The Fable of The Brew Dog - A Beer Tasting Tale

Come closer, tiny darlings, for it is story time. A story of one dog and his fight for the purest of beers.....

.....Okay, it isn’t story time yet, I’ll get to that at the end. First, let me tell you about my delightful evening spent with The Brew Dog.

Dear Prudence - In The Heart of Sipsmith Distillery

The beau and I are getting into our drinks tours of late – breweries, micropubs, distilleries, we’ll visit anything and drink it dry. I know I know it’s sickeningly hipster of us, and also a terrible shame that drinking cheap wine in the aisles of Netto while sobbing is no longer good enough for us. But it’s a tipple-fuelled tide we could not swim against.

Silo, Brighton - A Zero Wasteland

Every day, we’re told to stop producing so much waste.

Weekly, we roll out our landfill wheelie bins under cover of darkness so no one will know just how full they really are. Daily, people in offices snatch rubbish from your hands and force it in to the recycling bin while cursing your existence. Hourly, a polar bear commits suicide because you keep buying plastic wrapped leeks instead of the PERFECTLY ADEQUATE LOOSE ONES.

Most of us grown ups grew up in a time of excessive, repeated and unjustified waste. It was pre-recession and we didn’t really care about stuffing plastic bags down a dolphin’s throat because we could just demand that the Government buy more dolphins. But times have changed and the world, thankfully, is more willing to embrace a ‘less is more’ and ‘ignorance isn’t bliss’ attitude when it comes to waste.

Which leads me to the centre of the shrubbery maze that is this blog’s introduction…

Blogging in Brighton - Oki-Nami & The Black Lion

A mini-break, you say? To Brighton, you say? A chance to have some girly fun with fellow blogger Miscriant and try some new places, you say?

IN-teresting!

Lessons in Libations at Le Mouton Rouge

Me: Darling, there’s a beer tasting at Le Mouton Rouge this Saturday.

Beau: Beer?

Me: Yes. Shall we go?

Beau: Beer. I mean, yes

…..The conversation sounded longer in my head.

Under Lock & Key in The Pound

It was only a matter of time before the law caught up with me. Sooner or later, I knew I would have to pay for my crimes, that I'd find myself behind bars.

No, tiny darlings, I have not finally been locked up for my terrible debauchery, or for being drunk in charge of a lawnmower. I have instead been to visit Canterbury’s latest drinking emporium: The Pound.

Frolics in the Forest - The Fringe Files Part III

The final installment of my Edinburgh tales, and I have saved the best to last. Well I think it’s the best. If you don’t think so, screw you, it’s my blog and I don’t need you please please please don’t leave me.

When last we spoke, Green Diesel were still dashing across the city for early afternoon and late night gigs, and I was trying to fit in as many shows as possible while also fulfilling my duties as a band-aid. As my tales draw to a close, I bring some more Fringe highlights for you, stories from the band and a particular venue that needs to be written about.

The Demon Gin Goes to Junipalooza

It's happened. It's finally happened. Those maniacs...

I've been to tasting events for nearly every liquor under the sun, including some that weren't strictly alcohol....one was a type of comb cleaner, I think....but what has been missing from my life - from the The Demon Gin herself - was a gin tasting.  

If only there was some sort of massive gin tasting extravaganza, I mused, that I could lend my blogging skills to. Ha, wouldn't it be grand to have some sort of event in a warehouse where various distillers hand out tasters of juniper goodness? Oh wouldn’t it be spiffing to wile away the hours, discussing the finer points of all manner okay you can see where I’m going with this.

And lo, God created Junipalooza. 

Tequila Tasting I Will Go

An email arrives in my folder. It reads: “You have won a place at our exclusive members’ only tequila tasting event at Club Burrito.”

I stare at the screen for a long time.

I can’t imagine this is a random coincidence, given me penchant for blogging about local things and supporting local businesses.

But seriously…free booze? For ME? This is like asking The Joker to watch your massive pile of weapons and maps to Batman’s house while you nip to the toilet.

Meh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.  

The Goods and The Goose

Forgive my absence in the last week, I’ve been very VERY tired and drunk.

Actually, I’ve been meaning to post this offering for a while. For a brief moment, a few weeks ago, there was sunshine so I set about town with my camera to capture some charming snaps of Canterbury life.

Long story short, I’m not allowed in the library anymore and I eventually ended up at The Goods Shed. This is a picture heavy post, so brace yourself and your relatives. 

Place to Quaff and Quarrel - The Lady Luck, Canterbury

It matters not a jot how long a day I’ve had (travelling back and forth to the Antarctic to tell Lord Thistleface to stop sending me chain letters really takes it out of you). There is always time for a drink or nine at The Lady Luck.

I could never be a one-pub woman, but I have a particular soft spot for this black and red haven in Canterbury's high street. And it’s not just because I usually end up there at midnight with the beau and the shady figure behind Twitter’s Book of Trains, quaffing ales and playing I'm Shipping Up To Boston on the jukebox.

Places To Quaff and Quarrel - Cafe Des Amis

Why. Why, I pondered wide-eyed. WHY must it be so hard to get a decent margarita these days?

True,  I don’t spend ALL my time looking for one. And…well several places in Canterbury appear to be offering them now I do a Google search…and I know a lot of people in the UK may be more concerned about being underwater…....but, damn it, this is important!

This pondering took place last Friday night, as I gulped down increasing ales in one of my usual dens of inquiry and found myself craving my favourite cocktail. Nobody panic – I still like beer that tastes like twigs and beards. But every now and then I want to pass the evening sipping something sharp, strong, and full of bite (for I am but a girl). Frozen or shaken, just make sure there is a nice layer of salt on the rim of the glass and we’re golden.

Places To Quaff and Quarrel - The Black Dog, Whitstable

Something wicked has come to Whitstable.

You may not know it, you cannot hear it, but walk down the high street of this quaint seaside town and it’s there, in the corner of your eye, watching you. The Black Dog…A micropub…There is no way to continue to make something sounds brooding when using the word micro...

Now that I have set the scene, and appropriately ruined it, let’s take a short interlude to explain what a micropub is, for those who don’t now or who can’t work it out from the actual name. (Yes I know we’ve only just started but I feel like an interlude!....no, YOU shut up!).

Places to Quaff and Quarrel - The Black Griffin

The Black Griffin, Canterbury. Curious mythical beast, winged creature of yore, hovering claws and golden of okay I’ll stop. Here is the first in what I hope will be a series of some reviews of places I have visited and did not die in.

I had to meet a friend. I had to meet them for food and to discuss the best way to make people act, on stage, without use of electricity. We normally do this over a large plate of nachos and shame in a pub far away from the city centre. 

 

But I was restless, and had been browsing the internet, looking for something more than tortillas. After looking at several bars and some pictures of worried twigs for a period of time, I chance upon my past, in the form of The Black Griffin.