Author Archives: Kesh

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Viña Real Wines.

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The look of love is in the air and we think Valentines is the perfect reason to wind down with a delicious dinner paired with a superb wine. Whether you’re sharing the day with a loved one, celebrating Galantines or just spending the evening enjoying your own company, Viña Real wine will not disappoint. Now we must admit, we were sent this wonderful package of wine weeks ago but with dry January in full tow we didn’t want to leave out any folk so here’s why Viña Real should be your top choice this week.

The award winning Spanish wine brand CVNE have continued to supply us with a wide range of quality Rioja wines since 1879. With age only comes wisdom and the winery, which is split into four, include Viña Real. The wines we tried were Viña Real Crianza and the Viña Real Barrel Fermented White but the brand also stock four other wines including a Rosado and a Gran Reserva.

First up the Viña Real Crianza, this is a charming red with a flavour of deep dark berries. This is a spicy red perfect for the Winter months and great for sipping with roasted meats. This wine is very easy to drink and can be found in Gordon’s Wine bar in London for £28 per bottle buy you can get this for a fraction of the price from a good wine retailer. This bottle certainly delivers much more than it’s modest price tag. Great value and great all rounder we think this would suit even the most discerning palette.

If it’s a quality white you’re after than the Viña Real Barrel Fermented white comes highly recommended. This wine is made up of 100% Viura or Macabeo grape which has become increasingly popular and is usually used to make up Cava wines. The barrel fermentation means that the wine is fermented in smaller oak barrels as opposed to large stainless steel and helps to highlight the texture which is creamy and light and helps preserve the fruit aromas, in this case gooseberry and honeysuckle. Again a moreish and fantastic value wine with an average price of £10.95

To find out more about CVNE and Viña Real wines visit www.cvne.com

Cocktail Ideas: Missy Flynn’s 2017 Round Up

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In our final instalment of Cocktail Ideas before the big day, we’ve got some inspiration from cocktail expert and mixologist Missy Flynn. This week the cocktails featured are a step away from being quintessentially Christmas but a round up of the biggest food and drink trends of 2017 in a glass. Inspired by foraging, veganism and superfoods, we simply love the colours and healthy element of these cocktails. We think they would be the perfect day-after partying tonic for you to refresh yourself and unwind as well as being utterly instagrammable so impress and wow your friends and family and serve up these delicious cocktail creations this week and if mixing up your cocktails is not for you fear not, All Bar One will be serving these very cocktails all the way until New Years Eve.

From Left to Right: Baileys Blush, Turmeric Sour, Beetroot Mule, Tanqueray Forager Smash

Our star cocktail this week is the;

Captain Morgan – Turmeric Sour

Ingredients:

50ml Captain Morgan Spiced Gold
75ml Funkin Sour mix
15ml ginger syrup
1/4 bar spoon turmeric
Lemon twist and mint sprig to garnish

Glass: Rocks
Ice: Crushed

Method:
Add the Captain Morgan Spiced Gold, sour mix, turmeric powder and ginger syrup to a shaker or jam jar.

Seal the shaker or jam jar and holding it closed, carefully ‘dry shake’ so that the sour mix begins to emulsify the drink, building a froth.

Open the shaker, add ice and then shake again.

Strain over ice into a tumbler. Using a zester, take the peel from a lemon and snap it over the drink to expel oil from the skin, resting the peel in the glass.

Clap the mint between your hands to release its aroma and then place inside the drink as garnish.

Bailey’s Blush

Ingredients:

35ml Baileys Irish Cream
50ml Half and Half cream / milk
15ml Cherry Heering
12.5ml cherry syrup
Garnish with raspberry dipped in edible glitter / gold

Glass: Coupe
Ice: None

Method:
Add Baileys, Half and Half cream / milk, Cherry Heering, cherry syrup and ice into a cocktail shaker.
Shake hard!
Double strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass, use a tea strainer to remove any small shards of ice so the drink is nice and smooth.
Roll raspberry in edible glitter or gold until it reaches your desired level of glam, cut a slit in the base of the raspberry and rest it on the edge of the glass.

Tanqueray Forager Smash

Ingredients:

50ml Tanqueray London Dry Gin
25ml lime juice
20ml sugar syrup
Mint leaves
Pea shoots
100ml soda
Garnish with pea shoots, viola flower and mint

Glass: Copa
Ice: Crushed

Method:
Fill a tall glass with lots of ice, add the Tanqueray London Dry Gin, lime juice and sugar syrup. Stir to mix, and top with soda water. Add a little more ice if needed. Gather all your herbs and flowers and toss into a rough mix, dress the drink with this mix, scattering a few extra flowers on the top.

All cocktails featured are available in All Bar One bar’s until New Years Eve and liquors and ingredients are available to purchase through ocado.com

Christmas Gifts: Sweet Treats

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Sweet treats are always great stocking fillers at Christmas as well as something naughty to have on the table at Christmas time. We’ve selected our favourite festive sweet treats that’s bound to bring joy to anyone this Winter.

Mr Stanley’s Confectionary.

We were most impressed with their traditional and elegant packaging. Mr Stanley’s confectionary pays homage to an old era of confectioners and we think that anyone with an appreciation for sweeties will love a gift from Mr Stanley’s. Great for stocking fillers or as a good selection for your Christmas table, our favourites from the Christmas collection were;
Mini Candy Canes – £3 I love to use these to decorate the tree or stick on the front of Christmas cards.
Festive Fudge Selection – £3.99 Rich and buttery, Mr Stanley’s covered all of the festive flavours with Christmas pudding fudge, Salted caramel fudge, Mincemeat butter fudge, Christmas spice with orange fudge to choose from.
White Chocolate Matches with Popping Candy – £6.99 We love this luxurious and delicious candy and the extra pop made it all the more fun. And if it’s milk or dark chocolate you prefer than Mr Stanley have got an assortment of chocolate matches to suit you.
These were just a selection of our favourites but be sure to check out their full range online which includes traditional sweets, liquorice and candy, sweet jars and biscuits.

mrstanleys.co.uk


Divine Chocolate

Divine Chocolate are proud of where their chocolate comes from. They are the only Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by cocoa farmers and this Christmas, they are launching a new range of chocolate gifts to send and share with loved ones. Spoil someone this year with their New Divine Luxury Collection RRP £8 which includes 16 dusted truffles encased in 70% dark chocolate. Or how about their new thins to add to their dark chocolate mint thins and dark chocolate ginger thins, this year they have Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Thins RRP £4. For something completely festive, why not try a bar to share in limited edition flavours Milk Chocolate with spiced cookies or Dark Chocolate with cranberries and hazelnuts both RRP at £2.40. By supporting Divine Chocolate and choosing their range of delicious gifts, the co-ownership with the farmers ensures that they receive a share of the profits and enables them to gain a greater insight of their industry. All of the products mentioned are available to buy in Waitrose and Oxfam but to check out more of their range visit

divinechocolate.com

Cutter and Squidge

Need something sweet for your Christmas afters this year, Cutter and Squidge the Soho based bakery have a lovely range of products including their famous Biskies and Dream Cakes to suit anyone with a sweet tooth. Their focus on natural premium ingredients will make sure anything you try is made with extra love and care and the Festive Collection is no different with it being free from preservatives and additives and handmade from scratch. All products apart from the cakes can be shipped nationwide with the exception of the Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake which is available to be shipped anywhere in the UK. We recommend you try a Festive Biskie Box which you can choose between Coconut Melted Snowman Biskie, Black Forest Biskie, Gingerbread Man Biskie and Christmas Wreath Biskie. The attention to detail and quality will just blow you away. If you’re looking for something a little more substantial, why not try a bespoke hamper which are packed full of tempting and delicious goodies and range from £75-£250. Check out their huge and impressive range at

cutterandsquidge.com

Cocktail Ideas : Tanqueray Edition

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Every weekend until Christmas we will be offering you up some lovely cocktail ideas which you can use to celebrate the occasion or to create your very own cocktail guide with to use all year round. This week we were sent some exciting Tanqueray cocktails created by presenter Miquita Oliver. We think you will love her daring twists on some Gin cocktail classics.

First up the Tanqueray Martini – This is probably my favourite cocktail ever. Simple, sophisticated and packs a punch. Miquita has created;

Tanqueray Martini with Ginger Chilli and Coriander.

45ml Tanqueray London Dry Gin
10ml Chilli infused Cocchi Americano
10ml Chilli infused Dolin Dry
5ml Ancho Reyes Chili Liqueur
1 dash orange bitters
Atomised with coriander & ginger spray
Garnish: Coriander leaf

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled martini or nick & nora glass
garnish with spray and float a coriander leaf in the drink

For the Chilli vermouth infusions
Take 2-3 dried whole chillies and break their skin and put straight into the bottle and allow to infuse for 1.5 hours – taste after this time to check that the chilli has infused – depending on the strength of the chilli it may need a little longer but this should add a gentle heat to the vermouths – after this time strain and rebottle

For the coriander & ginger spay
Infuse coriander and ginger for 1.5 hours. Strain. Transfer liquid to any plastic atomiser

The Green Tanqueray Tonic –

A refreshing and zesty green take on the G&T


For the Syrup:
500g Sugar
1.5 Litre Water
350g Cucumber
1.5 Granny smith apples (cored)
20ml Lime juice

Heat sugar & water up together and leave to cool to make sugar syrup
Blitz cucumber, apples and lime in a blender and strain. Add to the sugar syrup.

To serve:
40ml Cucumber and Apple syrup
25ml Tanqueray
topped with Fever tree tonic

Garnish:
Pleated cucumber peel (full length of cucumber) pierced by a cocktail stick and rested on top

The Red Tanqueray & Tonic

The Red Tanqueray Tonic – perfect for Christmas, we love the spicy notes and cranberry twist.

For the Syrup:
500ml water
150g Sugar
100g Cranberrys
10g Cinnamon
10g Black Cardamon

All except sugar in a pan and  bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins
Reduce to about half as much water and add the sugar. Simmer for another 4 mins on a low heat, remove the spice cinnamon & cardamon and blitz the rest. Strain.

Serve:
35ml red syrup
10ml Lemon juice
2 dash angostura bitters
top with fever tree tonic

Garnish:
3 cranberries on a cocktail stick

Tanqueray is available to buy from multiple major retailers. For more details visit www.tanqueray.com

Wilko’s Foodie Gifts for a Fiver

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This year Wilko’s have launched an exciting and purse-friendly line of gifts with something for everyone. We picked a selection of our favourite gifts for foodies which are bound to fly of the shelves in the lead up to Christmas. With bargain prices and a focus on quality these gifts are set to impress

Inferno Spice Set

 For anyone who likes to add a little zest to their cooking the Inferno Spice Set contains 4 full sized bottles of different seasonings. Charred chilli onion, Flaming chilli parsley, Inferno garlic chilli and Sizzling chilli salt. The product is a well packaged and the perfect gift for anyone who likes to get experimental in the kitchen. Priced at £5 for 4 bottles you are getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Day of the Dead Skull Filled with Hot Sauce

This Skull is not just impressive to look at, but will add heat to many a meal. We loved the look of the skull and with 750ml of hot sauce you’re sure to be supplied for a while. Originally priced at £7 per bottle Wilko have recently dropped the price down to £5 and whats more, once the sauce is done the skull is a fab novelty to add to any household and looks way more pricier than a fiver.


Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix with Skillet

 Make your own cookie with this skillet set. Included is a chocolate chip cookie mix and an iron skillet. This is perfect for someone who likes to get creative in the kitchen and the iron skillet is worth more than £5 alone.
All of the above gifts and many more are available to purchase in store.

Christmas Gifts : A Guide to Great Spirits and Liqueurs

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Foxhole Gin

Try an innovative English Gin this Christmas, multi-award winning Foxhole Gin has been created with a passion for sustainability. Distilled with a spirit made from tonnes of pressed grapes wineries usually throw away, Foxhole Gin rescues them to produce a beautifully balanced, aromatic and charming spirit. You’re bound to impress with their sophisticated packaging with a unique and impressive gin to match inside. Foxhole have a curated a selection of their range ideal for Christmas including;

Foxhole miniatures are a great stocking filler.

If you’re looking for a gift for collectors try the marc 3 limited gift pack which contains a 700ml bottle of the Foxhole Gin: marc 3 gift wrapped and adorned with an antique copper Foxhole spirits badge. marc 3 is strictly limited to 500 bottles due to the 8760 hrs it takes to produce this using the valuable 2015 by products from Sussex Vineyards.

Digital Gift Cards,

Available in (£10, £25, £50, £75, £100) this can be used to purchase any Foxhole Gin products on their online store including tonics.

foxholespirits.com

Baileys

This Christmas there are five different Baileys for you to try. For someone who like to keep it traditional we have Baileys Original and this year they have launched their new dairy free Baileys Almande. Blending crushed almonds, almond oil and essence of real vanilla, this new product is dairy free and vegan friendly and available at whole foods stores across the UK. Also available is the Baileys Chocolate Luxe blended with Belgian Chocolate and Baileys Original Irish Cream, Baileys Coffee and Baileys Orange Truffle.

baileys.com


Greenall’s Sloe Gin

Greenall’s the traditional British Gin have recently launched their new Sloe Gin recipe which is designed to be the perfect winter tipple. This ruby red blend of sweet sloe berries produces strong notes of almonds and cherry. Greenall’s created with a traditional, hand-crafted recipe has been made to be enjoyed not just as a liqueur but also as a great base for a cocktail. We highly recommend the ‘take it sloe toddy’ as your ultimate winter warmer. Greenall’s Sloe Gin is made through a completely natural and hands on method using only the product of the 8 weeks of sloe berry maceration. No additional juices or artificial colours are added and mixing is done by hand using the traditional Greenall’s recipe which has remained unchanged for more than 250 years.

Greenall’s Sloe Gin is available to buy through amazon.co.uk priced at £18 a bottle.

amazon.co.uk

Amarula

Personally, no feast is complete without an Irish Coffee and my perfect variation of one would definitely contain Amarula. This mysterious and creamy liqueur is distilled in South Africa and produced from the fruit of the Marula tree is aged in french oak before being blended into its luxurious creamy texture giving it a sweet honey caramel texture. This versatile liqueur can be enjoyed on the rocks, as a spicy winter warmer and even in desserts for all the bakers out there. Amarula has a 24month shelf life but we can’t guarantee it will last that long in your drinks cupboard as you won’t be able to get enough of it’s luxurious taste and texture.

Amarula is available in 700ml bottles and available to buy from multiple major retailers priced at £12.50 a bottle.

Christmas Gifts for Wine Lovers

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We have selected a few unique and innovative gifting options this Christmas for anyone who loves to receive wine. From subscription boxes to wine days out you can’t go wrong with our versatile selection.

Your Sommelier : French Wine Box

This subscription service offers you 3 stunning French wines each month. Ccarefully selected from independent vineyards, Your Sommelier will provide tasting cards and key info to help you learn all about your wines which will be presented in your own Your Sommelier folder, free with each subscription. The subscription options will be for 1 month, 3 month or 6 months ranging from £36-£60. There is no minimum contract and you can cancel anytime making it perfect for a one off gift or for something a little bit more special.

yoursommelier.co.uk

sipp

Designed for Millennials, this wine club comes with a difference. sipp is the World’s first Augmented Reality wine club which comes with it’s own app. You pick a box online and whichever wines you receive you can scan with your smartphone and receive your very own private tasting experience. sipp helps bring to life all the knowledge of the wine as well as offering up adequate food pairings. sipp was designed to get rid of all the snobbery associated with wine tasting and creating a fun and easy to learn guide on the wines you love. Through sipp you can either purchase a one off gift or their subscription. Join sippClub for just £29 per month and you will receive wines worth up to £45 with no minimum contract and free P&P making it the perfect gift for someone who loves wine already and wants to learn more about the World of wine. Other specialist gift boxes are available and for a limited time, they are running a special Christmas discount on all gifts. We tried it out and thought that this was by far one of the most comprehensive and easy to understand hacks into the World of Wine.

sippwine.co.uk

WWW.WineCellarDoor.co.uk

Offering you a comprehensive guide to all of the visitor friendly vineyards in the UK, this website has an array of experiences and tours for anyone who loves their wine. With a gift for absolutely anyone, winecellardoor.co.uk offers events and tastings at a number of wine estates, giving you a chance to curate your very own wine day out. Through their online shop you can purchase wines produced in the UK’s finest vineyards or you can even check the events page to see what wine related events are happening around the UK from free events to taking part in official wine courses. Our top picks are: Yoga in the Vineyard priced at £85 at Hambledon Vineyard, Christmas Wreath making course also at Hambledon Vineyard and Denbies Cellar Sparkling Wine tasting and Gallery Restaurant Dinner at the Denbies wine estate in Surrey.

www.WineCellarDoor.co.uk

Cheers!

Festive Cocktail Ideas : Amarula Edition

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This week we welcomed in December and also snow in some parts of the UK so wherever you are, we wanted to offer you something super comforting, decadent and spicy to keep you warm from the inside out.
This week our cocktail has come from the delicious South African liqueur Amarula and has the inspiration of a hot toddy and a mulled wine all rolled into one quintessentially festive tipple.

Amarula Spiced Dram

Ingredients:
35ml Amarula Cream Liqueur

20ml Spice – infused whisky (clove, cinnamon, juniper, star anise & cardamom)
Method:
Stir ingredients in glass beaker with ice until chilled. Fine strain into a chilled champagne glass.

Amarula is available to purchase from multiple major retailers priced at £12.50 per 700ml Bottle