Review: York Coffee Emporium – gourmet coffee

We were sent a bag of Ethiopian Kaffa Forest beans from York Coffee Emporium for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

My love of a good brew is not a secret. We recently put our gorgeous retro coffee grinder on our kitchen wall and we were desperate to use it, with a degree of perfect timing we were sent some lovely beans from York Coffee Emporium to try.

The beans we were sent were Ethiopian Kaffa Forest beans and had been freshly roasted in York. Just grinding the beans made the house smell absolutely incredible (if you’re trying to sell your house, don’t bother making a pot of coffee, grind the beans instead, it’s just fantastic).

My friend has a cafe which is well known for its tea, but when I visit him we always drink pot after pot of good strong coffee, so I was keen to try it out with him.

We brewed the coffee and it smelt beautiful. The flavour was mellow, almost chocolatey caramel, it’s a really easy drinking coffee and perfect for weekend drinking whilst leisurely reading the papers. The Ethiopian Kaffa was described on the packet as having “lovely floral notes; delicious juicy apricot, forest honey and tongue hugging caramel”. We didn’t really get the apricot, but it was a delightfully soothing mocha-caramel brew.

I fancied something sweet, so we made a little take on affogato. Traditionally it’s a shot of espresso poured over vanilla gelato or ice cream; sometimes with a liqueur poured over the top. Bereft of liqueur I sweetened a shot of the Ethiopian Kaffa with sugar and poured it over some ice cream. It was delicious, admittedly not the traditional affogato, but close enough for a daytime treat.

The Ethiopian Kaffa is a bit deceptive. It doesn’t taste super-strong, in fact we both drank double the amount of coffee we normally would. It’s so mellow and buttery and easy to drink. York Coffee Emporium give this a 4/5 strength rating. As I type this a good two hours after drinking two pots I’m feeling a lovely coffee buzz. Do not be deceived by it.

It’s a lovely cuppa and I’m looking forward to enjoying it again whilst perusing the Sunday papers. I’ll most definitely be ordering from York Coffee Emporium again, I’m pretty keen to try a few of their other roasts and blends, my coffee loving cafe owning friend was impressed enough to say he’d stock it, so it must be good!

Recipe: How to make a Malteser Milkshake

One of the most popular posts I’ve ever written on this blog were some recipes for peanut butter milkshakes. They were incredibly good, but they also contained a healthy slug of bourbon, which made them a bit adult. Today we fancied a sweet treat, so we raided the cupboards and made this delicious Malteser Milkshake.

Recipe: How to make a Malteser Milkshake

How to make a Malteser Milkshake

You will need –
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
1 packet of maltesers
350mls of milk
Squirty cream

Method –
Whizz the maltesers up in a blender until they’re crumbs (but not too fine, you still want a hint of crunch). Add the ice cream and the milk and whizz up together until blended. Pour into a glass and top with squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, I put a couple of maltesers aside and popped them on top.

Many hands make light work, so I enlisted the help of the small boy to help make the milkshake. As you can see from his little face he was pretty happy with his creation.

What’s your favourite flavour milkshake?

Drinks: Fruity & Refreshing Iced Tea Recipes

When the sun’s out and the mercury is rising there are two drinks I crave, shandy in a beer garden, or a large cool glass of iced tea. I usually buy the ready made iced teas and pour them over ice, but I decided it was time I tried to make my own. How hard could it be?

On cold days I love a steaming mug of English breakfast tea (Tetley if you’re wanting specifics). Because I’m so set in my ways I’ve managed to accumulate a cupboard full of herbal and fruit teas including a big box of Redbush tea. In a bid to make use of some of my tea reserves, I thought I’d try to make my own Redbush iced tea.

It was ridiculously easy to make, so much so I won’t be buying the ready made stuff again. Or at least until my brewing up cupboard is bare again.

Drinks: Fruity & Refreshing Iced Tea Recipes

Redbush & Peach Iced Tea
600mls boiling water
2 Redbush tea bags
4 teaspoons of runny honey
Half a lemon
I large sprig of fresh mint
I large, ripe peach

Method
Pour 600mls of boiling water into a jug, add two Redbush tea bags, cut a thick slice of lemon (approx 1.5cm thick) and drop it into the tea, add the honey and leave to steep for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes remove the tea bags. Push the ripe peach though a sieve and add the sieved peach juice to the tea. Drop in the mint sprig and stir. Taste and add more honey if you’d like. Leave to chill in the fridge until cool.

When you’re about to serve, remove the mint and lemon and pour the tea over lots of ice. Garnish with a slice of peach and a slice of lemon.

Citrus Redbush & Lemon Iced Tea
600mls boiling water
2 Citrus Redbush tea bags
5 teaspoons of runny honey
Half a lemon

Method
Pour 600mls of boiling water into a jug, add two Citrus Redbush tea bags, cut a thick slice of lemon (approx 1.5cm thick) and drop it into the tea, add the honey and leave to steep for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes remove the tea bags. Taste and add more honey if you’d like. Leave to chill in the fridge until cool.

To serve pour the tea over lots of ice. Garnish with a slice of lemon.

I’ve now got the homemade iced tea bug. I’m loving coming up with new ideas for what to make next. I’m a total convert to using Redbush Tea in these delicious iced drinks. I love that they’re caffeine free, packed with antioxidants and have a raft of other health benefits; but most of all, I love that they’re so easy to make and you know exactly what you’re putting into them.

Fruity & Refreshing Iced Tea Recipes

All aboard for the Gincident 2014

When the idea of a night out on a canal boat drinking gin cocktails was mooted, I had some flashbacks of a 6th Form canal boat holiday I went on in 1992. It was an eventful week in which hearts were broken, canal boats smashed into bridges and double denim was the fashion du jour. Thankfully none of the above happened at Gincident 2014. Thankfully.

We boarded the good ship L.S. Lowry at Castlefield and chugged our way to Media City and back. We enjoyed the splendid views of Salford Quays, the photographic highlight being Blue Peter studios. It was sadly, a grey and drizzly evening, but that didn’t dampen our spirits.

Hosted by head liquorist Tom; we weighed anchor clutching probably my favourite drink of the evening, for I am a girl of simple tastes, a gin and tonic. This being a Liquorists Gincident, it wasn’t a bog standard G&T; made with Scottish Caorunn Gin, fevertree elderflower tonic and garnished with slices of red apple, it was wonderfully refreshing and an all round big hit. Caorunn is made from a blend of six traditional gin botanicals and five Celtic botanicals which were only enhanced by mixing it with elderflower tonic and sliced red apple.

Next up, while the barge approached Pomona lock, (famous for linking the Bridgewater Canal to the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Irwell) we sipped a twist on the Pegu Club; made with Opihr Gin, apricot brandy, fresh lime, bitters and orange bitters, this split the group. It was perhaps too strongly flavoured for us and our little table decided it would be much more drinkable if it was watered down, perhaps with prosecco. It was very orangey and a fellow gin-cruiser suggested it tasted like a Christmas pomander. In the end we agreed it probably needed to be drunk in front of a roaring fire in the winter and not on a barge in the summer.

We were then treated to some Thai food from local street food purveyors The Holy Basil; being veggie I had the Som Tam salad made from shredded turnip, with green beans, tomato and a heady hit of chilli heat, followed by an excellent veggie Penang curry with fragrant sticky rice. Served in boxes it didn’t look fantastic, but it tasted so good I’ve thought of little else since.

With the Thai food we drank a “Blue in Bloom”, made from Bloom Gin, blue curaçao, egg white and some other stuff (by this point I was losing my focus a little and busy eating curry). This was a real hit for me, it was refreshing and the perfect cooling foil for my spicy Thai meal. I’ve not drunk anything that blue and beautifully boozy since my uni days. Blue drinks make you smile. Fact.

After dinner (in a box) we met Alex Jones, the brand ambassador for Miller’s Gin who gave us a quick introduction to Martin Miller’s Gin. We then tried said gin in a cocktail called (wait for it) Message Gin A Bottle. Served in a blue bottle, (not unlike something the Body Shop sell shampoo in), this was packed full of fresh Sicilian lemon juice and an undercurrent of crème de violette, it was a twist on the classic Aviator but it was a little on the too sour side for me.

Next up was the Savannah Collins, made with Whitley Neill Gin and Rooibos iced tea, this was another opinion splitter, some loved it, some loathed it. Initially I wasn’t keen, the Rooibos wasn’t doing it for me, but a few sips in I changed my mind, it was light and refreshing after some of the sturdier flavoured cocktails we’d had earlier. I’d happily try and recreate this at home, perhaps using a tea I get on a bit better with.

Lastly (thankfully, as the barge was beginning to feel a bit wonky), was the Abbey Martini, made with Tanqueray 10, fresh orange juice and Martini Rosso, this was very orangey, my companions enjoyed it, I was less keen, but Tom, our affable host did say this is a cocktail which will split the room (or barge) and it did.

We returned to Castlefield and did what any good sailor does best, we hopped on a minibus to The Liquorists HQ in Redbank and had another excellent G&T. That is what all good sailors do isn’t it? It had been a most enjoyable evening, we loved, really loved the cruise, we tried a real mix of cocktails, made some new friends and got to sail past the Blue Peter studio.

Disclaimer: I was the plus one of another blogger, so my ticket was free of charge, but that doesn’t sway my opinions either way.

Peanut Hottie – Making Peanut Butter Milkshakes

Peanut butter is one of those love/hate things. I’m firmly on the side of loving it. I love it on toast, in salad sandwiches and a more recent love, in milkshakes.

I was uber excited when I got wind of Peanut Hottie which is a peanut butter hot drink like hot chocolate but peanut butter instead. Sounds weird. Looks weird. Is incredible. I know this because the moment the postman delivered me a sample, I put the kettle on.

It’s easy to make, just four teaspoons in a mug of hot water, a vigorous stir and you’re in peanut butter heaven (or hell depending on if you’re one of those weird hater people).

With the sample came a note inviting my imagination to go wild, use Peanut Hottie in any culinary way I saw fit and to blog the results. I thought long and hard about this, then realised I needed to play to my strengths. Add lashings of booze was my answer!

My friend Lou has a cafe where I spend quite a lot of time. It is a lovely cafe with a massive selection of teas, as well as brilliant cake. Amongst those in the know (taps nose with finger) they also make pretty darn special milkshakes. It was to Lou I turned with my mad ideas, he had the equipment and expertise. I had a tub of Peanut Hottie and a crazy milkshake dream.

First off we tried Peanut Hottie and Caramel, here’s what we did…
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Peanut Hottie
1 dessert spoon of caramel sauce
350mls of milk

Whizz it all up in a blender, add optional squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, maybe chopped peanuts or a cookie.

It was incredible. It was really peanutty with a slight undertone of caramel. It was sweet but not too sweet. Lou downed his in about 4 seconds and he was really impressed with the way the Peanut Hottie powder blended. I loved it. It’s up there with the greats.

Next we tried the game changer, the Peanut Hottie and Bourbon…
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Peanut Hottie
2 shots of bourbon
350mls of milk

Whizz it all up in a blender, again add optional squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, maybe chopped peanuts or a cookie.

This makes me happy just thinking about it. Yes it was boozy, but just the right level, it added a gentle background warmth and worked so incredibly, amazingly well with the peanut flavour, Lou was blown away. I loved it, I can’t ever imagine a peanut butter milkshake without bourbon in it now. It sounds wrong, but it is so right.

I love Peanut Hottie and I’m pleased that it has fewer calories than the actual butter. However this is negated if you make a milkshake with ice cream, bourbon and caramel, but totally worth it!

What would you do with Peanut Hottie?

Disclaimer: I was sent a jar of Peanut Hottie to try free of charge with the proviso that I blog honestly about it. Peanut Hottie is available from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

Aloe Vera Juice – did it put a spring in my step?

We’re not big juice drinkers in our house. We tend to get some in if we’re feeling run down just to give us a bit of a boost. I don’t think it’s ever occurred to us that drinking good juice might stop us feeling run down in the first place. Doh.

I was given the chance to try the Aloe Vera juices from Taj Foods. I was a little sceptical. When Aloe Vera juice first came out a couple of years ago and wondered, if like goji berries they might be a health food step too far. I was wrong and actually pleasantly surprised.

I was sent the original and the mango flavour to try. They come in 500ml bottles which I found was enough for about 4 or 5 days of morning juice drinks.

Aloe Vera Juice - did it put a spring in my step? — Original & Mango flavour Aloe Vera Juices from Taj Foods

Aloe Vera juice is low sugar, apparently aids detox (it regulates the bowel), boosts immunity and is energising. There are 24 calories per 100mls and I was having around that each morning, so my calorie intake wasn’t taking a massive hit.

I started off with the mango juice. I’d heard Aloe Vera was an acquired taste so I thought I’d ease myself in with a familiar flavour. The juice wasn’t too sweet, but sweet enough, it contained pulpy bits which I took to be mango but on closer inspection were the pulp from the aloe plant. I like a pulpy juice so this didn’t bother me. The drink was very pleasant and enjoyable.

Once I’d polished off that bottle I cracked open the original flavour. I really didn’t know what to expect having never tried plain aloe before, but I was pleasantly surprised. The original was quite sweet, again it had pulpy bits but not unpleasantly so, and I quite liked it.

They do a range of flavours including lychee, strawberry, passion fruit and pomegranate & cranberry. I’d be keen to try some of the other flavours which are available online and you can also find them in Morrisons.

So, did it make a difference to me health wise? It’s difficult to say after only two weeks, but Aloe Vera does regulate the bowel and having been on heavy duty painkillers for over a year now, any help in that area is welcome (sorry, TMI?). I did feel more regular. My skin seemed to be clearer too and I’ve had a number of comments from people about how well I was looking lately.

I’ve got a friend who has been drinking the juice for a few months now. She looks amazing, her hair is shiny and her skin radiant, she has also reported the, erm, bowel regularity.

Given the fact my friend now looks like a shiny haired goddess I think I’ll be sticking with my morning Aloe Vera boost. Given it’s only 24 calories a time and all of the reported health benefits of Aloe Vera it’d be rude not to.

It’s important to note that Aloe Vera drinks are not suitable if pregnant, lactating or for children under 3.

Disclaimer: I was sent two bottles of Aloe Vera juice to try for review purposes, this is my honest review.

Mulled Wine at Manchester Christmas Markets

On Wednesday I took the afternoon off to spend some time with my most favourite friend Bobble. We thought we’d take in the various sights, sounds and tastes of the Manchester Christmas Markets located in Albert Square, near the Town Hall in Manchester.

Manchester Christmas markets

We’re both fond of a hot alcoholic beverage and it was a particularly parky day so we felt it justified a warming drinkie or three. By the time I caught up with him at the Manchester Christmas Markets, he was two mulled wines up and had already sussed out which was the best mulled wine emporium on the square.

Manchester Christmas markets

True to form we propped up the bar of said mulled wine emporium and consumed the following (please note this doesn’t constitute a review, merely the semi drunken ramblings of a couple of mates who’d quaffed too much hot booze).

Mulled wines from the Manchester Christmas Markets

Cherry Mulled Wine – niiiice (see, this is so not a review). We are both big cherry fans as we drank this we reminisced about eating glacé cherries from the tub; then drinking the syrup from the tub and stealing the booze soaked cherries from the Christmas cake. We liked it a lot but we decided we needed to try it with amaretto (see option 3).

Blueberry Mulled Wine – well I really liked this. Yes I preferred the cherry but I’d happily drink this again. It actually felt quite healthful, though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. Bobble wasn’t sure about it, he managed to struggle it down though; he’s a brave lad and was clearly taking one for the team.

Cherry Mulled Wine with a shot of amaretto – this, this my friends is the business. It’s essentially hot alcoholic cherry bakewell in a mug. By this point I was sliding off the edge of the bar and I was sporting some healthy looking rosy cheeks. Bobble was staring into the middle distance mumbling something about Mr Kipling.

Manchester Christmas markets

If you do hit the Manchester Christmas Markets, it’s basically the law that you must sample some hot booze. I’ve been told the advocaat and rum in Spinningfields is like alcoholic custard. If you can’t drink alcoholic custard at Christmas then the world is a terrible, terrible place.

So here’s to hot booze, mulled wine, hot buttered rum, mulled cider and any other heated boozy beverage. Merry Christmas and Chin chin!

Novelty Key Bottle Opener Review

Hodge, bless his cotton Christmas socks, at the grand old age of 38 still (yes still) gets a Christmas stocking from Santa (aka me, Santa only gives good children presents, not grown ups, no matter how well behaved they are). So I’m always on the look out for handy little bits and pieces. Practical, useful little stocking fillers that won’t break the bank.

I was rummaging round the I Want One Of Those website when I spotted the key bottle opener, it was priced at just £7.99, or 3 for £20, which seems a good deal, especially if you’ve adult stockings to fill, or secret Santa’s to shop for.

key

The key bottle opener is a handy key shaped, erm, key which is also a bottle opener which can be added to a keyring, meaning you’ll always have a bottle opener handy. It’s small, neatly designed, sturdy and makes a great stocking filler or secret Santa present.

In the interests of science I had to check if it did the job, so for you (yes you, because you’re worth it) I cracked open a cold one using the key bottle opener. It worked, success! The beer wasn’t too bad either.

Disclaimer – We were sent a key bottler opener free of charge for review purposes.

My Toddler Boys Winter Bucket List

Being an avid reader and lover of blogs I stumbled across this little cracker. Primarily the blog is about making sure your little nipper gets enough Vitamin D during the long, dark, cold winter months; but the bit that grabbed my attention was the “Winter Potty List” which is basically a mini winter bucket list of fun things to do over the winter for kids.

winter bucket list

I actually love this, I sometimes really struggle to be creative and think of fun things to do with the lad. I’m going to print the graphic out, stick it on the fridge and see how many we can tick off before the trees go into blossom next spring.

The ones I’m most looking forward to trying are –

Salt dough hand prints which we can decorate and give to Grandma for Christmas
Making messy fruit scones and gobbling them down still warm from the oven
Teddy bears picnic for him and a couple of his little chums
Making naughty hot chocolate and snuggling under a blanket watching a Christmas film

I think he’ll love this and enjoy helping me plan what we’ll do and then ticking them off. Hope you like this too, thought it’d be rude not to share!

I Couldn’t be Hoppier (at Didsbury Beer Festival)

I’ve lived in Didsbury for 30 something years and for the last six years we’ve celebrated that fact by going to the annual Didsbury Beer Festival. This year is the 6th and seemingly biggest of the festivals so far.

We ambled along on opening night, which just happened to be Halloween. Festival patrons (sounds posh that doesn’t it) were encouraged to dress up in their spookiest costumes for Halloween. Although most of the visitors (or patrons as I now somehow feel obliged to call them) were dressed reasonably normally, there was a decent group of zombies, witches, superheroes and spooks necking some of the 100+ ales available. There were ciders and perries too, as well as a couple of lagers for the ale intolerant.

Much as I would’ve loved to have sampled every drink available in the enormous marquee, I felt I owed it to my liver to moderate my intake for once. Ably assisting me was husband Hodge, fine ales aficionado and emergency carrier of the handbag. Together we sampled a mere 8 of the vast array of foamy drinkies on offer.

Here’s what we tried… (full list is available on the website)…

Bollington Brewing Company – White Nancy
Brightside Brewing Company – Manchester Skyline
Chantry Brewery – Didsbury Festival Ale
Dunham Massey – Chocolate Cherry Mild
Fool Hardy Ales – Risky Blond
Fyne Ales – Hurricane Jack
Outstanding – Halloween
RedWillow Brewery – Wreckless

I had two stand out favourites. The first being Halloween from the Outstanding Brewery. A cheeky little number, containing ginger, cinnamon and treacle. I only tried it because of its terrifyingly topical name, but my goodness, I’ve never, ever tried a drink that tasted like Parkin before. I need to get my sticky cake loving, beery mitts on some bottles of this beautiful beverage of gorgeousness.

My other favourite (so good we got a second one) was the Chocolate Cherry Mild from Dunham Massey. I love cherries so thought I’d give this a go, I wasn’t really expecting very much at all, thought it’d be some novelty awfulness but my giddy aunt, it was amazing. Even husband Hodge couldn’t get enough of it. Those two brews are definitely going on my Christmas list.

Lucky husband Hodge is off enjoying each remaining night of the festival. So no doubt he’ll work his way through most of the list. If what we tried was any indication, I’d say the beers were of a high standard and thoughtfully chosen for inclusion in the festival. There’s a huge range of ale styles available and something to suit all tastes.

There is food, entertainment and drink aplenty available throughout the festival, so get yourself down there. Sample some beers, vanquish any remaining vampires and have a great, social, community night out.

Didsbury Beer Festival runs 31st October – 2nd November at St. Catherine’s Social Club, School Lane, Didsbury, Manchester. Visit their website for more information.