Drink

I’ve been trying out some food and drink items from the Coop in the run up to Christmas.  Last week I had my first mince pies of the season and they went down very well with everyone here.  The Coop have a great range of both food and drink and there are some special Christmas items available that I’m sure will go down well with guests and visitors over the festive season.

Hand Cooked Pigs in Blankets Crisps sound like the perfect snack to serve up at a Christmas drinks party.  Their meaty flavour is just the thing on a cold evening when you want to shut out the weather and hunker down with friends and family.  Another fun snack are these Sour Cream Christmas Tree Tortilla Chips – I love their quirky Christmas tree shapes and they are very moreish to eat too.  These are just my own picks from the range, which also includes tempting offerings like Irresistible Roast Potato Crisps and Irresistible Salted Caramel Pretzel Stars.

The Coop have a fine range of beers, wines and spirits available to cover all your Christmas drink needs.  I’m a real ale fan, so I was very pleased to be able to buy a bottle of one of my favourite beers: Timothy Taylor’s Landlord.  There’s plenty more in the range too, so I’ve bought a few different beers to try out in the hope of finding a new favourite including this Butcombe Original Beer.

I was particularly impressed by the selection of gins available in store.  There’s a huge variety of carefully chosen brands and flavours from gin makers such as Boodles, Sipsmith and Whitley Neil. Flavours range from classics like London Dry Gin and Pink Gin, to Rhubarb and Ginger, Seville Orange, Pink Strawberry and Oriental Spiced.  There really is something there for everyone.

I was invited along to try out a new pop-up bar in Birmingham’s Bullring: Once Upon A Time In Birmingham.    You’ll find Once Upon A Time In Birmingham been designed as a festive world first by Bompas & Parr.  The venue is lit up with 88,000 fairy lights and it’s a festive tea parlour, party bar and event space.  It’s in the space in the Middle Mall of the Bullring that was previously occupied by Jamie’s Italian so it’s well located and the perfect spot to meet up with friends for a Christmas drink.

We tried a number of the cocktails from the selection on offer and a few of the desserts from the menu.  There’s very much a Christmas theme going on especially with the drinks selection.  You can order from a wide range of beers, wines and spirits or you can opt for one of the cocktails.  Once Upon A Time In Birmingham seems made for cocktails, so we decided to sample those.  I started with the Plum, Apple & Cinnamon Colour Changing Ice Tea (the tall green drink pictured above).  It’s a refreshing drink with that hint of Christmas going on with the cinnamon flavouring. Or go for that Christmas favourite eggnog in the shape of the Flambéed Golden Eggnog with a gold dust meringue topping.

There are lots of fun features to enjoy from vibrating seats and over the top Christmas decorations within to bar area, to light up toilet bowls in the ladies.  I recommend you try looking at the lights through the special glasses available – perhaps best to try it before you have your drinks as it’s a touch peculiar.

Food wise there’s a selection of desserts available and you can even opt to try a festive Christmas afternoon tea.  They are the perfect treat if you like something sweet.  My personal favourite was this amazing clear jelly which looked really special under the lights and had a delicate festive flavour.