Tag Archives: Waitrose

London Cocktail Month ft Lugger Rum 

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Our second instalment of our Cocktail (week) feature, showcases a stunning small-batched spice rum, hand crafted in none other than Devon! The award winning Lugger Rum packs a spicy punch and blends together the rums of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana bringing you the best of the Caribbean which can certainly be enjoyed throughout the Winter.

Spicy notes of nutmeg, cloves and vanilla which are aged in bourbon oak barrels were designed to warm your cockles and your spirits. The rum is not overly sweet making it a perfect addition to a hot toddy or cocktail recipe, we’ve featured our favourites below. The bottle itself is very stylish and looks sexy on your bar shelf, after all, award winning rum needs to be displayed in a bottle worthy enough of its contents. Lugger Rum has a story to suit its sophistication, named after the Lugger boat which is depicted on the bottle, they were used to smuggle contraband into Lyme Bay. Ohhhh Rum me hearty! We reckon this will be the key to any rum lovers hearty and a great addition to your home bar this winter or perhaps a very nice gift.  But for now, let us toast to Cocktail Month, may we make our cocktails as exciting as our favourite bars. 

Signature serve:

Pour over ice with a twist of Orange

Cocktail Idea:

Caribbean Coffee – Literally the best after dinner treat

Ingredients:

75ml Dark Roast Coffee

25ml 2:1 Demerera Syrup

40ml Lugger Rum

Double Cream

Nutmeg 

Method:

Brew Coffee.

Add sugar to taste… this is to your preference

Add Rum 

Pour a Jigger of cream onto the back of a teaspoon over coffee

Grate Nutmeg

Enjoy.

To find out more or to purchase Lugger Rum please check out lymebaywinery.co.uk

and selected Waitrose stores

Affordable And Amazing Wedding Cakes | The Wedding Diary

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The craziness of the wedding industry really shows up in the price of wedding cakes. When my fiancé and I first started looking, we couldn’t find one for less than £350, and most of them weren’t even nice. If you take away the fact they have the word ‘wedding’ in front of them, would anyone actually pay thousands of pounds for a cake? I think not.

In saying that, there are a lot out there with the craftsmanship and design that makes the price worthwhile. If you want great design at a good price then I recommend going the supermarket route. My fiancé and I got our wedding cake from Waitrose.com. Marks And Spencers also do great, affordable wedding cakes.

Here are some beautiful wedding cakes from Waitrose.com

Fiona Cairns Ivory Rose Petal 3-tier Wedding Cake (mixed filling)

fionacairnweddingcakeFiona Cairn is the Royal wedding cake maker. So if she is good enough for Kate and William….

Fiona Cairns Vintage Fairytale 3-tier Wedding Cake (Sponge)

waitroseweddingcakeChocolate Wedding Cake – Gold – 3 Tier

chocolateweddingcakeIf chocolate is your thing and you don’t want a traditional cake.

And (drum roll) here is our wedding cake. It matches our wedding colours of pale pink, pale green and white. We love it and got it in a mixed filling of vanilla sponge and fruit cake.

wedding cakeWhen buying a wedding cake make sure you check how many people it serves. The website should tell you or ask your baker. Another thing to check is if decoration is included. Some cakes look amazing but the small print says that the decoration is not included. This is also an easier way to get a cheaper cake, if you decorate it yourself, it costs less. Although there is the added stress.

While researching wedding cakes I saw a lot of gorgeous wedding cake toppers on ebay and ribbon is very cheap to buy from a haberdashery. You could also make your own or get a relative to make one. Although I would not do this if you weren’t brilliant at baking. Waitrose.com also have some guides on decorating your wedding cake and the BBC also have a great blog on making your own wedding cake.

Good luck and let us know about your wedding cake choices.

Where will you get your wedding cake?

If you are planning your wedding then get your hands on The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity. It has great advice on every aspect of wedding planning and lots of great advice on choosing the perfect wedding cake. 

 

 

No.3 London Dry Gin Review

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This gin is beautifully packaged and designed in every way. I especially love the key on the bottle. This No.3 London Dry Gin from Berry Brothers & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchants, uses just 3 fruits and 3 spices (the ‘botanicals’ which flavour every gin), The No.3 also comes from Berry Brothers’ home; No.3 St. James’s Street.

This is now my favourite gin. Careful though, it’s 46% ABV. It’s crisp and fresh. I also made a Gin & Tonic with it which tasted perfect. It is pure class all the way. 46% is also the perfect strength for a Dry Martini.

To make a G & T

50ml of No.3 London Dry Gin, pour into high top glass over ice, add a slice of Lemon and stir, then top up with tonic water to taste.

Dr. David Clutton is the only person to have a PhD in gin flavour, the team deliberately set out to make No.3 taste ‘as gin should’ – without the use of an excessive amount of ingredients and distilled in traditional copper pot stills without any over-elaboration. So, with classic simplicity the goal, the experts placed a robust helping of juniper – the key ingredient in any gin – at the heart of No.3. This striking juniper quality was then cleverly complemented by just 5 other fruits and spices; namely, sweet Spanish orange peel, grapefruit peel, Angelica root, Moroccan coriander and cardamom seeds.

From Waitrose RRP of £33.65 for a 70cl bottle, but it’s worth it!

www.no3gin.com or Twitter @No3Gin. 

Christmas Wine Review

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Banrock Station Shiraz Rosé

 The complaint I have from people who don’t like Rosé is that it is too sweet. This Rosé solves that problem. It is good, refreshing and crisp Rosé . Although it has a touch of sweetness it is not overbearing. It’s a good bright colour too.
This Rosé has delicious flavours of strawberry and cherry. It has a lot of flavour and is sparkling. Top Notch.

 Waitrose £8.99        

   
 
Stone’s Ginger Wine Special Reserve is a blend of the finest quality raisins and pure ground ginger which produces a delicious, mellow warming flavour that pairs perfectly with Christmas pudding and mince pies.
 
 Stone’s Ginger Wine is not for lightweights. It is 18%, but it really is beautiful. A delicious, full-bodied ginger wine. It’s strong, a bit like a brandy. You can feel it going down. It tastes delicious alone or as a cocktail ingredient. One of my friends I tried it out on now drinks it with cola. It would also be brilliant as an ingredient in a hot toddy.

It tastes expensive but it is reasonably priced. Try it, it is one of my favourite wines. Good quality and original. Perfect for winter as it’s warming and perfect for Christmas too.
 
 Waitrose £6.99