A Rosé In Any Other Colour Would Still Taste As Sweet

Beringer make an amazing sparkling rosé.  It may very well be one of the best summer drinks there is.  Not all supermarkets sell it, but if you see their Sparking Zinfandel Rosé you really should grab a bottle to try.  Of course, the correct name is White Zinfandel, but as with many other producers they drop the "White" to avoid confusion as it is actually a rosé wine (and has often confused many bar tenders when ordering a white zinfandel).  So that's fine then.  Well, seems that Beringer are wanting to go a step further and make their soft strawberry coloured wine look more hot pink!  The photo here is exactly the same wine but in the new bottle and branding (left) compared to the classic version.  Are they now pushing this harder to the female market and wanting to be see as "pink fizz"?  The answer is probably yes, but when you have such a delightful strawberry and raspberry bubbly wine you can do what you want to get as many people as possible to try it.

Molson launches in Ireland today - Get it in The Bailey, Dublin

Molson launches in Ireland today, in The Bailey, central Dublin. Great Canadian lager with a crisp clean taste.  Just been in there having a few pints of it whilst they go through the press launch and have a few cool photos taken (the bar is kitted out with a moose's head and gorgeous white wolf).  Here's my entry for the competition they were running to snap a pic to celebrate their launch.  I even managed to get the compulsory bicycle in the shot (as every Irish-themed pub would have me believe).

Which Came First, The Chocolate Chicken Or The Egg?

Surely the chocolate Easter Egg has hatched and we know have chocolate Easter Chickens... But inside this chocolate chicken is a chocolate egg...! Either way, this is a great reason to eat your Easter Eggs as soon as possible else they may hatch and you'll have to feed the chicken and give it space to roam around.

Stocks & Shots - The Press Loved It Too!

Student, The Edinburgh Evening News and The Herald all picked the story up and ran some nice pieces on it, unfortunately the only high quality scan I have access to is from Student.  We also made a video too!

Scotland's First Stock Market Bar - 13 Years Ago Today

Stocks and Shots was an evening at The Caledonian Brewery, organised between EUTIC and SiS, which brought the first stock market bar to Scotland.  The principle is just like the real stock market - when a drink is in demand, the price rises; when it's not, the price falls.  It's that simple.  And the night was awesome - enjoy!

Scotland Has Stunning Scenery And Stunning Chillies!

These Scotch Bonnet chillies sure look pretty... And I. sure they will be pretty mind blowing later on! Thanks to Jamie Oliver I get to use them in a variation of his Christmas Jerk Pork!

It’s Like 10,000 peppers When All You Need Is A Salt...

Whilst Ed Byrne has famously asked Alanis "how big is your sink", it seems I have to ask a certain pub "how popular do you think pepper is"?  This is the 'salt and pepper' bowl.  Maybe they think all their customers are slugs, I suppose some of them are a bit slimey...

Rekorderlig Made This Man-Go (Rasp-) Berry Happy!

Rekorderlig have done it again!  After the failed 'Apricot & Peach' which only seems to be available in Tesco, Rekorderlig hit the sweet spot with Orange & Ginger cider.  In an unusual bar this weekend, filled with Friday evening work refugees, I spied yet another wild sounding cider: Mango & Raspberry.  So how does it taste?  Incredible!  As you can see it's a red drink but the mango really works and it's a refreshing and very drinkable beverage from the world leaders in fruit cider making!  Please don't stop innovating Rekorderlig!

What's The French For "That's A Nice Pair" (Say Pear)..?

Ah, don't say pair, say Cidre Pear! After the very successful campaign launching Stella Artois Cidre, we now have a new flavour complementing the classic apple: Pear. It's a lovely clean, fresh colour and has that crispness of the original Cidre. So really the question should be, how do you say that's a lovely French pair..?

A Very Perculiar Chocolate - Marmite Flavoured!

I couldn't bring myself to buy this... As much as I loved the Marmite advert featuring Zippy, and the packaging looks elegant, I really can't see myself eating Marmite Chocolate! Can you..?

Orange & Ginger Is Good, So Long As It's Not In A Scottish Tanning Salon!

Rekorderlig launch another great new flavour, possibly only in pubs right now... Tesco are selling Apricot & Peach but pubs, including Milnes on Hanover Street, are selling a delicious Orange & Ginger cider. This is not the first time these flavours have been combined, Crabbies have a special Orange Edition of their Ginger Beer but really it's not great and is a bit too sweet (bet you didn't know I spoke French!). As always Rekorderlig's ciders are not overly sweet and have a perfect balance of flavours. I strongly recommend you try and find it, more so than Koppaberg's Cloudberry.

I'm On Cloud Nine With Kopparberg's Cloudberry Cider!

Okay, maybe I just hyped it up for that headline (or Instagram post)... Truth is Cloudberry is a light, sweet and very fragrant cider that is exclusive to Belhaven Pubs (such as The Black Bull in Edinburgh). Kopparberg make decent ciders but compared to their countrymen at Rekorderlig they just miss a sharpness and clarity. But that said they are a lot better than Bulmers (Scottish & Newcastle brand, not the original Irish Magners).

Taking Your Cherry Shouldn't Leave A Bad Taste In My Mouth

Does it get any better than this? All the best bits of Cherry Coke less the nasty sugary after taste plus the better taste of Pepsi! Plus you can still sing the Savage Garden line "like drinking Cherry Cola". Only downside is that I have only found Pepsi Max Cherry in 2 litre bottles so far. Cans please PepsiCo!

Jumangee! Do NOT Try This At Home (Or In A Bar)!

This was bad... Rather than the 'normal' three WKDs in a pint glass, we went crazy and made it all four. Never (drinking) again...

Winter Cider Wars: Magner's Spiced Apple & Honey Beats Rekorderlig

It seems as if cider is not just a summer drink now. All big name of cider makers have winter varieties out (so nothing from Bulmer's then) but only one can win. And whose is it? Well, starting at the bottom Magner's Apple & Rhubarb and Kopaberg's Cranberry & Cinnamon are both one time tastes (no real desire to taste them again). Magner's Pear & Ginger is a nice twist but it doesn't feel very seasonal. So to the top two, Magner's Spiced Apple & Honey and Rekorderlig's Apple, Cinnamon & Vanilla. The latter is incredibly drinkable and as a nice twist has the option to be served hot in a customer glass, but only half the serving (250ml vs 500ml). Magner's have added warmth to their staple flavour and it's this depth that makes the drink feel more Christmassy. It was very close, but once again Magner's wins the best cider title. Now if only they were following me on Twitter...

Another New Cocktail Invented By Yours Truly!

For all the people out there who aren't big gin fans (how could anyone not love Blackwoods...?), this is for you.  Take a whisky glass, add a shot of vodka, a shot of lime, squeeze in a quarter of lime and lace the rim with its juice, top with (Slimline) tonic.  There you have a refreshing drink that takes the best of vodka, lime and soda and merges it with the best of gin and tonic.  The name of this sure-fire hit for the summer...?  VLT (as in vodka, lime & tonic, sort of...)

The New And Original Bulmers Is Berry Good

The real Bulmers (known as Magners in the UK, read why here) has a great new flavour out in Ireland called Berry. It's made of raspberries and strawberries, plus apples of course. Strangely though the Irish haven't experienced the Golden Draft slightly sweeter less tart version we have.

There Aren't Plenty More Fish (Trophies) In The Sea This Year

Alas, it had to come to pass that Scotland was no longer the best place in the UK for fish & chips.  After the Townhead Café in Biggar won the title of 2007 Fish & Chip Shop of the Year (announced January 2008), it has been a one country race.  The following year the Anstruther Fish Bar in, erm, Anstruther (Fife) carried the torch on winning 2008 Fish & Chip Shop of the Year, then we head west as Atlantic Fast Food in Coatbridge (Glasgow) is crowned (the realigned title of) 2010 Fish & Chip Shop of the Year.  Three glorious victories in a row!  Back to present day and despite the best efforts of Doms Chip Shop in Thornton (Fife), who won Best in Scotland but never made it into the top three places UK-wide, it's a Yorkshire chippy that takes the title back to England as Fish and Chips at 149 takes the 2011 trophy to Bridlington, Yorkshire.  Oh well, I still haven't made it to Coatbridge for last year's winner yet so maybe I should do that before next year's winner gets announced...

Food Is A Rewarding Business In Edinburgh

Within a very short radius of Edinburgh are some stunning places to eat, although a few have yet to be recognised in the new Michelin Guide (out today).  Edinburgh maintains its five one-star restaurants: Number One at the Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street; 21212 in New Town; The Kitchin, Martin Wishart and the Plumed Horse all at The Shore.  Slightly out of town Champany Inn in Linlithgow maintains its star as do the Peat Inn and Sangster's, both over the water in Fife (about an hour away).  That's six Michelin-starred restaurants within the Lothian region and still leaves Rhubard (at Prestonfield House) bereft of deserved star.

Slightly disappointingly was the loss of two Bib Gourmands, which are awarded to establishments that represent value for money regardless of price.  Tony’s Table in the city and The Wee Restaurant in North Queensferry (first stop over the Forth) both lost theirs, however Osso in Peebles gained one.  Finally the Rising Star is strangely still held by the same place, which caused a lot of confusion to other people reporting on it (until yours truly corrected them, thanks to the guidance of my culinary-guru Neil McRobie).  For the last four years Abstract on Castle Terrace was given a Rising Star award however last July it was replaced by a new venture, co-founded by Tom Kitchin, simply called Castle Terrace on the very same site.  This now has rightly received a due praise and received a Rising Star.  It all bodes well for the future, if they simply decided to recognise Rhubard...

I'll Have A Gin and ... Apple?

When you don't like cucumber but love gin, an important question to ask your tender is what do you recommend serving it with.  Hopefully the answer will come back lime rathern than cucumber but I certainly don't expect the answer 'red apple'.  Behold Carunn, a new from a small distillery in Speyside.  It tastes very floral and the soft acidity from the apple complemnts it wonderfully, where lime would drown out then flavours and fragrence, where it would just taste like watered down Bombay.  It's my second favourite Scottish gin, after Blackwoods of course...