Drink special offers.....

[MaC]

So, in a mad rush through the local Tesco to pick up G/F stuff and veggies tonight before picking up Son2 at the station, I ended up stuck in a checkout queue behind an ancient lady who was trying to pay using her phone. Hip it might be, but damned all use when it doesnae work

Anyhow the end of aisles specials were behind me, and in trying not to glare and fume, I turned away from the spectacle of the lassie at the till, the old lady, her daughter, and the shop manager trying to suss things out, and actually looked at them.

Bushmills Irish Whiskey, 70cl bottle for £16.
Hmmm. So I bought one for Son2.
He also said, "Hmmm", when presented with it, but it's a working day tomorrow so he hasn't tried it yet.
No idea if it's any good, but it's one he hasn't tried, and at that price just had to be purchased. Even I'd heard of Bushmills.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-...HiCAfrnlLgPjKuLxkihoClm8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Comes boxed though like a proper whisky.

https://digitalcontent.api.tesco.co...-9738-a1e53aed9643_514832290.jpeg?h=540&w=540

 

[Greg]

I’d happily drink Bushmills, I’m sure he will too.

 

[noddy]

Offensively, but true to experience, I'd say there is OK Irish whiskey and drinkable Irish whiskey. There isn't good Irish whiskey. But, I have never had the opportunity to spend much on it.

 

[ElThomsono]

Back in the days of university and cheap pricing me and a mate would get a crate of beers and a bottle of Bushmills, which would be drank in that order. Always tasted fine to me?

 

[Beachlover]

Done a good many over the years and all of the varieties of Bushmills starting when I did some work over there in the mid-late seventies. The orange top original stuff is nice, the black label less so and the malt I found awful. I was given a bottle of the orange at Christmas and it didn’t see New Year.

 

[MaC]

We'll see what he thinks of it over the weekend
It was noticeably absent from most of his whisky books though. Found it in one and it got a decent-ish write up.

I'm thinking it's maybe along the lines of an Whiskey version of Grouse Whisky ?

Blends aren't bad though, he, like Mike, liked the Black Bottle.

I'm still of the mind that £16 for a bottle of whisky is really cheap.

 

[ElThomsono]

Aye that's what I'd have been paying for it fifteen years ago.

 

[BorderReiver]

We'll see what he thinks of it over the weekend
It was noticeably absent from most of his whisky books though. Found it in one and it got a decent-ish write up.

I'm thinking it's maybe along the lines of an Whiskey version of Grouse Whisky ?

Blends aren't bad though, he, like Mike, liked the Black Bottle.

I'm still of the mind that £16 for a bottle of whisky is really cheap.

"Twelve and a tanner a bottle".

 

[MaC]

When you think on it though, 12/6d was a heck of a chunk of a paypacket.
£16 just was part of the shopping.
My Dad had one bottle of whisky a year, for the New Year. That was quite common when I was little. Whisky was expensive, it was a treat for most.

M

 

[BorderReiver]

When you think on it though, 12/6d was a heck of a chunk of a paypacket.
£16 just was part of the shopping.
My Dad had one bottle of whisky a year, for the New Year. That was quite common when I was little. Whisky was expensive, it was a treat for most.

M

Aye, right enough.

 

[Greg]

We'll see what he thinks of it over the weekend
It was noticeably absent from most of his whisky books though. Found it in one and it got a decent-ish write up.

I'm thinking it's maybe along the lines of an Whiskey version of Grouse Whisky ?

Blends aren't bad though, he, like Mike, liked the Black Bottle.

I'm still of the mind that £16 for a bottle of whisky is really cheap.

I think they market it a little higher than Grouse, Closer to something like Ballentines perhaps; typically a bit more expensive and sold in 750ml bottles.

 

[MaC]

Well it's Friday night, and Son2 duly opened the bottle and poured, and sniffed, and looked, etc., finally sipped it, hmmmed, swished it about, etc., then said, "That's nice ".

So my sixteen quid supermarket special's a success

M

 

[noddy]

Bingo!

I tend to keep gin, for the makings of a GnT or a Negroni (which I have been slurping up by the litre recently - I like Campari, I find, and therefore must be getting old and suburban). You have to go for ordinary gin. Craft gin can taste dreadful.

With a bottle of Stolly in the freezer and a decent single malt over by the record player, I feel I am set to provide accompaniment to any number and variety of beers and wines and more beers. Only problem is the scotch never lasts long.

 

[MaC]

I make sloe gin and noyau, and I used to buy Gordon's as the base. Then a Lidl's store opened up nearby. My friend who supplies much of the meat Himself eats said that he bought their gin to use to make the sloe gin, and it was half the price, and it was very good.
So, I duly bought some, and H is right, it's excellent to use as the base for sloe gin or noyau. Their vodka is really good too for tinctures and the like.
I don't really drink so I can't comment on their quaffing quality as plain gin and vodka, but there's not a lot to go wrong with plain straight forward spirits like those.

M

 

[Greg]

The lidl gin is good. All their spirits are actually. The single malts etc - lots of speculation online as to where it comes from.

 

[bushwacker]

The lidl gin is good. All their spirits are actually. The single malts etc - lots of speculation online as to where it comes from.

it comes from Lidl

 

[MaC]

The lidl gin is good. All their spirits are actually. The single malts etc - lots of speculation online as to where it comes from.

I bought a bottle of their Ben Bracken malt a while back, and Son2 said it was good too.

 

[CaptainBeaky]

I bought a bottle of their Ben Bracken malt a while back, and Son2 said it was good too.

Just coming to the end of a bottle of Ben Bracken - it's quite drinkable.

 

[Greg]

The Aldi ones are good too.

 

[Saint-Just]

Bingo!

I tend to keep gin, for the makings of a GnT or a Negroni (which I have been slurping up by the litre recently - I like Campari, I find, and therefore must be getting old and suburban). You have to go for ordinary gin. Craft gin can taste dreadful.

With a bottle of Stolly in the freezer and a decent single malt over by the record player, I feel I am set to provide accompaniment to any number and variety of beers and wines and more beers. Only problem is the scotch never lasts long.

I am quite partial to a negroni too. I find Tanqueray perfect for it. I believe it's even more widely available on your side of the pond. While my favourite vermouth is Cocchi, I find Cinzano quite agreeable and as it is much more affordable it's the one I use most.

I also discovered that a negroni can become a delicious long(-ish) drink with a little Schweppes Indian tonic (I use Fever Tree for my GnTs). About half a 25 cl can does the trick.

 

[Greg]

I am partial to a negroni also. I’ll have to try one with tonic.

 

[bushwacker]

I am partial to a negroni also. I’ll have to try one with tonic.

Never tried negroni but if I ran out of gin, had a bottle and still had some tonic water left, then I'd try it.

 

[MaC]

I scrubbed up three oranges, dried them off, then sliced them really finely. I made up a sugar syrup from one mug of sugar and one mug of water just heated up in a pan until it dissolved, then added the orange slices. Poach gently for twenty minutes or so. Don't boil, it breaks up the fruit.
Then gently lift and stack the slices in a clean jar. Pour over the syrup and put the lid on.
Keeps forever, especially in the fridge.
Makes really nice cocktails, or cake, or biscuits, or duck.....

 

[Saint-Just]

How do you dry the oranges?

 

[MaC]

I don't. I just leave them in the syrup. LIft out with a fork and lay in a sieve for a bit to drain down though if adding to booze. Sweet can be very nice, but too much sometimes overwhelms.

The syrup is lovely drizzled over a dark chocolate pudding or in a hot toddy