Drinks of the Month
Taylor’s Chip Dry White Port
Gin isn’t the only drink you can serve with tonic and this is the perfect time of year to try a delicious alternative: white port. Which, as I’m sure you know, comes from the Douro region of Portugal.
At 20% rather than 40%, it's lighter (and sweeter) than gin so you need rather more of it - about 40/60 I’d say (although the Taylor’s website recommends 1/3 to 2/3). Simply pour both drinks into a tumblerful of ice, stir and top with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint. Simple and incredibly refreshing.
You can find it on special offer at Ocado at the moment for £10.63 instead of £13.29 which is the price Waitrose is currently charging but that still compares well with other stockists who are typically listing it for between £15 and £16.
Although it’s a drink you’d have Portuguese-style as an aperitif it’s also a great match with melon and ham.
Fragola Spezieria Liquore alle Fragoline, Bepi Tosolini
Another good bottle for Valentine’s Day this week - this time an wild strawberry flavoured liqueur in an extraordinarily blingy bottle with wild strawberries floating on top. It’s part of Marks & Spencer’s new international spirits range which now runs to over 70 different spirits and liqueurs.
It’s intensely sweet so needs to be served well chilled - unfortunately the curvaceous bottle isn’t the easiest to fit in the fridge - but I think it would be lovely poured over strawberries as well as with any dish of which strawberries is a component - pannacotta and strawberries for example, a strawberry pavlova or Eton Mess. And I'm sure homemade strawberry ice cream would benefit from a dash.
It would also work well with lighter chocolate desserts than the Alcyone last week - milk chocolate desserts or a light cake like Dan Lepard’s delicious-sounding Chocolate Custard Mousse Cake.
And you could also use it to make a simple sparkling wine cocktail topped up with champagne or prosecco.
The Bepi Tosolini distillery is a family-run firm based in Udine in the Friuli region. They also make grappas and a Limoncello which is also stocked by M & S.
Fragola Spezieria Liquore alle Fragoline (24%) is available at £23.49 in larger branches of Marks & Spencer, £27.85 at Weavers, Nottingham, £28.49 at Alexander Hadleigh, Southampton and cheaper still at £22.75 Fareham Wine Cellar though they say they need 4-5 working days to order it.
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