Cycling Related

Last night I had the first of two gin miniatures from the Masham distillery - a very spicy masala chai and hops number which kept its character even when let down with a little tonic.

Iris wrote: ↑

5 years ago

And to wrap up the Musar - earlier in the year we tasted the '99 at our local Majestic's Fine Wine tasting evening. Extraordinary stuff. If anyone buys wine at Majestic regularly I'd recommend the Fine Wine evening - it's a £20 ticket, for which you get half a dozen very interesting wines to drink (typical bottle price - £40 or so) and a £20 voucher to redeem against a £60 spend. So it's a free way to get plastered (several of the attendees at our evening were driving, and they can't leave empties). And it proves that it is possible to tell the difference between a £10 bottle, a £20 bottle and a £50 bottle.

I’m intrigued as to how they structure it to deliver that outcome. For instance, is it a fully blind tasting with the bottles swathed?

Ever the scientist....

No - what I mean is that they serve £20 to £50 bottles, and since my usual is a £10 bottle (or thereabouts) I can tell there is a difference. I know memory is faulty and subjective, but it's not *that* faulty and subjective.

In fact they serve the bottles reasonably blind - and they don't tell you the price until after you've tasted. From memory one of my favourites was actually one of the cheaper £20 bottle, but I could see why it wasn't a £50 bottle. And it confirmed that twice the price doesn't necessarily mean twice the enjoyment - although subjective enjoyment when you're with a group of strangers in a warehouse (even a nice warehouse) overlooking a reasonably busy road is a strange thing.

We were down in Salisbury this weekend, for an early Christmas celebration with the coven. I picked myself up a bottle of Downton Distillery Explorer gin.

Mum had also bought me a bottle of Conker Dorset Gin. I also tried their Port Barrel Gin, which was very nice.

Dammit, I didn't win.
It's odd, they say it's a years supply, so why are there only 12 bottles in the photo?

Joan wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Dammit, I didn't win.

Screenshot_20181209-165653_1.png

It's odd, they say it's a years supply, so why are there only 12 bottles in the photo?

That’s less than a month’s supply for one of our Gregs.....

I need one of these.

Dunckel wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I need one of these.

We’re off on one of those on Saturday (some hill walking may also be involved).

Regulator wrote: ↑

5 years ago

We’re off on one of those on Saturday (some hill walking may also be involved).

Any particular hills?

Dunckel wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Any particular hills?

We have yet to pick our paths. I shall sit down with the ‘Walking in Gran Canaria’ guide this week and pick a few...

Oh, I may decide to give a Christmas/Hostess gift of Gin for Xmas day. The recipients are Gin fans. They enjoy tanqueray sevilla, but not BullDog. Can't be too expensive because ... awkward. Any suggestions what I can acquire from ... pretty well any supermarket ... tomorrow?

I’d go for a nice Sauvignon blanc. Something costing about £12-15 is bigly drinkable

How about a selection of mixers and botanics (poncy stuff to sprinkle in the drink).

Oh, I wasn't clear. I was looking for suggestions of varieties of gin.

Joan wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Oh, I wasn't clear. I was looking for suggestions of varieties of gin.

OK, anything by Warner Edwards is safe, their Rhubarb or Honeybee products are particulatly well regarded.