estate in Derbyshire. I found myself with a bit of time to kill and...
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Uncle Nearest: something new from Tennessee
Think of “Tennessee whiskey” (if you think of it at all) and you’ll probably think of Jack Daniels, the mighty presence that, certainly here in the UK, tirelessly advertises on the London underground...
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The birth of the “caketail”?
The bar team at the Candlelight Club excelled themselves last weekend for our 8th birthday party. The cocktail menu had a birthday theme, and I feel compelled to share this image with you. It’s a drink...
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Lux coin: whisky with a hint of mint
Those crazy kids at Wealth Solutions have been at it again. As their name suggests, these Polish entrepreneurs take the view that wealth is a problem needing to be solved and they specialise in...
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Wilful eccentricities from That Boutique-y Gin Company
The box of samples, exterior. You can see images of finger limes and cucamelonsI don’t normally do “unboxings”, but those giddy types at That Boutique-y Gin Company sent me a set of samples packaged in...
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Six of the best from Suntory's painstaking gin
Earlier in the year I had a chance to taste Roku gin while visiting a friend, and found it arresting. Now I see that it is being stocked by my local Sainsbury’s supermarket, currently at a very...
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Win a bottle of Yuletide Gin!
Those irrepressible kids at That Boutiquey Gin Company have dug even deeper in their search for unlikely gin botanicals, with the release of their Yuletide Gin. While Sipsmith have a Mince Pie Gin and...
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The Jack Calloway cocktail
Not many of us get to have cocktails named after us—it tends to be film stars (Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin) or statesmen (Roosevelt, Colonel Rickey, who allegedly invented the Rickey). So I was...
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Happy Birthday, Prohibition: a cocktail in your honour
One hundred years ago today Prohibition passed into US Federal law, when the 18th Amendment was ratified by the 36th state.*It was intended to improve the health and morals of the nation, but it had...
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Something to chew on from Greece
We were on holiday in Athens, prompted by the chance to visit a friend in the last weeks of his tenure as British ambassador to Greece (we even got to stay in the embassy for a few days—something...
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Nissos Gin
I generally don’t have much time for LinkedIn. I tend to say yes to any request to connect but I’ve only been approached twice about potentially viable work opportunities, and on both occasions the...
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The Hard Word cocktail
For some reason I always associate The Last Word cocktail with The Great Gatsby. In fact it doesn’t appear in the novel, though the characters do drink green Chartreuse,* which is a defining ingredient...
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Celebrate International Pineapple Day!
A Pineapple Mule, made using the items in my mystery package (plus mint from the garden)It seems this is the third time I’ve said “I don’t usually do unboxings”, but once again That Boutiquey Gin...
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