Drink

It’s been a real treat to get the December Degustabox so close to Christmas with all those wonderful goodies inside.  Nuts are part of the Christmas experience, but I like them as a quick and easy snack when I am out and about too.  These handy packs from Planters make that really easy and they are full of nutrition and energy. Star Wars is everywhere at the moment and my very own Star Wars fan has his eye on these Popchips Galactic Puffs.  They are a light and airy snack made into Star Wars’ shapes.  We are big fans of rice cakes here, so we are enjoying trying out these Ryvita Lightly Salted Rye Cakes as an alternative.  The biggest treat for me though of this month’s box are the Willies Cacao Black Pearls.  They are pearls of single estate chocolate containing cascades of molten caramel, so they are made from the best quality raw materials.

Sleeping well is something I struggle with.  I go through good phases like now when I get 8 hours sleep and wake up feeling rested.  Then I’ll have a phase of waking about 4am and being unable to get back to sleep. When my sleep is bad I try all sorts of things to try to improve it and I’m looking forward to trying Sleep Well as part of that arsenal of tactics to help me sleep.  You can enjoy this milk-based drink hot or cold and it helps you feel relaxed and sleepy. The benefits of Matcha Green Tea are well-known so I’m enjoying this simple to make version from Lift: Matcha Instant Green Tea.

More treats in the box too in the shape of Candy Kittens Gourmet Sweets.  These come in some grown-up flavours like Sour Watermelon. Taking the Pea are an easy to carry around savoury pea snack.  They are a great healthy snack as they contain more protein than crisps and less fat than nuts, and they are tasty too.  I hadn’t realised that Mary Berry had branched out into food products, but I’m loving her Lemon & Mustard Seed Vinaigrette.  It’s a really zesty salad dressing.

On the drinks front there’s lots to enjoy too.  For the designated driver there’s San Miguel 0.0% which has all the flavour of San Miguel without the alcohol. I like to drink fruit juices if I’m not driving and Coldpress have some lovely ones.  They use cold pressure to extract their juice and don’t use heat pasteurisation, which keeps the vitamins and nutrients (and the great taste) in.  A good cordial is a great drink for adults and children alike.  We like this Robinsons Fruit Creations one which is packed full of fruity flavours.

You can order your own Degustabox here.  It’s a great way to try out new food and drink products.

This week I went on a voyage of discovery to the The Canal House.  I can remember the James Brindley pub opening up in the 1980s and it was very popular for quite a while, but recently the building has been closed and looking a little sorry for itself.  So when I heard the news that the people behind The Botantist had taken it over, it was good to know that new life was going to be breathed into the place.  I was delighted to be invited along to try out their food and drink selection with a few friends.

We set off appropriately enough on a narrow boat and approached The Canal House from the water.  Along the way we were treated to a beer tasting and heard about the lengths The Canal House is going to, to get the best beer for us. The Canal House will have more than 60 unique world ales, including Budvar’s unique unpasteurised full-flavour tank beer Tankové Pivo, that’s matured for 90 days. The beer remains fresh because it’s speedily delivered in temperature controlled tanks that are airtight to provide the freshest beer possible.  This was the first time I’d been on a beer tasting event (let’s hope it’s the first of many).  I am a natural bitter drinker and I tend to steer clear of paler beers especially lager.  So I was unsure if I would like the selection we tried as there were two pale ales.  The first was Beavertown Gamma Ray which is an American style Pale Ale, but it’s brewed in London.  It uses whole leaf American hops and lots of them to create its unique flavour.  To be honest this one wasn’t for me, although I did feel it had more depth than the average Pale Ale. The rest of my party thought this beer was the best we tasted, but they all prefer paler beers to me.

Next up was High Wire Grapefruit from Magic Rock Brewing was next.  This was a bit of a revelation to me: a Pale Ale that I would actually order out of choice in a bar.  The pink grapefruit provided the necessary sourness needed to make this a well-rounded beer for me.  This was my favourite of the bunch.  Next up was the Einstök Icelandic Toasted Porter.  I do generally find Porters a bit heavy-handed for my taste buds, but I’d choose a Porter over a Pale Ale generally.  This Porter had dark, smoky, complex flavours and it had almost a toffee taste. I found it a little sweet, but I liked the depth of flavour.

Before very long at all we were pulling up to our destination.  The Canal House is certainly looking good now it’s had a refurbishment.  It’s now a lovely part of the canal scene and a great place to sit outside and enjoy a summer’s afternoon.

On arrival we started out on the food.  The Baked Camembert Starter seemed an obvious choice and it was truly delicious.  It came served with honey, fresh rosemary, skewered granary croutons which were toasted but still quite soft and perfect for spreading the soft cheese on nice and thickly.  It also came with Braeburn apple wedges which is a great combination with the camembert.

Another favourite from the starter menu for our table was the Rotisserie Pork and Black Pudding Fritters served with apple and fig ketchup, plus homemade piccalilli.

For main courses we all had the Hanging Kebabs because they looked so amazing.  I picked the Chicken Hanging Kebab with garlic butter and properly seasoned chips.  When the kebab was brought to the table, it came topped with a small dish of garlic butter.  We asked the waitress to pour this over the kebab for us and it infused the kebab and the chips with a wonderful garlicky flavour.

We tried a few of the cocktails too.  This was my personal favourite of the ones we tried.  It’s a mojito with dark rum rather than white rum.  As you’d expect the mojito is very refreshing, but the addition of dark rum adds depth and flavour.

The Canal House opens to the public on August 14th 2017. I think I’ll be going back.