When the Scotch Malt Whisky Society asks me if I want to come and try whiskies, I say an enthusiastic yes. This time, the invitation was particularly intriguing: an international whiskies tasting. Two Japanese grains, two Japanese malts, an Irish whiskey and an American bourbon. To guide us, we had…
Want to have a cocktail party but don’t really want to mix all your own? There’s help. Social and Cocktail takes a bar, with all the glasses, booze, fruit ice and tools of the trade, to you. Last Saturday, they were at mine, mixing up a delicious storm for me…
Heads & Tales is Edinburgh’s latest new gin bar. What makes this one extra special is that is features a distillery: yes, this is a bar but it also houses two stills. Two gleaming copper contraptions will make gin while you sit in the bar enjoying yourself. What a great idea!
The Summerhall arts space, in the old Dick Vet, has established itself as an absolute gem of a place, playing host to all manner of intriguing events, exhibitions and shows. The middle Sunday of June saw it transformed into a food-lovers paradise called Savour, a festival of food arranged across…
Doesn’t this cocktail look fabulous? The star mixologist Alex at Bistro Moderne gave me a sneak preview of a cocktail he’s developing for this month’s Dining Club at Bistro Moderne. I wish I could have that much flair. What makes this cocktail molecular? It’s the foam on top created with an alcohol, some…
Today’s guest writer is Christopher Garvie, known to readers of this column as C. When we were invited to Innis & Gunn to the launch of their latest beer, C. kindly came with me. Since he’s a long-time fan of the company, I asked him to write up the experience.…
I like gin. It’s a thing people know about me. Recently I was, for this very reason, given a bottle of Opihr gin by friends. They’d attended a gin tasting and decided to find one that was right for me. Using their knowledge of my palate and how it compares…
I’ve been feasting on pomegranates this year. My local grocers has been selling monsters almost too big to fit in two hands at £1.49 each. What interested me more was the chance to buy 5 smaller ones for £1. The seeds add a lovely bite, almost a crunch and a…
We have seven cafetières, a filter mug, a ROK espresso press and a mocha pot. If we want coffee, we have several ways of making it. Because all of these methods result in a certain amount of mess, we recently also got a Nespresso machine, with a milk heater on…
On a truly glorious Autumn day, St. Andrews Square, Edinburgh was transformed into a whisky fête. There were tutored tastings with The Balvenie’s Brand Ambassador Dr. Andrew Forrester, and workshops with The Balvenie’s craft partners.
