Category Archives: Drinking

Wine talking: The meaty Arabella Reserve 2009 Shiraz Viognier

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Naked wines Arabella

So, I got sent a free bottle of wine. There I’ve said it. I sold out for a bottle of booze. In return for writing a little something for the Jamie Oliver website about it. But you know what? It was pretty damn good and so, disclosure disclosed, I’m going to write about it here to.

Weighing in at a hefty 14.5% this is not something to take lightly and it definitely does not go with super subtle, delicately flavoured food. No sir. This is intense and brooding, complex and interesting. More Jonny Depp than Gerard Butler (oops, the strange analogies have started already). Continue reading →

PURL London

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DSC09604

Hola – this is meemalee – the third and I think the last person to hijack the lovely Grubworm’s blog as he swans around the land of the rising sun. Honeymoon indeed. Pah.

I agreed to do this as I thought I’d be festering in an office somewhere, but in actual fact I am also on holiday in the US of A right this minute, merrily neglecting my own blog, so I hope the Grubworm is grateful.

Incidentally, I don’t normally use WordPress (apart from on the Haiku Review which I update but rarely) which will explain countless formatting errors (I expect) although won’t excuse the content of this post – so apologies in advance.
Continue reading →

Tea and chocolate: unusual bedfellows

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Assam tea
Tea and chocolate. More daddy or chips than port and Stilton surely? That’s what I thought as I wended my sticky and hot way through sunbaked Fitzrovia trying to find Tapped and Packed, where I was to participate in a tea, coffee and chocolate matching evening run by Green & Blacks.

Coffee and chocolate, that I could see. They’ve closed the curtains on a multitude of meals from Turkish grills to Aussie seafood. I just couldn’t see fine teas standing up to a deep and bitter 75% cocoa dark chocolate. Just goes to show how much I know. Continue reading →

Tasting tea at the Cookbook cafe

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Oolong tea

Okay. Confession time. I’m a bit of a tea addict. And it’s long past the point where I will carefully pick choose the high grade stuff. When I need tea, I really need it. And more often than not, it’s the dirty, adulterated, “dust” you find in those little porous baggies. I don’t care. I need my hit.

At other times, when the raging need is quiescent, I happily rifle through my modest collection of ten or so teas picking and choosing to suit my mood. Feeling low? A cup of nutty Genmaicha to sooth and lift my mood. If I’m in a pondering mood, then silver tip white tea, so delicate and purifying, is the way to go. Continue reading →

A paen to tea

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A multitude of teas

As a child I never really enjoyed tea, but then again I never really enjoyed beer, wine or parsnips either, and these days I’m a confirmed fan of all three. Now I can do without almost anything else, but not tea. Taking an inventory of all the different teas in my kitchen was a testament to my addiction. Regular teabags, earl grey teabags, loose leaf jasmine green, Genmeicha rice & green tea, Pura, Buddha Balls, Oolong, Gunpowder Green, Clipper English breakfast, Sri Lankan Ceylon – all different and all suited to different occasions. Continue reading →

A curative drink before bed

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There was no dinner as such last night, just a snack in the pub during the break between a conference and a gallery event run by Bizarre magazine. Instead, I’m going post about the curative lemon, honey and ginger drink I made before heading off to bed.

I love these sorts of drinks when I am feeling physically down and am not really in the mood for tea (green, white, black or oolong), my fall-back cure-all. There’s not much that doesn’t look/feel better after a cup of well made tea, it’s just sometimes not the right drink. I can’t explain it better than that. Continue reading →

The Gunmakers pub

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A majestic pint

So tonight wasn’t really about the food. Tonight was about the best pint of beer I’ve ever drunk. Tonight was about The Gunmaker’s Pub in Farringdon and its charming and interesting landlord. And also about Ascot Ale’s Anastasia’s Imperial Stout, which clocked in at an impressive 8% ABV. My word, but this was good stuff.

I’m not a major stout or porter drinker, i’m more of a real ale and good wine kind of guy. But this, this was fantastic – all chewy chocolate and coffee notes, with a lot of depth (think beef stew rather than any other drink) and none of the watery, light, bitter notes of your Guinness or other wimpy dark beer. Continue reading →