Spirit Show London

A trip to the Spirit Show London today to view and try lots of different brands in one place.

It took place at the Business Design Centre in Islington and we booked ‘premium’ tickets at £35 each which included:

• Fast track entry to the show
• Limited edition tasting glass
• 6-bottle jute bag to carry all your shopping home!
• Access to VIP Lounge
• Complimentary mixology class and cocktail
• Private cloakroom and ‘Shop and Drop’ facility
• Canapés
• All drink samples

The show itself was interesting and we enjoyed getting to see so many different spirits (mainly gin it seemed), talk to brands and try them.

We got to try lots of different things and purchased some from that including:

Elephant sloe gin

Haycocks spiced liqueur

These fabulous vermouths from Regal Rogue

These delicious snacks to accompany drinks from Made For Drink

I would have expected more ‘unusual spirits’ to try as it was hard to distinguish between all the gin brands or determine which ones to taste (there’s no limit on tastings other than what you can physically handle!)

It was good that there were lots of good places you could park your shopping and even have it easily and cheaply shipped to you.

I thought the premium tickets were worth it mainly as it gave us somewhere to return to and sit down every now and then but that wasn’t really worth £15 extra and there should have been seating for everyone. But we did get early entry and seeing how much it was filling up by the time we left we were glad of that.

My main criticism of the show is that even though their website said:

‘As well as eating, visitors are encouraged to drink plenty of water in between tastings and take regular breaks from tasting during the Show.

There will be free drinking water available in easily visible locations throughout the venue’

There was no easily accessible, or free, water. We asked multiple members of staff, asked at the VIP section and even tweeted the show (which they’ve ignored) but nothing.

Instead you had to go upstairs, potentially walk the whole length of the show, and buy some at the cafe – a ridiculous situation which showed a complete lack of care and would make me consider even giving them my money again available in easily visible locations throughout the venue.

Negroni Week 2017 – Trade Winds Negroni

Negroni Week continues and tonight I’m enjoying a Trade Winds Negroni which is equal parts sweet vermouth, Cointreau and Angostura Bitters (yes really!)

It smells amazing and tastes even better. Spicy, slightly bitter, aromatic and booze- heaven

Deconstructed Negroni

Another drink for Negroni Week and this time it’s a Deconstructed Negroni from the Eric Felten book ‘How’s your drink’The recipe is:

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 11/2 Lillet Blanc

Stirred over ice and then topped with a foam made of:

• 1 egg white 
• 2oz strained grapefruit juice
• 1oz Aperol
• 2 tsp orange bitters

I whisked the egg white until stiff then added the other ingredients and continued whisking. 

This makes a delicious drink with a lovely, tasty foam. After a few sips I poured the separated foam into the rest of the drink- delicious!

Por Do Sol Negroni

For Negroni Week my second drink of the day is a Por Do Sol courtesy of Imbibe.

The recipe is:

• Equal parts
  • Cachaca
  • Campari
  • Dolin Blanc vermouth
• with a dash of Bittermens Orange Cream Cirate bitters
• All stired over ice

The end result is oh so bitter with a warmth and sweetness from the Cachaca.

 

Negroni Popsicles

In celebration of Negroni Week and the heatwave London’s having at the moment I made some Negroni Popsicles.

I used white/ yellow grapefruits hence the colour difference but they gave them an added bitterness which is great to counteract the sugar in the recipe.

These are amazing and I’ll be sure to always have some on standby this summer.

 

Bottle-Aging Negroni

I’ve read a lot about bottle and barrel-aging drinks and finally today got around to making my own.
I’m wary of barrel-aging as I don’t want to risk any nausea brought on by a whiskey contaminated barrel so have stuck with bottle-aging.

I made a classic 1-1-1 Negroni using Only Gin (I wanted one I had enough if to make this and still have plenty left over for comparison tasting in a few months.

Now the waiting begins…

Blood Orange Negroni

Another day, another Negroni variation.

This time the spotting of some blood orange juice when buying food led me to get to try a new recipe. With less Campari and Vermouth but 1oz of blood orange juice to make up the shortfall: this is a Blood Orange Negroni

The recipe is:
– 1oz gin
– 1/2 oz Campari
– 1/2 oz Vermouth
-1oz blood orange juice

The result is obviously very similar to a Negroni but a fresher, lighter version.

The Campari still has a kick- in fact maybe more so. I’ve come to find in these Negroni versions that use less of it the Campari stands out more rather than just being a sweet and bitter overwhelming component. The use of less of it helps it make more of an impact as a flavour component.

The juice allows the drink to be the same length but with alcohol both in its potency and taste.

Perfect as a summer version of a Negroni or want one to sip for longer without it feeling or tasting so much of an aperitif.

New Negroni recipe

My Shaken Cocktails box arrived yesterday and knowing it was based on a Negroni I was eager to dive in.

The box contains:
– Dodd’s gin
– Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
– Cynar
– St-germain
– Sugar syrup
– recipes for two different cocktails and the ingredients are enough to make 2-3 of each one
All for the amazing price of £24!!
I’m really behind in writing this blog as there’s never enough hours in the day but I’ve got months worth of posts raving about Shaken Cocktails to upload but suffice to say I really recommend them. For just £24 a month you get to make 4 cocktails (though in my experience it’s usually at least 6) learn new recipes and techniques, discover new favourites (I’m addicted to the Margarita and Daiquiris & their variations I’ve discovered) and try new ingredients- all in the comfort if your own home.

Continuing my recent Negroni theme I decided to dive in and try that first as the recipe used was a new one to me and I was intrigued to see how it compared, with its use of Cynar, to the Stolen Negroni and Negroni Tredici I recently wrote about.

The included recipe is:
– 30ml gin
– 30ml Cocchi
– 15ml Cynar

All stirred over ice and more Cynar added if needed

The resulting drink is delicious. The smaller amount of Cynar makes fir a more rounded drink- it’s less overpowered by the herbal bitterness.
The sweet, flavourful vermouth also adds to the drink and brings a fruitful aspect.
This vermouth is new to me but I’ll be interested to try it again.

In conclusion out of all my recent Negroni variation experiments this one comes closest to challenging the original.

White Negroni

Continuing my quest to make as many variations as I can find on my favourite drink, a Negroni, todays drink is a White Negroni.

Made using equal parts gin, vermouth (I used dry but you could use sweet or even better something as lovely as Lillet Blanc) and Suze all stirred over ice this drink is similar to a Negroni but with the mouth-drying bitterness/ woodiness that the Suze provides it’s a lot less sweet and fruity.

Negroni

If ever I’m craving a specific drink it’s inevitably this one.
If ever I fancy a drink and don’t know what to make it’s this I turn to.
And if anyone asks me what my favourite drink is, although I’m not sure I really have one, this name is always what I answer

It’s a Negroni- simple to make, easy to source all the ingredients and ways delicious.

I first had one of these at Quo Vadis (if you order one there it’s worth asking if you can have it without one of their ridiculously large ice-balls that make it impossible to enjoy your drink) and although I’ve had many since I don’t think anyone does them better

The recipe is simple- equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth stirred together with ice- so can be whipped up in a matter of seconds.

The taste is equal parts sweet and bitter with a strong fruit/ citrus flavour reminiscent of orange or grapefruit,

Though perfect as an aperitif this drink can be enjoyed at any time and if needed can be lengthened with orange or grapefruit juice or even soda or tonic water