Newsletter – Friday 24th April
Well hello you lovely lot! How are you all keeping? Good I hope? The weather has been utterly glorious this week and I don’t know about you but that gets me in the mood for some outside shenanigans. So today does have a little bit of an outdoor element to it, but I am all up for helping you guys with little to no garden space recreate it the best you can. I want us all to have some fun this weekend as it’s keeping the fun that keeps us all going, well, I think so anyway.
So, the theme behind this week as always is taken from some of the odd celebrations held around the world. Believe me, there is a tonne! I love seeing what people are celebrating and this week it’s no different. A mystery to me but today is apparently Pig in Blanket Day! Now, this one took me by surprise as I’ve always associated pigs in blankets with Christmas but hey, apparently today is the day to give them a little love. Now, I’m well aware we’ll have some veggies and vegans with us and don’t you worry, inclusivity is the aim of the game so I’ve found a good recipe for a meat and vegan varieties so everyone can join in, plus, I’ve sourced some great cocktail recipes to accompany them and selected a few of our special tipples that would work well in those drinks.
Pigs in Blankets are a bit of a British tradition and I’m always surprised about the variety that’s grown from that simple sausage wrapped in bacon. My Mum always used to wrap stuffing in bacon and I thought that’s what they were until my later years. I must say discovering the difference was the most delicious surprise! I’ll admit, I’m a vegetarian now but back in my meat eating days I was really partial to these little fellas! So, let’s start from the begining with some simple recipes to get you started.
Firstly, for the meaties, it would have been easy for me to tell you to wrap a sausage in some bacon and chuck it under the grill, but where’s the fun in that? The weather has been glorious recently so I thought I’d share something you could do outside on the BBQ. Now for those of you who are missing the outside at the moment, you may well have to resort to the grill. However, this recipe has something a little extra to the normal affair, plus I’m all about replacing what we can’t do with what we can (the fella and me are doing a faux holiday as ours were cancelled in just a couple of weeks). So, let’s see what we can do to recreate that missing thing. Have the windows wide open, move some furniture so you can lay on a blanket in the sun, put on a youtube video of the sea swash and stick your feet in a tub of water, whatever works for you. For me, I’ve found these little replacements a key to happiness right now so get inventive! Now, the recipe is care of Hellmans and you can find it here:
https://www.hellmanns.com/uk/recipes/bbq-pigs-in-blankets.html
You’ll notice this isn’t your standard pig in blanket here, this is a kind of kebab affair with tomatoes, onions and peppers too. So whether, you’re doing your outside inside or outside, hopefully this will give you something tasty to enjoy.
And now something for the veggies and vegans in the room. A controversial take on the pig in blanket that you may have seen recently. Now you’re going to need to sit down for this, some people wrap that pig up in a pastry blanket, rather than a bacon one. Amazing! You could well take a veggie sausage and wrap it in some fakon but how about this easy recipe for vegan pigs in blankets.
https://www.theedgyveg.com/2020/02/27/vegan-pigs-in-blanket-recipe/
Give it a whirl!
And, sticking with the outdoor theme, I got to thinking cocktails in the garden, with the bbq, and I thought I should offer some suggestions as to some good ones. So here we are. For the gin freaks in the room, how about a red snapper? A personal favourite of mine, a Res Snapper is simply a Bloody Mary, but using gin instead of vodka. It’s a taste sensation, all those big savoury flavours go incredibly well with bbq food. Here’s a great little recipe for one of those. I would give you mine, but honestly, I don’t measure, I just chuck things in and the bigger the taste, the more I like it, so perhaps it’s better to follow something proper! Ghis recipe care of the food network is a doozy.
http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/?utm_source=foodnetwork.com&utm_medium=domestic
And then I got to thinking about you lovely rum lot out there and it got a little tricky. I mean, savoury rum? Savoury spirit made from sugar cane? So, I went the other way. I went sweet, but meat sweet, so care of our illustrious UK establishment Tesco, and here for your drinking pleasure I present to you the Marmalade Mojito, a drink that will surely baste your tongue ready to receive those tasty goodies.
https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/marmalade-mojito.html
Now, as always, I like to showcase a few of our spirits that go hand in hand with this weeks drinks selection. And, due to the cocktails this week they[‘re a mix of gins and rum.
KURO London Dry: A Japanese inspired London Dry gin innovatively crafted here in the UK using botanicals from the Land of the Rising Sun – think silver birch bark, spruce needles and bamboo-activate charcoal. All these amazing savoury flavours are going to do something magical to your Red Snapper. BUY IT HERE
Cana Colmea Honey Rum: Cana y colmea honey rum is made from a blend of quality aged rums and the finest honey, which are combined to make a drink with a fine body and exquisite flavour. This delicious rum will add a magical depth of sweetness to your Marmalade Mojito. BUY IT HERE
Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve 12 year: 12 year old Bajan rum from the Rum Sixty Six range is produced by the Foursquare distillery and bottled at a slightly higher than usual ABV at 43%. Not only a Foursquare a renowned distillery, but that extra bit of ABV will cut through the sweetness to give you Mojito a fantastic little kick. BUY IT HERE
Now I don’t know about you, but I am raging for tomorrow. The weather is looking amazing. So, have a wonderful weekend and enjoy! And if you’re inside, you’ve got a tougher than the rest of us on that count, so you make sure you take those extra steps to make it feel as outside as you possibly can. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Big love
G&R
Newsletter – Friday 17th April
Well hey there team, Happy Friday!
Hope you guys are doing well out there in the world. How are we all feeling? Looking after each other, I hope?
Well it’s a rather pleasant ‘holiday’ day today, and one that we’re probably getting more and more used to. It’s officially No Pants Day. Whilst it’s taken from the American term and therefore means pants only, this fits nicely in with a lovely Finnish word and one of my favourite hobbies. Kalsarikänni is the art of drinking alone at home in your underwear and I can’t help but feel this is something that most of us can relate to right now. The good news is this is a Finnish pastime and not a sign that things are getting too much (keeping things in moderation of course), so if you’re doing the whole isolating/social distancing on your todd right now, I’d suggest this could be something to make your afternoon that little bit special.
And, as always, I’m here to help with some of the best drinks you can treat yourself too if you’re taking the day to acknowledge a little Finnish culture. Apparently it’s a way to cope with the long dark winters. So, in the honor of this wonderful past-time, I’m going to treat you to something a little special, the Finnish long drink. You may be familiar with Long Drinks, or essentially a spirit with mixer, rather than a shooter. Gin and Tonic, Rum and Cola, these sorts of drinks are known as Long Drinks. The Finnish Long Drink is predominantly made with gin and grapefruit but there are some great twists out there including cranberry and lime. The ABV averages somewhere between 5-8%. Interestingly, if you go to Finland, chances are you’ll find this on draft in a bar, sign me up! I’m definitely keen to take a trip to Finland when we’re set free again! If you’d like to find out a little more about it, you can check out this article https://theginisin.com/long-form/the-story-of-the-finnish-long-drink/ by renowned gin expert and friend Aaron Knoll. His blog, The Gin Is In, is one to follow for any gin fan and has inspired me to make a post of ‘blogs you need to read’. Keep your eyes out for this, gin and rummers, it’ll be your one stop list of all the blogs you need to read re gin and rum.
So, what gins can we at the Gin and Rum Festival offer to make a good Long Drink? I’ve got a few suggestions of one swe can offer:
Rarebird London Dry: Smooth Taste with Innovative fresh flavours. Distilled with a selection of the world’s finest botanicals including juniper, rosemary, hibiscus and citrus. Why do I think this one will work well, simple. Rosemary and citrus. Rosemary is a magnificent accompaniment to grapefruit.
McQueen and the Violet Fog: Made in small batches in a single copper pot over in the hills of Jundai, Brazil. It contains 21 botanicals, including handpicked Indian Basil leaves, Portugese rosemary, Mediterrainian fennel seed, calamansi from the South Pacfic and Vietnamese star anise. This not only goes well but one of you lucky lot will have recently one a bottle from us, so this one goes out to you!
Sacred Old Tom: This high-interpretation of the 18th century staple. With bold notes of Juniper and naturally sweet Liquorice Root, alongside a modern flourish of vaccum-distilled Spanish Sweet Orange Peels. I’m a big fan of the Sacred range and separately a big fan of Old Toms as they’ve got an immensely interesting history so I am all over this. The thing with the Old Tom is they are mostly sweeter than traditional dry gins, so that sweetness workings brilliantly with the sharpness of the grapefruit.
That’s a great set there. Add grapefruit, take off those trousers or skirt and relax into a little bit of Finnish culture. Ole hyvä. You’re welcome.
Hope you have a great week!
Big love
G&R
Newsletter – Friday 10th April
Happy Friday Team! And Happy Good Friday to you too!
And here we are, edging through the weeks, patiently waiting to pick up from where we left off. I don’t know about you, but during these difficult times I’ve taken great pleasure in picking up some things that I just didn’t have the time for before. Baking, gardening and learning the keyboard have been thoroughly enjoyable things to spend time. How are you all doing? And what have you been having a go at whilst passing the time?
So, it’s Good Friday. And, although a lot of us are at home at the moment, it’s important to snatch this opportunity to make the day a little special. And I’ve got some top tips on how to. First things first, I’ve found it’s all about replicating that bit of normality as much as you can. If you normally spend the Easter weekend with your family, how about you organise a video call? If you normally sit round the table together, you might not be able to do that, but perhaps you could. Organise a video call for the pudding, and sit the phone at one end of the table so it feels the same? Do you normally take the opportunity for a bit of DIY or gardening? Well you can still do that. You may not be able to take a trip out to get some materials, but I’ll bet you’ve got some stuff around your place that you can put to good use. If you’ve got kids, now’s a great time to get out the arts and crafts. Plus, if you’re a rum fan then do keep your eye out for our social media on Monday, we’ve got a great little competition for you.
Now, for this week’s drinks. There are so many amazing Easter Cocktails out there! I’ve found a few crackers to share below and I’d also like to focus on the ‘Good Friday’ and some interesting twists we can put on this by using some flavoured gins instead of aperol.
So first up, Easter Cocktails!
And for our showcase this week we’ve got some fabulous Easter cocktails for you!
For those chocholics out there, here’s a cracker of a recipe from Prima, bringing rum into the mix to create a cocktail from a true easter favourite.
https://www.prima.co.uk/all-recipes/quick-recipes/a38431/creme-egg-cocktail-recipe/
A bit of a wildcard, this. But, I just couldn’t resist the recipe from Lidl. It can use any classic gin, and a nice way to use any leftover sherry from Christmas, plus drinks so often use the egg white and it’s really interesting to see something using the yolk!
https://recipes.lidl.co.uk/Recipes/The-Golden-Goose
And although we’re due some great weather, here’s a little something just in case the rain comes. Care of Butternut Mountain Farm, here’s a really simple but lovely recipe for something a little more warming.
http://butternutmountainfarm.com/about-maple/recipes/noreaster-rum-cocktail
And secondly, the Good Friday. Now, I found this cocktail care of an Australian website that posted it way back in 2013. Firstly, check out the recipe here care of Pola Dot Bride’s make it yourself section:
https://www.polkadotbride.com/2013/03/cocktail-good-friday-aperol-orange-aperitif/
Now, cocktails are a creative thing, and as much as you want recipes to have a go out and make yourself, it’s also worth remembering that you can twist and remake the drinks in all sorts of different ways, inventiveness is the key to a good cocktail. So with that in mind. I wanted to give you a showcase of 3 different flavoured gins that would work really well:
Sacred Pink Grapefruit Gin: From the Sacred craft distillery in Highgate comes the Pink Grapefruit Gin, made using every but of the grapefruit, from the flesh to the peel even to the pips! It may sound obvious, but by golly does this have some phenomenal pink grapefruit flavours. Grab a bottle here
Sanction Pomegranate and Jasmin Gin: Sanction Pomegranate and Jasmin presents a fruity forward taste with a delicate floral aftertaste. Buy it here
KURO Peach Gin: A premium flavoured gin with a deliciously fruity Japanese inspired twist from KURO Gin. Plenty of peach flavours running through this one. Smooth and sweet, with plenty of soft peach notes and hints of floral juniper. Get a bottle
So there we have it! Hope this has given you a little something ex
tra for the long weekend. Whatever you are doing, we hope you have a wonderful time. Happy Easter!
Stay safe, big love
G&R
Easter is nearly here! Spice up your Hot Cross Buns with this amazing Spiced Rum recipe ????
You can stock up on all of your spiced rum needs at our online shop: www.ginandrumfestival.com/shop Have you tried this one yet? Let us know in the comments below!
Ingredients (Makes 16)
300ml Whole Milk
50g Unsalted Butter
575g Plain Flour Table Salt~
75g Caster Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 Organic Egg
Spiced Rum
1 Orange
75g Sultanas
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tbsp Golden Syrup
Method
Boil 300ml of milk on a low heat
In a separate pan, place 50g of butter over a low heat until melted
Add the warmed milk and melted butter into a bowl, mix and leave to cool until mixture reaches room temperature
Separately, mix 500g of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 75g of caster sugar and 1sp of baking powder into a bowl
Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture and add 1 beaten egg
Add in a splash of Spiced Rum
Combine the ingredients together to form a sticky dough and place onto a floured surface
Knead until the mixture becomes smooth and springy and then place the dough into a flour-covered bowl
Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hour until the mixture has doubled in size
Once the dough has risen, place the mixture back onto a floured surface
Tip in 75g of sultanas, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon and grated orange zest (optional), and knead this into the dough
Divide the dough into 16 squares and on a floured surface, roll these squares into balls
Line these balls onto a baking tray and cover with a damp tea towel to allow the balls to prove for an additional hour until they have doubled in size
Add 5 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp at a time, to 75g of plain flour to make the paste for the cross
Use this mixture to then pipe two lines across the top of the buns to make a cross on each, using a piping bag or a spoon
Place the buns in the oven at 200c/gas 7 for 20 minutes
Melt 2 tbsp of golden syrup in a pan and brush over the top of the buns whilst they’re still warm
Set aside to cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!
(Credit – https://bit.ly/3dPBEUI)
Newsletter – Friday 3rd April
Happy Friday Team!
So here we are! The end of another week. How are we all doing? Surviving with a smile I hope?
And today it’s Chocolate Mousse Day! Hooray! As if we need another excuse for whipping up some deliciously indulgent puds! As always I’ve got a few recipes with a boozy twist to share with you.
Also, I thought all things considered, I should share a few gardening tips with you. For those of us lucky enough to have gardens, we’ve now got a little more time to spend on them. I don’t know about you but I’ve been busy planting up some easy bits, fruit and vegetables and I’m shortly going to put up a lot of herbs. Food is one thing, but I’m also thinking garnish! So stick with me and I’ll give you some top tips for keeping your drinks full of flavour.
So first up! Chocolate Mousse! Chocolate mousse is such an easy thing to put together and it’s also incredibly easy to make some boozy versions. As usual, I’ve been busy scouring the internet for the finest recipes and once again the internet has not disappointed!
First up, a simple but effective recipe care of Food So Good Mall. Why do I like this recipe? Well it’s get something a little extra to offer with coffee, but it’s also quick, with a 4 minute prep time. So, what are you waiting for?
https://foodsogoodmall.com/recipe/201308chocolate-rum-mousse-html/
With the above recipe, what rum you use is going to make a difference to how the mousse comes out and I’d say it’s a great opportunity to experiment with some flavoured rums to give the taste a tone of extra flavour. Here at G&R, we’ve got three that would certainly give your mousse some extra vavavoom…or you could pair these with your chocolate mousse for a real taste sensation:
Rum Java Cacao’Mon: RumJava Caco’Mon is infused with Java’Mon coffee chocolate blend for 30 days, then cacao nibs are added. The spirit is packed with flavours of freshly roasted coffee beans, smooth rum sweetness and rich, bittersweet dark chocolate.
Buy Rum Java here
Blue Monkey Banana Rum: A delightful rum with the undertone of banana distilled from sugar cane sourced from the Caribbean.
Buy Blue Monkey Banana
Unconventional Distillery Time Machine Vanilla and Toffee – Well, how’s that for a title?! Using technology to rapidly age the rum, the newly distilled rum is turned into the equivalent of an 8 year barrel aged rum in 6 days.
Buy Unconventional here
Also, I found something for you gin drinkers out there. I must confess, I’m a big fan of rum with chocolate but there is certainly a place for gin. And, if you fancy something a little more complex and no doubt rewarding, here is a fantastic recipe from I Love Gin that includes marshmallow and a recommends a floral gin.
https://www.ilovegin.com/easy-gin-chocolate-mousse/
And it’s only fair that I recommend some floral gins for you too!
Agnes Arber Premium Gin: The savoury, earthy notes of juniper, coriander and angelica are complemented by the warm and spicy tones of cassia. Sweet acidic flavours of lemon, orange and grapefruit combine with a twist of liquorice.
Buy Agnes Arber here
Empress Gin: An impossibly lush and vivid indigo blue, with a stunning secret to reveal, with the addition of tonc, this beautiful gin is transformed from its breathtaking indigo to a soft pink gin.
Empress Gin
Glendalough Rose Gin: Wild Rose from the Wicklow mountains, large fragrant Heritage Roses and the ancient prized Damask Rose make up this rose gin. All of which come together to make a naturally pink and very floral gin.
Buy Glendalough Gin
Now then, all this time at home has got me firmly fixated on the garden. I’ve been planting up various fruits and veg to bolster the cupboards and it got me thinking about what garnish I could produce for myself to keep my drinks fresh and flavoursome. Now, I wanted to suggest something that could benefit all of you out there, so rather than go straight into gardening, I thought a few windowsill plants for those of you who don’t have outdoor space, so get yourself a few pots together and get growing.
Mint – Mint is a great plant. It’s a crazy grower, smells fantastic and goes in a wide range of gins, especially those of the berry variety.
Sweet Basil – Sweet basil is a great little herb. It goes well with berry flavours and also lends itself to more herbaceous gins as well as cooking.
Rosemary – Now, I’m a fiend for garlic and rosemary roasties on a Sunday. However, rosemary has really come into its own as a garnish, especially with grapefruit.
Strawberries – Strawberries are relatively easy to grow and although they are mostly know for being grown outdoors on farms, they can easily be grown inside. Just keep it in a sunny spot and keep the soil damp.
So off you go! Get growing and with a little bit of patience, you can be sorted for summer. Hope you all have a good week. Stay safe and see you next Friday.
Big love, Bernie and G&R
Newsletter – Friday 27th March
Happy Friday Team!
And here we are! Not quite the Friday we were expecting, I’m sure that you’ve seen that we’ve postponed some of our upcoming events in the interest of public safety. However! This is not the end of the party, oh no! Let’s keep that party going at home. I’ve got a few tips and tricks for you to do just that.
When we are back up and running with the events we’ve got a fantastic new bar at our events for your to check out. The Halewood bar brings to you a wonderful collection of Halewood spirits including the JJ Whitley gin range and Dead Man’s Fingers range.
JJ Whitley – JJ Whitely have created an award winning range of gins and vodkas. London Dry, Bramble, Elderflower, Violet and Pink Cherry gin make up their wide range of fruity, easy to drink gins.
Dead Mans Fingers – Based in Cornwall, Deads Mans FIngers are on mission to make rum their own way and they’ve got a fabulous range of inventive twists to show for it. As well as their Spiced rum, expressions like pineapple, hemp, coffee and coconut give rum that little bit extra for the modern world.
And hey, for now what’s stopping you from partying with your besties? Staying in doesn’t mean you can’t see their lovely faces! There are some great programs out there including Skype, Zom and Houseparty, where you can call multiple people on video call. I’ve been busy setting up some coffee mornings and happy hours with my nearest and dearest and it’s super easy. So, get a little group going for a Friday night get together. You can raise your glasses and toast to getting back into the outside world, all from the comfort of your own living rooms. And remember, right now we’re still selling and, we’ve got a clearance sale on with some great products at reduced prices so if you fancy a bottle of something special then hit us up at https://ginandrumfestival.com/product-category/clearance-sale/, for example, we’ve got Old J Dark rum on there for £24 which is a bargain if you ask me.
At times like this, you don’t want to lose out on your garnish. So, it’s a good time to freeze it. Simply cut your citrus, berry, whatever you fancy, slip it into a freezer bag or wrap it and pop it in the freezer. Not only does it keep your garnish fresh for ages, but it also cools your drink which is fab for if you’ve run out of ice.
And, as promised I went on a little research mission online to find some recipes that you can make from ingredients in the cupboards and I came across a fantastic little tool that allows you put in the ingredients you have and it will give you a recipe for a cocktail you can make, huzzah!
https://makemeacocktail.com/mybar/
And hey, if you’re not savvy on whipping up a cocktail, now is a fantastic time to learn! So, to get you started here’s a link to a great little article, care of First We Feast, giving you instructions on 10 easy cocktails you can make at home.
https://firstwefeast.com/drink/10-easy-cocktail-recipes/
So, there we are! So stay safe, stay inside and set up some soirees with your nearest and dearest. Have fun and see you next Friday!
Big love, G&R
Happy Friday Team!
How are we doing this week? Hope everyone is keeping well and looking after those around you.
Lots on this week! Do keep with me as I want to share some recipes and give you a heads up – today it’s Ravioli day! A day to celebrate some delicious Italian food. And with that, I’d like to share a recipe with you. As always, I love to take something and make it a little bit boozy. Now, some of you may well shake your fist at me and say ‘you leave that pasta alone!’. However, I will have you know that vodka is actually an age old additive to tomato, just look at the Bloody Mary and tomato vodka soup (yes, that’s a real thing).
So, it got me thinking that there must be some recipes out there for boozy ravioli so I did some searching and found some wonderful recipes that I just have to share with you:
First up, it’s a biggy. We’re starting at the top. This recipe, care of Inside the Rustic Kitchen, requires some skill in the kitchen. This isn’t your normal chuck a few things together recipe that I like to share. However, it’s just so spectacular that I had to share it. I would just love it if some of you gave this a go! To be fair though, for the rest of us that don’t quite have that skill, it can easily be simplified. I might not be brave enough to make the ravioli, but I could buy some pre-made ravioli and then knock up the sauce from the recipe. And, what’s stopping you from making the sauce and using it elsewhere?
https://www.insidetherustickitchen.com/lobster-ravioli-vodka-sauce/
And, during my search, I stumbled across something I hadn’t even thought of, sweet ravioli! And, not just sweet ravioli, but ravioli with rum! Boozy food for pudding? I do think so! Check out this recipe here from Academia Barillia. Pasta with a sweet filling of ricotta, cinnamon and rum. Let me at it!
https://www.academiabarilla.it/en/ricetta/sweet-ravioli-with-ricotta/
And what would you pair with ravioli? Here at Gin and Rum Festival, we love Malfy Con Limone, an Italian gin with an infusion of Italian coastal lemons, enjoy!
Now then, I always like to highlight local distillers and this week we’ve got some great ones close to Manchester.
Shelleys. Shelleys is a good friend of the Gin and Rum Festival and we’ve been selling their products for a long time. They have a fantastic range of really creative products. Rumbutt, which is a rum liqueur with earthy peanut notes. They also make Rumbarb, which twists rhubarb with rum, and a raspberry ripple spirit drink. We’re a big fan of the Manchester tart and I’ll be giving you a little more on that and some great cocktails to make with it next week.
Kuro gin are rocking it at the moment! From humble beginnings in 2017, they now have an array of awards to show off including gold and silver medals at the IWSC. They have a London Dry and two really beautiful expressions, a cherry blossom and a soft peach, lovely stuff.
Cheshire based Jones Distillery have two great spirits on offer. They’re big on sustainability with the distiller foraging for ingredients in the Weaver Valley to give the gin it’s own character. Their London Dry contains 14 botanicals, 5 of which are hand foraged and for a flavored expression they’ve made a fantastic raspberry and lime including hand foraged raspberries to make a fruity gin with a zesty finish. Go check them out!
So, there we have it! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Big love, G&R
Covid-19 Statement from the Gin and Rum Festival
Here at The Gin and Rum Festival, we would like to thank you for your continued support throughout this difficult time. As you will appreciate, we have been working very hard over the last 12 months to prepare for our festivals, working alongside local and national distillers to bring our customers the best possible gin and rum experience.
It is with deepest regret that The Gin and Rum Festival have decided to take all necessary precautions for our staff and customers and as a result have postponed the following festivals until later on in the year.
Manchester 27th/28th March 2020 – NEW DATE 4th/5th September 2020
Norwich 3rd/4th April 2020 – NEW DATE 3rd/4th July 2020
London 17th/18th April 2020 – NEW DATE 23rd/24th October 2020
Derby 6th June/13th November 2020(Derby Cathedral) – NEW DATE 7th November 2020 (Derby Roundhouse)
Swindon 6th/7th November 2020- NEW DATE 5th/6th March 2021
Nottingham 4th July 2020 – NEW DATE 20th February 2021
Any delay in notifying customers has been purely to ensure we have everything in place and are following the most recent government guidelines before notifying the public of our plans moving forward. As you will appreciate, this has caused a number of complications regarding venues and traders, and we have not taken this decision lightly.
All tickets will be automatically transferred to the newly scheduled 2020 dates. In the event that you cannot attend this new date, then your ticket can be transferred to a different location entirely for all 2020 and future 2021 festivals (2021 dates TBC).
As a small business, these are uncertain times to navigate and we ask for your kindness and understanding at this time.
Many kind regards
G&R Festival Team
If you have any questions please email us at info@ginandrumfestival.com
Newsletter – Friday 13th March
Happy Friday Team!
And how are we doing this week? Still not much improvement on this weather, huh? Well, for those of you up North, we’re bringing the Sun with our first Gin and Rum Festival of the year in Northampton tomorrow night.
And what special day is it today then? Well according to Days of Year, where I source all of my strange holiday info, today is Coconut Torte Day! So I’ve got a lovely boozy Coconut Torte recipe for you guys to try out. Plus, naturally, I’ve got some cocktail recipes too, focused around the rather delectable Dead Mans Fingers Coconut Rum.
Dead Mans Fingers is a rather delicious range of spirits from. The Coconut rum is exactly what you’d expect, with sweet coconut. Their spiced rum was invented in Cornwall and using flavours like Cornish Saffron cake and Pedro Ximenez ice cream, they prize themselves on being a little different. True to form, their Coconut Rum has a bit extra going on in there too. There are elements of mango, raisins, caramel, coconut ice and lime peel balance with vanilla and a hint of clove.
So, how are we going to use this in a Chocolate Coconut Torte? Easy. Firstly check out this awesome recipe from Taste of Home. I did a little sifting around and found recipes. There are some great variations online. I found this one particularly good because of the filling. There’s a lovely can of coconut milk here and it’s a very easy switcharoo to leave out some of that milk and replace it with the coconut rum. Do make sure you replace the milk with the same amount of rum or it could affect the texture of the filling.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chocolate-coconut-cream-torte/
And yes, I did find some rather delicious variations of cake online. Here’s one of my favourites in case you fancy trying your hand at something different. This one, care of Gimmie Some Oven, whilst not claiming coconut in its name, is made using coconut milk, so I think if you were to put a couple of tablespoons of rum in the filling, it would work really well.
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/amazing-salted-dark-chocolate-tart/
And a cocktail? It would be a newsletter without a cocktail to try at home right? Well, I thought I’d keep things a little simpler this week. It’s still a bit cold out there and I don’t know about you, but I’m still loving my boozy hot chocolates. This week I’ve found a great little recipe for a super simple hot choc indulgence, care of the Spruce Eats:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/mound-bar-cocktail-recipe-760544
Have fun!
And just before I go, I wanted to drop a little hint about Mothers Day. It’s coming up guys! It’s the 22nd March, which is soon! If you’re still hunting for the ideal gift, do check out our online shop. We’ve got some really special bottles that do make great gifts for your nearest and dearest.
So, there we are! Have a wonderful time in Northampton all of you lovely lot that are going! Give the staff there some love, remember to check out Hustle and Two Birds and I’ll see you in a week!
Big love
G&R
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