Review Posts

Cherizena Monsoon Malabar

Back to Cherizena this week. I usually buy my coffee ground, but my collection from Cherizena is in bean form – this is probably a Good Thing, as it's taken me a while to work though it all. This is their Monsoon Malabar, a premium coffee that is, apparently, 'dried in Monsoon winds'. This ...

Bowmore Twitter Tasting

Bowmore is one of the eight active distilleries to be found on Islay, the Hebridean whisky heaven. Not only do they make some rather special whisky, they also have a very pretty looking distillery at sunset. I'm quite a fan of Bowmore – we even stayed in one of their cottages when we were last ...

Whittard San Agustin Colombian

It's another cold Monday morning – if that doesn't cry out for some coffee, I don't know what does! This is Whittard's San Agustin Colombian, a medium roasted coffee. The grounds look to be quite dark for a medium coffee, which for my strength-favouring tastebuds is a good sign. The aroma, too, is dark ...

Meantime Brewing Company Tour

Meantime, based in Greenwich, have been on my list of places to visit for a lot longer than I've been blogging. The first of the new wave of London breweries, they've been in operation since 2000 and moved to their current site ten years later. In common with many London breweries, they're based in ...

Taylors Cafe Imperial

Back to Taylors this week, and back to the medium side of their range. This is Cafe Imperial, a strength 3 blend that has been served in Betty's Tea Rooms for over 40 years. The grounds have a surprisingly rich roast aroma, but still light with a fresh, tart citrus fruit undercurrent. Brewed, the richness ...

Wooden Hand Brewery Tour-At-Home

I always make it a mission to hunt down local beer when I'm travelling, and our trip down to Cornwall last year was no exception. As well as managing to pop into, among others, Harbour Brewing, I also picked up some bottles to enjoy back home. This is the range from Wooden Hand Brewery (now ...

Hibiki 12 Year Old

I came back from our Japan trip last year with a fairly decent haul of Suntory whisky, so you'll have noticed a theme in my whisky tasting lately! This is Hibiki 12 Year Old, from Suntory's blended range. I've previously been impressed by the Hibiki range, so I'm curious to see how the ...

Cherizena Old Brown Java

This week sees the return of Cherizena, the coffee suppliers I encountered last year at the Abergavenny Food Festival. This is their Old Brown Java, which has been aged for two years before roasting. I'd never really thought about the ageing side of coffee production, and if nothing else this coffee has inspired me ...

The Hakushu 12 Year Old

Hakushu is Suntory's second distillery, constructed half a century after the Yamazaki distillery in the Japanese Southern Alps – a location which makes it one of the highest distilleries in the world. This is The Hakushu 12 Year Old, the youngest of their aged expressions. The nose has that sweet fruitiness that I'm coming ...

Whittard Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

I love how educational this blog can sometimes be; until this morning I had no idea that there was a town in Ethiopia called Yirgacheffe (also spelled Irgachefe) and now I know that it's an important coffee producing centre, thanks to Whittard! This is their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, a medium roasted coffee with a mid-brown colour ...