Three chocolatey beers for Easter

As you can see from the new chocolate e-book I’ve been doing quite a lot of *research* into chocolate and chocolate-flavoured drinks and beer is no exception.

Sometimes it’s the malts that makes them taste chocolatey but others have real chocolate in the form of cacao nibs added.

You might think that would make them especially good with chocolate or chocolate cake but funnily enough that’s not the case. The actual chocolate tends to strip out the chocolate flavour in the beer. They’re better with something contrasting like a chocolate chip cookie or - and this is match no 98 in the book - a slice of banana bread. With chocolate chips if you insist.

Hawkshead Tiramisu imperial Stout, Cumbria 10%

Brewed in collaboration with Cigar City Brewery of Tampa Bay Florida this is brewed with coffee beans, cacao nibs and 8 varieties of malt. You get a really good coffee hit as well as the chocolate. £5.29 currently from the Hawkshead website but if you’re lucky you’ll pick up a bottle in a specialist offie

Wild Beer Co Wildebeest, Somerset 11%

A similar vibe from the irrepressible Wild Beer Co who describe their Imperial espresso chocolate vanilla stout as "the liquid equivalent of the lotus position". I think of it more as an after-dinner bevvy - it’s brewed with Valrhona cocoa nibs, Columbian coffee and vanilla. £5 a bottle from the WBC website

Wiper and True Hard Shake Imperial Milk Stout, Bristol 10.7%

This may actually be my favourite of the three brewed with chocolate malts, vanilla and cocoa nibs - no coffee this time. REALLY smooth, deep and chocolatey. They very helpfully list all the outlets where you can find their beers - as you'd expect it's widely distributed around Bristol. Expect to pay about £4 a 330ml bottle (retail)

To download a copy of my chocolate ebook 101 Great Ways to Enjoy Chocolate and Wine (and other delicious drinks) click here

Indulgent chocolate drinks for Easter

Why should the kids have all the fun at Easter? These days there are a number of indulgent chocolate-flavoured liqueurs and wines that make up for being (almost) too old for an Easter egg.

The first is a Polish chocolate vodka liqueur under the Chopin label called Likier Czekoladowy which is so thick and unctuous it’s almost like a chocolate sauce (maybe that’s how it’s meant to be served) While it’s definitely for the sweet-toothed - think chocolate flavoured condensed milk - it’s also got an impressively natural chocolate taste. You can buy it from The Whisky Exchange for £14.15 a 50cl bottle and, I suspect, a fair number of Polish shops and delis.

Even better is an Italian whisky liqueur called, rather entertainingly, Cioccowhisky in which you can actually pick up both the chocolate and the whisky. I liked it but thought it might not be so appealing to the sweet-toothed chocolate-loving friend I was testing it out on. However a blissful look passed over her face and she said it was “the best BY A MILE.” That’s £16.15 at The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt.

If you enjoy the combination of red wine and chocolate about which I’m never wholly convinced (love red wine, love chocolate but a bit dubious about the two together) you may like Rubis which tastes like chocolate flavoured port and which you can get delivered next day if you’re on Amazon Prime. They charge £12.75 a bottle though you find it cheaper elsewhere - Frazier's in Solihull for example do it for £9.49. Harvey Nichols has it for £13. I also tried the Marks & Spencer’s copycat version Chocolate Ruby which isn’t quite as good but should be easier to get hold of. In theory. It’s not showing on their website.

Also frustratingly elusive is the M & S Black Forest Gateau liqueur which is actually as rich and indulgent as its namesake. You can buy it as part of a set of six liqueurs for £60 online but may be able to pick up an individual bottle in store. Which I would. Think boozy cherries with a hint of chocolate. Good enough to dispense with the cake ...

Feeney’s Irish Cream Liqueur

If you’re not a fan of whiskey or the black stuff* there’s another way you can celebrate St Patrick’s Day this week and that is with Feeney’s Irish cream liqueur.

Before you say ‘bleugh’, bear with me. I don’t have a sweet tooth and I found myself demolishing an entire glassful.

It is of course outrageously sweet - imagine condensed milk and double cream blitzed with a Galaxy bar. Which would be pretty cloying at room temperature but well chilled or poured over ice it tastes - rather wonderfully - of frozen chocolate bars.

It would be be ridiculously good poured into a chocolate milk shake (adults only, obvs) or you could use it to make the pannacotta in my St Patrick’s Day supper menu.

Tempted? It’s on offer at £12 a litre at Tesco which compares well to £12-13 a standard 70cl bottle elsewhere. Do it!

*Guinness should you be unfamiliar with that phrase.

Wine of the week: Mas Sardana Cava Brut Nature

I seem to be spending a great deal of time at the moment trying to persuade my readers to drink cava which, pound for pound, is at least equal to if not better value than prosecco.

It’s drier, of course, which may put some people off, but which I regard in most instances as a positive advantage and it’s much improved in quality over the last few years.

This particular cava which I tasted at the Great Western Wine tasting in Bath yesterday is made by former sommelier Franck Massard and is a real gem. It’s a Brut Nature wich means it doesn’t have any extra sugar added but isn’t at all lean or mean as a result - it’s full-flavoured, richly textured and absolutely delicious. It would be great with all things fried like croquetas or even fish & chips.

The price for a single bottle at GWW is £12.95 which is very fair with 10% off if you buy two 6 bottle cases bringing it down to £11.65. And Naked Wines has it for £9.99 if you’re one of their ‘Angels’. (You'll pay £13.49 for it with them if you're not!)