An afternoon at the Manchester Rum Festival 2022

We were given tickets to the Manchester Rum Festival 2022 for review purposes.

When I mentioned that I was going to the Manchester Rum Festival over the weekend, everyone I spoke to was seriously jealous, and rightly so. It’s a really fun afternoon out and if you’re interested in rum, it’s a great opportunity to find out more and to try all kinds of different styles of rum you may never have encountered before.

Growing up in the 80’s, my Auntie Ann was a glamourous ex-model and fabulous. She drank white rum and coke in tall crystal glasses, with a lashings of ice. She was an exotic creature back then and it imprinted on me early on that rum was a drink for exotic and glamourous people; people like my Auntie Ann. Obviously that’s still true today, but these days there are more kinds of rum available than just white rum or dark rum. There’s a rum for everyone, not just rum for my Auntie Ann.

On Saturday 18th June, my rum drinking companion and I hot-footed it to the biggest and best rum festival in town – the Manchester Rum Festival 2022! Like last year, this took place at the 4-star Mercure Hotel in Piccadilly Gardens. It’s a good venue, with a just-the-right-sized room, a bar, food and a DJ; not forgetting more rum stands than you can count!

An afternoon at the Manchester Rum Festival 2022

When we arrived, the rum room was busy. People had dressed up for the festival, with flowery shirts being standard attire for gentlemen, mine included. Together we did a couple of circuits of the room, stopping to sip samples and chat to the brand representatives. We learned a lot about rum, almost without fail the reps were generous with their knowledge and their samples. Together we sipped rum from Jamaica and Venezuela; to Manchester and Martinique.

An afternoon at the Manchester Rum Festival 2022

Between us we found a few new favourites. I was really taken aback by the Clément Blanc Rhum from Martinique; which is a sugar cane rum with a really unique taste, which comes from the sugar cane. Himself liked the Ron Aguere caramel rum (so much so that he bought some); and we both very much enjoyed the Pusser’s Rum. Honourable mentions need to go to Salford Rum, which is excellent and the Witch Kings coffee rum, which is just fantastic. However, you should probably try them all out yourself at the festival next year!

An afternoon at the Manchester Rum Festival 2022

Tickets were £25 plus a booking fee, and it was such a fun afternoon, it was worth every penny. To find out more about the Manchester Rum Festival, visit their website.

Win tickets to the Manchester Rum Festival on 18th June 2022

Last year as lockdown eased and the country started to open up once more, we went to the Manchester Rum Festival. It was a really fun afternoon out, we discovered lots of new rums to try, sampled plenty of the good stuff and just generally had the best day out in what felt like years. We were as pleased as (rum) punch when we heard that the Manchester Rum Festival was back, and bigger than ever!

The Manchester Rum Festival will be on 18th June, and this year’s June event looks set to be bigger than ever with an incredible 15 new brands for attendees to enjoy. You can sample rums from over 40 producers, sip amazing cocktails by Liar’s Club, enjoy traditional music and entertainment by festival stalwart, DJ Dom and food by British Virgin Island cuisine legends Nyammin’, who will be cooking up a flavoursome storm from their pop-up stand. It’s basically a giant room filled with people keen to tell you about their brand of rum and keen to let you have a little sample too; with good music and delicious food too. What’s not to love?

Manchester Rum Festival on 18th June 2022 Local Greater Manchester brands Tameside Distillery and Decorrum make their festival debuts, alongside Tanduay – a rum brand from the Philippines which will make its first ever UK appearance – and Beach House and Arcane which are both from the sunny climes of Mauritius.Other rum brands popping their Manchester Rum Festival cherries include Ron Aguere from the Canaries, Ron Colon from El Salvador and Santiago de Cuba.Festival stalwarts and much-loved local brands, Salford Rum and Diablesse, will also return to the festival, with new expressions to showcase to guests including Salford Honey Rum and Diablesse Coconut and Hibiscus Rum. This year they will be joined by the Spirit of Manchester distillery and its One-Eyed Rebel rum brand which is crafted in the city centre.Tickets are priced at £25 and involves all available samples from the rum brands. Find out more and book tickets at https://manchesterrumfestival.comManchester Rum Festival runs from 12pm to 7pm on Saturday 18th June 2022 at Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel, Piccadilly Gardens.*Over 21s only / Cocktail bar and food not included

Win tickets to the Manchester Rum Festival

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Cool Drinks Ideas: Chamomile and Lime Iced Tea

We were sent the ChillFactor Neon Slushy Maker to test in exchange for using it in a recipe. All images and opinions are our own.

I love iced tea, and it’s a love which I share with my son. During the hot summer months, I quite often make up a batch of cool iced tea to keep in the fridge. It’s so refreshing and easy to make too. We were sent a ChillFactor Neon Slushy Maker to try out, and my first thought was GIN, but then I had a better second thought, which was chamomile and lime iced tea slushies. With the first sunny days of spring warming our bones, I whipped up a batch of my chamomile and lime iced tea and got to work making slushies with it. I am a genius.

Cool Drinks Ideas: Chamomile and Lime Iced Tea

The ChillFactor Slushy Maker is a simple bit of kit. It’s a silicone cup which you freeze, I freeze overnight for maximum slush. When you’re ready to make your slushy, pour your drink in and squeeze it and keep squeezing it for about a minute (this is where my 11 year old comes into his own). You should see slush form before your very eyes.

The slushy maker comes with a straw/spoon, so you can eat/drink/slurp your slushy from the cup. Though I prefer to have mine in a glass, if you keep it in the cup then it will keep it cooler for longer. Once you’ve finished, the slushy maker is reusable, just wash in warm soapy water after each use, re-freeze and its ready for you to make your next slushy.

We’ve used our slushy maker quite a lot since we got it. I like using it to make iced coffee even more icy. My son likes mixing fruit juices and creating his own frozen blend. We are really impressed with it, and it’ll really come into its own come summer. Here’s an Instagram reel of my son showing you how quick and easy it is to use the ChillFactor Slushy Maker.

Cool Drinks Ideas: Chamomile and Lime Iced Tea

Now, if you fancy the look of my chamomile and lime iced tea, which is somehow even more delicious in slushy form, then here’s my recipe.

Chamomile and Lime Iced Tea

Ingredients:

500mls boiling water
2 chamomile tea teabags
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 lime

How to make your chamomile and lime iced tea:

Boil the kettle and pour 500mls of boiling water into a heatproof jug. Drop in the teabags and sugar. Cut the lime into wedges and drop about half of the lime into the tea. Stir well and leave it to steep until it is cool. Once cool, cover and put in the fridge to chill for a few hours.

Remove the tea bags and lime, and serve over ice with some fresh lime wedges.

If you’re turning your delicious iced tea into an ice tea slushy, remove the tea lags and lime, pour approx 200-250mls into your frozen and prepared ChillFactor Slushy Maker and squeeze for approximately one minute. Either drink it from the slushy cup, or pour it into a glass and serve with some fresh lime wedges. It is divine!

We are big fans of the ChillFactor Slushy Maker. It’s perfect for turning individual drinks into slushy heaven. Now, I did say that my first thought was gin, it might be time for me to explore that in more depth! The ChillFactor Slushy Maker is available to buy online and in store now.

Cool Drinks Ideas: Chamomile and Lime Iced Tea

Milkshake Recipe: St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake

If you, like my son love mint flavoured things, this minty green shamrock shake for St Patrick’s Day might be the ideal treat. It’s rich, it’s delicious, it’s minty and it’s got a lovely mint green colour which really catches the eye.

These milkshakes are really simple to make if you have a blender. I tend to whip milkshakes up in my Nutribullet, but any blender will work well for this.

The shamrock shake is made with vanilla ice cream, mint flavouring and some green food colouring. It’s important you choose a vanilla ice cream which is as white as you can get. If you choose a yellow vanilla ice cream, it will be harder to colour and it might look a bit swampy.

Milkshake Recipe: St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake

St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake

Ingredients
200mls milk
3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
3 or four drops of peppermint essence
Green food colouring
Squirty cream
Green sprinkles

Milkshake Recipe: St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake

How to make your shamrock shake:

When you add your peppermint essence and food colouring, go easy, a few drops at a time. Taste as you go, you can always add more, but you can’t take any away if you add too much!

Put your milk, ice cream, peppermint essence and a few drops of food colouring in the blender. Whizz it all up together. Taste and check if it’s minty enough, if not add a drop or two more peppermint essence. If it’s not green enough for you, add more food colouring until you’re happy with the shade. Add more milk if the milkshake is too thick.

Pour into a tall glass and top with a generous swirl of squirty cream and green sprinkles, you can even add a cherry if you’re feeling fancy.

Milkshake Recipe: St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake

If you enjoyed this, you might like to try my green velvet cake, or this Guinness cheesecake.

Milkshake Recipe: St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake

Recipe: Luxurious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Here in Manchester, we are currently being battered by our third big storm in a week. To say our February half term has been a wash out might be an understatement. We’ve battened down the hatches, snuggled ourselves in blankets and done the most sensible thing possible, we baked and ate a lot of cakes, and I’ve made several batches of my delicious hazelnut hot chocolate.

It’s properly good, rich and silky and something you’d probably pay nearly a fiver for in a fancy coffee shop. Really it is very easy to make, it takes hardly any time at all, and even my son likes to get in on the whisking action.

Hazelnut hot chocolate recipe

It’s excellent on its own, but we usually top ours with squirty cream and marshmallows, but you can do what you want. Add crushed nuts, chocolate sprinkles, or even a cherry. Do what makes you happy, because when the wild winds rage outside, a mug of extra rich hot chocolate just hits the spot.

This recipe makes two big mugs, but the recipe can be easily doubled, or quadrupled if you are making hot chocolate for a crowd.

Hazelnut hot chocolate

Luxurious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

500mls milk, I used semi skimmed, but use whatever milk you like
50g milk chocolate, broken into squares
2 tablespoons of JimJams hazelnut chocolate spread, or similar chocolate spread

Top with squirty cream, chopped nuts, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, whatever you fancy!

Recipe: Luxurious Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Method

Heat the milk in a pan until just before it starts to boil.

Break your chocolate into chunks and after taking the pan off the heat, add the chocolate chunks and whisk through until it has melted.

Add the spoons of hazelnut spread and whisk again until the spread has melted. Make sure you whisk until the milk is frothy.

Carefully pour your hot chocolate into mugs and top with squirty cream, chopped nuts, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles; or whatever you fancy!

This is such a brilliant, rich hot chocolate, it always goes down a storm. It’s really quick to make too, and perfect for warming your cockles on a cold winters day.

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like to try this speculaas hot chocolate.

Hazelnut hot chocolate

An afternoon at The Manchester Rum Festival 2021

We were invited guests of the Manchester Rum Festival. All images and opinions are our own.

During the pandemic, most of the gin/beer/rum/whatever your favourite drink festivals had been put on the back burner for the duration. With things opening up a little more, life, and drinking is returning to something almost normal. When a shiny invitation fell into my inbox from the Manchester Rum Festival, it was impossible to say no.

On the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend, we hot-footed it to the 4-star Mercure Hotel in Piccadilly Gardens to enjoy an afternoon of rum and rum based fun.