We went on holiday to Sicily this year. It was roasting hot, in the mid forties most of the time. The Italians sweltered, and complained that they’d never experienced anything quite like it. We were thankful for an air-conditioned apartment and hire car. One day, we drove out of Cefalù to a town in the [...]
Does anybody actually like vodka? I’m not sure they do … it’s just searing alcohol to me, and before the whole of Eastern Europe rises as one and mercilessly hunts me down, I’ve found a way to make it a bit more palatable. To transform it into something worth drinking, rather than merely enduring, if [...]
‘Mojito’ means ‘something wet’. It’s a perfect summer drink, long, cool, refreshing and sweet. Unsurprisingly, the mojito has it’s origins in the Caribbean, in Cuba, specifically. Legendary drinker Ernest Hemingway was a fan, and wrote “mi mojito en la Bodeguita”, which translates as ‘my mojito at the Bodeguita’, on the wall of his favourite Havana [...]
Brewdog is a small Scottish brewery with a formidable reputation for creating a marketing stir. They’ve been chasing controversy since 2007 with a combination of marketing stunts, engaging with social media and some ridiculously strong beer, peaking with last year’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin at a collosal 32% ABV. That’s a beer that will literally knock [...]
Another classic Lakeland beer, from the recently flood-hit and therefore underwater Jenning’s Brewery in Cockermouth, Cumbria, Sneck Lifter is a deep, dark and rich beer with a coffee flavour and a malty finish. It’s a warming winter beer, with a potent dark red colour. Jenning’s make much of the name. A “sneck lifter” is a [...]