Blueberry Gin Liqueur

The Dundee Gin Company have recently released a limited edition Blueberry Gin Liqueur in honour of the 80th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Dundee.

This is a fantastic drink with a great blueberry flavour, and extremely striking colour that makes it perfect for a really eye-catching cocktail.

I’ve erred on the side of simplicity when creating this cocktail, as I’ve found this is usually the best policy!

  • 50ml Blueberry Gin Liqueur
  • 25ml Vodka
  • 25ml Sugar Syrup
  • 25ml Lime Juice

Add the above ingredients to an ice-filled Boston Shaker, shake and strain into a Martini Glass, then garnish with a Blueberry!

https://youtu.be/O2BYHXfiUQI

Possible adjustments for your own personal taste might include:
Removing the vodka and adding an extra 25ml of the Blueberry Gin Liqueur.
Replacing lime juice with lemon juice, or removing altogether for a much sweeter cocktail.
Replacing the vodka with gin.

Do give it a try – I hope you enjoy!

Bacchus – Chapel Down

My personal top white wine! The Bacchus made by the Chapel Down vineyard in Tenterden, East Kent.

Chapel Down – Bacchus

Chapel Down’s Bacchus is possibly my favourite white wine. I’m not going to pretend it’s for everyone, but if you like the fruity, full taste of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc then I’ll go out on a limb and say you’ll probably enjoy this a lot!

The Bacchus has a slightly appley scent, with a full citrus taste, which goes fantastically with a cheese board or other salty snacks. It’s also great with fish, or pizza. It might be a bit on the tart side if you’re not keen on citrus flavours, but I would still highly recommend giving it a try!

You’ll find the Bacchus (as well as direct from Chapel Down, if you’re in the area) in larger Sainsbury’s stores, or Waitrose for around £11-12/bottle.

Planning the Cellar

This is the starting point for the Cellar, giving a bit of background to what we’re attempting to do, and how we’ll go about it.

The idea of A Cellar’s Tale came about after a lengthy cross-country move. Having some more space in the house, and finally being able to expand my beverage selection, I thought it would be useful to share experiments and information.

Why do this?

  • Because there’s an awful lot of different drinks out there and, frankly, while some are fantastic many are… less so. Hopefully this will give a better idea about what’s worth trying!
  • With so many different variations of drinks, it can be pretty confusing sometimes trying to find something you’ll like.
  • A good drink is a fantastic thing to share, and since it’s difficult to do that in person right now – with the pandemic lockdown – why not do it online instead?

The plan is that the blog will contain posts on a variety of topics relating to alcoholic beverages, that will hopefully prove useful – and maybe even interesting.

This will include:

  • Reviews of different beverages – with a clear indication of how they taste and what other drinks they’re similar to.
  • Recipes for cocktails, and different ways to enjoy your drinks.
  • Direct comparisons of similar drinks (or different brands of the same thing!)
  • Information about producers and suppliers.

Hopefully this proves to be of some use and entertainment – and maybe even encourages you to try out some new things.

Starting with Wines

Wines are known, famously, as particular complex in relation to other alcohols. We’re going to try and eliminate some of the mystique surrounding them, and help you get to know what the best ones are for you.

Wines can be intimidating. There’s a huge number of different varieties – labels don’t always give you a huge amount of information, and there’s so much literature out there on them that it’s tricky to know where to start.

I’m not going to claim to be anything close to a wine “expert”. It’s not necessary to be and expert in wines in order to be able to enjoy them (nor should it be). The most important thing you can do with regard to wine is be open to trying new things; you’ll end up trying a lot you like, and probably even more that you don’t.

Secondly, don’t pretend to be an expert to try and impress – be open about what you know and what you don’t; and if you’re trying a new wine for the first time. It might work out, it might not, but either way you’ll have learnt something, which is always valuable.

Finally, remember that what’s important is what you like to drink. You might well find that you particularly enjoy a wine that’s not “thought of” as especially good. In which case… what does it matter? If you enjoy something – you should continue to enjoy it! Don’t be put off by other people’s opinions!

In the meantime I’m going to try and provide some assistance with a few recommendations and a bit of information on ones that I’ve particularly enjoyed.