Good stuff and lots of it!
Here’s the low down on some fine things to see, sip, savour and more – all of which I’ve recently come across and thought were worth sharing with you. Enjoy.
Belgian brewed Duvel has a new “Devilish Duet” gift pack that includes a 330-ml bottle of Duvel Belgian Golden Ale; 330-ml bottle of Duvel Tripel Hop ‘Citra’; and a Duvel-branded glass. Available for purchase online via Amazon UK, Beer Hawk, the Belgian Beer Company, and more at a recommended retail price of £12.99, it’s an ideal present for the beer lover in your life.
South London meadery, Gosnells of London, has released its first ever vintage made from 100% London honey sourced from hives in the Woodberry Wetlands and near Lea Bridge Road. It’s got a deeply complex palate that’s herby and melon-sweet with an ABV of 12.5%. Priced at £25 there are only 1200 bottles of this fascinating local quaff.
Roqberry Sushi & Spice Green Tea
Roqberry’s Sushi & Spice is a Japanese sencha green tea blended with cardamom, ginger, wasabi, dried seaweed and more. Maybe not everybody’s cup of tea, but if you’re searching for something unusually umami to sip, look no further. Get a box of 18 pyramid bags for £7 via the Roqberry online shop.
Rubies in the Rubble makes sustainably sourced condiments from surplus fruit and vegetables that would otherwise have gone to waste. Rubies’ ketchup is super tasty (as good as that big name benchmark brand so ubiquitously used). A 210g jar costs £2.99. Find it at Waitrose, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Lakeland, COOK, Not on the High Street, on Virgin Trains, in restaurants, delis and cafés around the country.
Smoky BBQ Crunchy Roasted Crickets from Eat Grub
Eat Grub is the UK’s “leading insect food brand”. Hey, why not? I recently tried the brand’s Smoky BBQ Crunchy Roasted Crickets. Not bad. Honestly, they’re tasty and a great source of lean and affordable protein (three 9g packs cost £6.99 at the Eat Grub site). Crunch!
Based on a 19th century French recipe of infusing fresh ginger and spices in Cognac barrels, Spytail is an ace winter warmer that I’m happy to have as Christmas draws near. A 70cl bottle is priced around £25 on most decent online drinks retailers.
Trekz Air Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones by AfterShokz
I love these wireless headphones so much! Probably the best bone conduction headphones on the market, they stay secure on the head, produce full volume rich sound, and with the open ear design allow me still to be aware of what’s going on as I walk down the street or sift my way through busy stations etc. Bone con-huh? Bone conduction devices rest on the check bone and convert sound waves into vibrations that can be received directly by the cochlea – bypassing the eardrum and never needing to be stuck inside the ear. If I do want to drown out the world, it’s easy enough to place the ends of the phones in my earholes. At a suggested retail price of £149.95, a Trekz Air set ain’t cheap but I reckon it is good value. My set is my new favourite thing.
Ha! And ew! This hilarious new scratch and sniff party game from WowWee is sure to be a hit this Christmas. The object is to correctly guess scents ranging from roses to rotting garbage, and worse, for a bouquet of fun for two to six player aged 14 and up. Available in the UK now, What’s That Smell? includes 48 Mystery Whiff Cards, four Stank Cards and scent-barrier bags, six cardholders, a sheet of Whiff Strips, score pad and instructions. Get it for £24.99 RRP.
