Glass bottles VS plastic bottles

I had a discussion at where I work about why it seems drinks from glass bottles taste better than from plastic bottles. I do think drinks like Coca Cola taste better from glass bottles, and some agreed with this and thought bottled sparkling water was better from a glass bottle. At first I thought is was psychological and that glass bottled drink just felt like better quality. But it appears that the actual drink itself is different between the 2. With sparkling drinks they in plastic bottles they carbonate the drink more because the gas slowly leaks through the plastic, so this could effect the taste of the drink. Even though plastic bottle drinks are cheaper, I prefer the taste of glass bottled drinks and I think they are also better for the environment.

Roc De Lussac Saint Emilion

Just bought wine from Sainburys. They say the retail price is £15, but are selling at £7. This one does seem like a good deal, we will see what it tastes like.

Best places to buy wine in the UK

Recently wine has become more and more popular in the UK, but as this has happened the way people buy wines has changed. A few years ago it was common to buy wines on the high street at off licences, but with the economic problems most of them have now disappeared, partly due to competitive supermarkets.

The problem now is that the supermarkets have been buying in rubbish wine, Sainburys use to be a great place to buy wine, but over the past 18 months the price of the wine has gone up but the quality has gone down. I recently went to Tesco to buy some wine and was surprised just how awful the selection was, there was no decent wine on sale.

Even Majestic seem to have got into the idea of trying to sell cheaper bad quality wine, I would say that it is better to go to Majestic than the big supermarkets and you have less chance of coming away with a terrible bottle of wine, but recently we have had a couple of bottles that have not been good.

Here are a list of some of the best places to buy wines.

• Waitrose - The best supermarket to buy wines, sometimes they have some good offers on their fine wines section.
• Portland Wines - North West wine shops that stock some great wines.
• Bat and Bottle - Buy online or visit them in Oakham, they specialise in Italian wines.

I will continue to add to this list as we find more places to buy wine.

 

Bramble Cocktail

Ingredients


0.5 oz Chambord
1 oz Gin
0.5 oz Fresh lemon juice
4 Blackberries

Method


Add 3 blackberries to shaker
Muddle
Add Gin and lemon juice
Fill glass 0.75 full with ice
Using long spoon to stir ensure blackberries are on the top
Top with ice and float Chambord on top
Garnish with Lemon and a Blackberry

Basil Grande

This is a cocktail worth trying, if you don't like the idea of adding the Basil you don't have to, it might be worth trying it before adding the Basil and be careful with the black pepper.

Ingredients
1 oz Grand Marnier
0.5 oz Chambord
1 oz Cranberry juice
5 Strawberries
3 leaves Basil

Method
Add ingredients to shaker
Add Ice and shake
Strain into Martini Glass
Garnish with black pepper and basil.

How to make a French Martini

Ingredients
0.5 oz Chambord
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Pineapple Juice
3 Fresh Blackberries

Method
Ice up Martini glass
Add all ingredients into Shaker and shake
Strain into Martini glass
Garnish with 1 blackberry skewered on mini straw.

Raspberry Mojito (Chambord)

Ingredients:

• 35ml White Rum
• 6 Mint Leaves
• 6 Raspberries
• 20 ml Lime Juice
• 1 tbsp Sugar Syrup
• 1 tbsp Raspberry Liqueur (Chambord)
• Small splash of ginger ale
• Ice 

Method:

Add the mint leaves, 4 of the raspberries into a highball glass. Add the sugar syrup, lime juice Chambord and run and stir. Add the ice and stir again, top with a splash of ginger ale and garnish the glass with a couple of raspberries and a sprig of mint.

Cocktails - Cedar Court Hotel York

If you are ever in York we would recommend a stay at the Cedar Court Hotel, apart from being a great 5 star hotel, is has a pleasant bar, which has a great cocktail menu. While there we tried 4 different cocktails all prepared well and the staff clearly knew what they were doing. The service is very good with waiters to take your order rather than having to go up to the bar. It was a very relaxed atmosphere with great cocktails.

Jim Barry - The Lodge Hill Shiraz

Last night we had a bottle of Jim Barry The Lodge Australia Shiraz 2008. It was £12 from Portland Wines and has a Gold international award, which does not mean it is the best but does mean it will at least be OK. The vineyard the wine is from is the highest in the Clare Valley at 480m. We thought it was a jolly nice wine with a lot of tannin and flavour it was good with steak. We would recommend it with beef or game.

Holmfirth Yorkshire White Wine

Last year we visited the Holmfirth winery in Yorkshire and got a tour of the vineyard. We recently ordered their dry white wine made from the Solaris grape. The wine is a clear in colour, with a fruity green fruits nose and a crisp sharp taste. We thought it was similar to a Sauvignon Blanc wine, so if you are a fan of Sauvignon Blanc you will most likely like this wine. I think the only criticism we can make is that the bottle and label seem a little cheap for a £12 wine. We would recommend the wine would go well with fish dishes. 

Free Wine Journal Software

Here is a link to a web site where you can download a copy of BarMirror Wine Journal. It is a simple database application which allows you to store information on wines including any relevant tasting notes and images. Once you have created a large enough journal it allows you to filter and search for a wine.

http://www.barmirror.co.uk/wine-software.html

Swiss Wines

We recently went skiing to Saas Fee in Switzerland and had a great time. Switzerland is an expensive place to visit, with food costing a lot more than the UK. While we were there we managed to try some wine, like everything else the wine is expensive, they often have bottles in 50cl sizes which makes it a little cheaper. On average we paid about £15 for a 50cl bottle of red and £25 for 75cl bottles. Every bottle we tried was a good and would recommend that when staying in Switzerland to try their own wine because it is hard to find outside their country, they must keep it all to themselves.

Drinkies Time Blog

Welcome to my Drinkies Time blog. This blog is designed for wines and cocktails.