Simon Difford’s Cabinet Room

Posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 | 2 Comments

It’s not every day you get to meet one of your bartending heroes. It certainly isn’t every day that you get to meet two.
Well yesterday I did!
For anyone not in the know, Simon Difford (Hero 1) was the founder of CLASS magazine and he then went on to write the Difford’s Guide (formerly Sauce Guide) [...]

Mixology Monday - Guilty Pleasures

Posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 | 3 Comments

For anyone who reads other blogs to do with drink and specifically cocktails, Mixology Monday will probably be nothing new to you. I have been following the progress of MxMo for the last year with great interest and I have to say it is a brilliant idea.

The way it works is this: Once a month [...]

Harry’s Bar - Venice

Posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 | No Comments

Harry's resized
The story goes that a talented Venecian bartender named Giuseppe Cipriani helped out a chap called Harry from Boston with some sticky money issues (borught about by his drinking habit). A couple of years later Harry returned to Venice much better off and paid back Cipriani five times what he borrowed telling him to set up a bar and call it ‘Harry’s’.

LUCAS BOLS, Amsterdam

Posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 | 3 Comments

Bols Amsterdam
I’ve just been to Amsterdam on my stag weekend. The reason I gave no warning about this was because I didn’t know that I was going until I was actually there. Yes - my lovely brothers and friends kidnapped me, put me in a dress then blindfolded me and put an ipod + ear defenders on me. I was then walked, driven and flown around until 6 hours later the blindfold was taken off and I was sitting in a bar in Amsterdam*.

Glenkinchie

Posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 | No Comments

Low Wines2
Finally I’ve got a whisky distillery visit under my belt! I took a trip up to Edinburgh on Wednesday and was lucky enough to get a very comprehensive tour of a benchmark distillery at Glenkinchie.

Glencinchie is one of only three remaining Lowland malt distilleries, it was established in 1825 and is situated about 20-30 minutes form Edinburgh. They operate tours for all visitors but I felt like we received some extra attention during our stay from Bill who has been involved with whisky for decades. [...]

Johnnie Walker Tasting with Ian Williams

Posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 | 1 Comment

Johnnie Blue
A week in to the new job and already i’ve been fortunate enough to spend the day in Bristol (…keep reading, it gets better) at a Johnnie Walker Blue Label tasting with Ian Williams the master distiller.

If you want to know a bit more about Johnnie Walker feel free to contact me, but the general gist is this: John Walker started blending whisky back in 1820 in his grocers shop in Kilmarnock [...]