Good Grub

I’ve been meaning to start doing this for a while, as my tea collection has got, quite frankly, out of hand. I’m only mildly annoyed that my partner in crime beat me to the punch, as this was totally more up my alley than his. I probably would have got there first had I not had a million deadlines come down on me with the weight of ten elephants at the same time, but I digress, hastily.

Coming in a rather adorable box that both in name and appearance reminds me of the kind of shops I frequent in Glastonbury (it’s full of hippies, if that clues you in), with a sleepy little bear on the front sat in front a fire. It’s a little bit quaint and sweet, if I do say so myself.

As for how it is? Well, I have nothing but positive remarks for this wonderful tea. The bags themselves don’t smell of much else but mild spearmint, which is contained in this rather elaborate concoction of *deep breath* “Chamomile, Spearmint, Lemongrass, Tilia Flowers, Blackberry Leaves Orange Blossoms, Hawthorn Berries and Rosebuds“. The only other real scents are more earthy, with the light sweet scent of camomile, which in regards to tea is one of my oldest friends. So, in the cup the bag goes and about half a teaspoon of agave nectar, as it’s a rare day when I don’t sweeten my tea just a tiny, tiny bit.

In goes the water, and now, to wait. The water turns from a sort of pale yellow to a deep amber-yellow colour over a few minutes, and the smell changes for the better. The spearmint is still there, but now accompanied by the warm sweetness of camomile, the bright zestiness of lemongrass, and the wonderful floral qualities of orange blossom and rose. The flavour is just brilliant, and no part outshines the other, creating a warming, soothing flavour that reminds me, quite oddly, of my childhood. Yes, it is a tea intended for helping you to sleep, but as I’m a horrendously high-strung person by nature, the calming effect just makes me a bit more level.

So, at the end of this mug, and an oddly positive review from me, I would honestly tell anybody to go out and get a box of this right now. Like, at this very moment.

GO!

Original post at Transmundane: http://www.transmundane.org/celestial-seasonings-sleepytime/

Good evening one and all! Tonight I will be reviewing the Brew Dog range of ales, Dogma, Chaos Theory and Hardcore IPA, accompanied by some lovely Shropshire blue cheese, redcurrants and salami. Sounds like a good night to me!

Gonna be a long review

Chaos Theory: I am an unashamed Warhammer nerd, so the concept of a beer called “Chaos Theory” appeals to me in so, so many ways. This 7.1% beer is subtitled “predictably random ipa”, and the first thing that occurs to me is “good god this cap is hard to remove”. It has a very rich, nutty scent to it, and on taste, something that reminds me of eating grapefruit peel. Fruity, but very, very bitter. It is also very easy to taste the alcohol in it. The intense bitterness in the ale is made a lot less overwhelming by a food, particularly the sweet-yet-sour taste of redcurrants, and goes very well with the saltiness of salami. It’s not so great with the blue cheese, but it does take that bitter edge off after each mouthful.

The beer is very much bursting with flavours, from toasted nuts to a distinct grapefruity taste that accompanies that bitterness, rewarding in its own way. I do find it perhaps a bit much for my rather delicate tastebuds, but when drunk with any food, this becomes a great accompaniment. I can expect this to be great with a curry!

Room Temperature Opinion: A little less intense on the bitterness, a bit more nutty and toasty over fruity, but essentially the same beer. I would prefer drinking this at room temp over cold.

Dogma: Cap was less hard to remove this time. The second beer, at 7.8%, and with its witty title, is subtitled and described as “heather honey infused ale”, and indeed it is, the very first thing that hits my nose is the floral sweetness of honey as I nearly jam my nose in the bottle, wanting more of the delicious scent.

Honey-obsessed habits aside, on taste this beer is incredibly mellow compared to Chaos Theory, with just a little hint of bitterness at the end. It is brewed with not only honey, but guarana, kola nut and poppy seeds, giving it a very sweet, yet distinctly fruity taste. Naturally, this goes very well with the redcurrants I have on my plate, which just add to the sweet and wonderfully rounded flavour. Try not to be fooled by its sweet flavour and mellow character, as it really is strong at 7.8%, and my face is feeling just a little flushed from its brother Chaos Theory.

Back on the food tangent, it doesn’t go as well with salami, but contrasts with the cheese quite well, sweet beer and strong, blue cheese just melting together in one oral orgasm cacophanous climax tittilating tastebud tempest alitteral awesome-taste.

I literally can’t get enough of this beer, it’s taking effort to leave a bit in the bottle for the room temperature opinion, since I’m sure some of you prefer beer at a warmer temperature (truth be told so do I). On a side note, redcurrant and salami is a good combination on its own, try it sometime.

FEELING A LITTLE DRUNK NOW.

Room Temperature Opinion: If it could get any sweeter, it just did. This tastes far superior chilled, where all the flavours are distinct. Here the bitter, sweet and fruity flavours mush together and while it’s not bad, it’s just inferior.

Hardcore IPA: Three words. Really. Really. Strong. Weighing in at a whopping and shocking (for a beer) 9%, Hardcore IPA is the last of the three beers I have. At this point, I’m feeling a little floaty, and I’m really glad my fan is on, since I’m feeling a bit warm. Cap was really easy to open this time, or I’m just being more brutal, either way, it’s open.

The first smell I detect in this beer is WHOA HOPS. Seriously, very hoppy beer. It’s also got a lovely sweet smell in there, AND it’s made with Maris Otter grains. MARIS OTTER GRAINS, how is this not awesome? (I think my typing is degenerating, I apologise!)

Back on a more professional tangent, this beer has a very hoppy smell, with undertones of nuts and, treacle, and a sweet toffee-like scent. On tasting, not only do you find out that it tastes exactly how it smells, you can actually taste the alcohol, something that I can’t usually do until things like Midori or Baileys. It does have quite a bitter aftertaste, exactly between Chaos Theory and Dogma, but not quite as overwhelming as Chaos Theory’s. No hidden grapefruits in here. It also has a very toffee-like taste on the first touch of your tongue. Sweet, caramel-y goodness, before moving into hops and finally, the bitter finish, with that familiar alcohol taste lingering after that. Almost metallic, in a sense.

On the food side of things, it goes insanely, and I mean INCREDIBLY well with the blue cheese, like the two were made to be consumed together. The creamy cheese just melts into the toffee and hop tones of Hardcore IPA, with the blue in the cheese complementing the bitterness perfectly at the end. Redcurrants, always a good choice, it seems, making the beer all the sweeter and bringing out those treacle-toffee flavours wonderfully, and for those of you who don’t like bitter, lightening it a lot. Salami, not so much, the flavours clash a little too much, salty having an argument with the sweet first taste of this ale.

At this point, I am feeling considerably drunk. Typos are coming up just about every three words or so, and I have a distinct, floaty sensation going on, like my rear isn’t quite connected to this chair.

Room Temperature Opinion: The flavours aren’t as crisp or bright when warmed up a bit, and the bitterness becomes a little unpleasent to me. It remains a very caramelised flavour, but it doesn’t evolve and end in the same way as it does when chilled. I can’t honestly recommend this to be drunk at room temperature at all. Particularly since the alcohol taste is about five times as strong when at room temperature.

Sadly, this is the last of these wonderful microbrewery ales, and where my review must end. But I must say, this has been a wonderful discovery, and I would not have bothered buying these had it not been for the recommendation by my friend Stray who sang their praises a few months ago.

This drunk and enjoyed adventure was brought to you by Gorse Raugan.

BrewDog Ltd. Unit 1, Kessock Workshops Fraserburgh AB43 8UE t: +44 (0) 1346 519 009 http://www.brewdog.com

Tags: beer, BrewDog, Chaos Theory, Dogma, Hardcore

Exceptional antioxidant drink is a finalist in ‘Best New Functional Drink’ category

British drinks company, Mile High (www.milehighdrinks.com), has been recognised as a ‘Best New Functional Drink’ finalist in the coveted Beverage Innovation Awards.

The 100% natural, exceptional antioxidant drink, received its accolade at a glittering awards dinner held in Munich, Germany on 15th September 2009 in association with the Drinktec exhibition. Mile High Drinks fought off fierce competition from 340 entries from 40 countries and joined 500 people at the ceremony.

The Beverage Innovation Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in the global non-alcoholic drinks industry.

Mile High was selected as a finalist by a panel of expert judge including senior executives at Rewe, Interbrand and Tate & Lyle. The judges unanimously agreed that Mile High meets all of the finalist criteria:

* Genuinely innovative.

* Establishes a real point of difference with competitors.

* Introduces new concepts.

* Offers added value.

* Has market impact.

Mile High’s director, Stuart Roberts, was incredibly proud to be recognised as a finalist in the highly competitive functional drinks category, ahead of PepsiCo International and Shotz Health (which were ‘highly commended’). Attending the awards ceremony alongside a host of other innovative and high-profile drinks brands, Roberts said: “Being a finalist in this exciting category puts into perspective all of our hard work over the past four years. Since launching in Waitrose in September 2008 we have achieved more and more listings including Ocado. Our latest listing with Tree of Life means that Mile High will soon be available in leading health food shops and independent stores and delis nationwide”.

The awards, organised by beverage innovation magazine, saw guests from around the world convene at the Drinktec exhibition to celebrate the crème de la crème of food and drink NPD. After a day of networking at the nearby Trade Fair halls, the gala dinner gave brand owners a chance to let their hair down and relax while networking.

Bill Bruce, Zenith International Publishing group editorial director, said: “This year, more than ever, the Beverage Innovation Awards provides the non-alcoholic drinks industry with the opportunity to celebrate its creativity and innovation. Drinktec is the Olympic Games of the industry’s trade fairs, one of its great strengths being that it’s held only every four years. Visitors see a real step change in the way the industry is responding to the varying demands of the marketplace, and setting new trends through innovation in packaging and ingredients. We’re convinced that the awards reflect the most exciting developments in the industry.”

Roberts added: “This is the first time Mile High has been involved in such an event and it was a really great experience being in a room with so many other innovative food and drink brands. As a category finalist we’ve had a lot of interest from the media and other producers, so we’re busy catching up on all the new leads”.

Tags: antioxidant, aviation, award, flying, Mile High, milehigh

DJ Mr Scruff and make us a brew! launch new BIG CHILL TEA at The Big Chill Festival (6 – 9 August 2009)

Listen up tea lovers – avid tea enthusiast DJ Mr. Scruff is planning to launch his brand new make us a brew! BIG CHILL tea exclusively at this year’s The Big Chill Festival during his now legendary festival tea party. As The Big Chill regulars will know, the place to go for top notch DJ sets, home baked pies and cakes, and mug loads of quality make us a brew! teas. Mugnificent.

Made from a blend of organic rooibos, sweet pear, cinnamon and Mr. Scruff’s new favourite find, valerian (a natural relaxant), make us a brew! Big Chill tea (named after the festival obviously) helps you get into that laid back, “Heeeeey maaaan” atmosphere and makes reality television and the thought that Christmas is less than five months away distant memories…

So if you’re The Big Chill bound at the beginning of August, come and join the make us a brew! crew at Scruff’s tea party, every day and night next to the lake, and treat your lucky mug to some Big Chill tea. We find it best enjoyed after a night of cutting hardcore shapes on the dance floor and contemplating how we’re going to find the way back to our tent…

Big Chill make us a brew! organic herbal tea launches on 6 August at The Big Chill Festival and, for those not going to this year’s fest, the tea will be available from retail stores in September, RRP around £2.00 for a box of 25 teabags.

For more information on the new herbal range head over to www.makeusabrew.com or for festival info visit www.bigchill.net
The Big Chill: 6th – 9th August 2009
Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Eastnor, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8

Tags: big chill, festival, herbal, organic, tea

Früli is something I jokingly refer to as “The Gayest Beer In The World”. Why? Because it’s strawberry flavoured. It’s also delicious, so the gayness of it is a moot point. It’s amazing. Gone is the hop-tastic taste of traditional beers, replaced instead by a mild tingle of fizz and alcohol, and the overriding flavour of strawberry. Now, at this point, you’ll probably it imagine to be some disgusting, sweet and syrupy concotion. It’s not. It’s a mild flavour, with a very subtle sweet edge. It’s not what I’d define as sweet, but I would say it’s immensely girly, despite having to pass it round my male friends as they all want to try it (and undoubtedly fall in love with it like me.)

It looks weird as hell too. Semi-opaque, and as expected, pink, but still immensely nice looking. It barely fizzes, so you don’t wind up belching like some…un..couth…creature. (Not very ladylike for the Lu.)

I’ll say this. Infact, I’ll bold it. Früli is very very expensive. A single pint at The Warehouse set me back a whopping £4.40, making my already abused bank account weep. (I also bought a Chicken Scream Burger and a waffle platter to share with a friend. Spent just shy of £20 by the end of the visit.)

…It’s still worth it, and I expect that given any excuse or opportunity, I’ll buy a pint of it in a pub, or a few bottles from a shop.

LU APPROVES.

More on the Früli fansite www.frulibeer.com

Tags: beer, Belgian, Belgium, Früli, refreshing, strawberry