Grand Centenario Rosangel Tequila Gran Centenario is Mexico’s most award winning ultra-premium tequila producer. Named in 1895 to commemorate the turn of the new century, Gran Centenario has remained family owned and continues to be hand crafted in small batches…
Cocktails to Use Up Your Blackberries!
August is the best month for amateur foragers! Almost everyone can distinguish those ripe, bubbly blackberries and they are so easy to find with a walk along almost any hedgerow in the UK. While you might be tempted to eat…
Maple Flavoured-Whiskey
Maple syrup is a distinctive North-American product. The wonderful flavour of maple syrup has been a chef’s staple for many years and now it is used by bartenders. Maple syrup packs more complexity and flavour than the simple sugar syrup.…
The British Navy’s Rum Purchases Revealed
For fifty years, the rums that the British Royal Navy blended for its sailors has fascinated enthusiasts and historians. Most stories about navy rum endlessly recycle prior conjecture that’s both vague and not particularly accurate. Ponder this conventional wisdom about…
British Navy Rum Ration Hijinks
Stories about the British Navy’s daily rum ration inevitably include imagery of sailors lined up at the grog tub, emblazoned with “God Save the Queen” – or “King”, if you go back far enough. It suggests that sailors were anxiously…
The 1969 Ministry of Defence Signal Ending the British Navy Rum Ration
July 31st, 1970 — a day that lives in infamy as Black Tot day. It was on this day that British navy sailors received their final daily rum ration, something dear since its 1731 establishment. These days, every July 31st…
Pusser’s Rum Charles Tobias On the Record: Part Two
What follows is part two of my interview with Charles Tobias, the U.S. marine aviator, technology CEO, and globe-crossing sailor who created the Pusser’s Rum brand in 1979, based on the British Royal Navy’s rum recipe. Part One of the…
British Navy Rum Before Vernon’s Grog
The narrative most rum enthusiasts know about British navy rum usually starts around 1731, when the British Navy declared that (in certain parts of the globe) a daily ration of rum was to be issued to their sailors. Alternately, they…
Pusser’s Rum Charles Tobias: On the Record (Part One)
For students of spirits history who pour over countless dry pages to glean precious tiny nuggets of information, coming face-to-face with living, breathing history that can be queried is as close to professional nirvana as one gets. Such was the…
Bigallet Viriana China-China
Bigallet Viriana China-China is an artisanal liqueur from the French Alps, and being produced since 1875. It is made from a blend of sweet and bitter orange peels which have been macerated and distilled in alembic stills. A delightful bouquet…