The Hide Bar - Newsletter

                                             

Number 5, July 2007

Hi

Number 5, a little late in July…

A little late I’m afraid, as I was doing some ‘research’ in Cuba at the start of the month, but at least you can now rest assured that we’ve perfected the art of the mojito and daiquiri having sampled them in their spiritual homes of La Bodeguita del Medio and El Floridita in Havana. I think ours are much better actually, but please feel free to come to your own conclusions with any of our Cuban rums, or with one from any of the 15 other countries represented on our back bar. Whether you like your daiquiri straight up, on the rocks or frozen, I’ll try to think of a suitable prize for anyone that works their way through the global daiquiri range…

July kicked off with prizes for The Hide. Firstly we were chosen to host the Drinks International Bartenders Challenge, with bartenders from around the UK competing to produce white-spirit based cocktails in three categories of Aperitif, Long Drink and After Dinner. The other prize was that one of our bartenders was awarded a bronze for his after-dinner concoction. It was great to be involved in the competition and hopefully the bartenders liked sampling some of the back-bar afterwards.

Congratulations go to Chris with his Gee & Tee, available at the bar after your dinner, or any other time you like.

Gee & Tee
Served warm in a teacup
Hot Earl Gray Tea
50ml Hendricks Gin
Dash Lemon Bitters
2 teaspoons Honey  

We really enjoy putting together new cocktails, so if you’re having a party and want something tailored to your personality or drinking preferences, let us know and we’ll see what we can come up with for you. We’ll even let you name it…  

Paul   

EVENTS
Tuesday tastings: They last roughly an hour and include random facts, helpful hints and a little bit of tasting. They are free to attend for the moment and you don’t need to book. Just turn up and see what’s going on.

This month (July), we have:

Tuesday the 3rd, 7pm
Gin: A gin tasting hosted by Andrew from our house pour, Blackwoods. He’ll work through the category with tastings of the aromatics through to those a little more heavy on the juniper. [Sorry, a little late! Hope those of you who were able to make it enjoyed!]

Tuesday the 10th, 7pm
Argentine wines: two whites and three reds presented by H&H Bancroft. Classic malbec through to some more interesting blends with some very nice bottles on special offer afterwards as well.

Tuesday the 17th, 7pm
Rum: this time presented by Santa Teresa rums from Venezuela, we’ll be looking at their three (Gran Reserva blended 2-5 year old, 1796 15 year old solera rum, Rhum Orange) and how they fit in to the spectrum of rums. Plus we’ll make a few daiquiris with them afterwards.

Tuesday the 24th, 7pm
Australian regions: Liberty wines will be showing a few Aussie wines that show the spectrum of New World to Old World styles that are currently coming out of the country.  

Tuesday the 31st, 7pm
Belgian beers: Chris will be picking a few Belgians from our list and a few specialities for the occasion. Light hoppy numbers through to punchy trappist brews and natural yeast fermented all to be expected.  

Tuesday the 7th August, 7pm
Just in case I’m late with the next newsletter, Tuesday the 7 th will feature Simon Difford of the world-famous Diffords Guides who will be making some new cocktails all featuring St Germain elderflower liqueur. They should be ideal drinks for a balmy August evening (if it stops raining by then).

Specials

As well as the Gee & Tee, we’re currently making a Rhubarb Fizz, Poire William sour and a Ginger Cosmopolitan.

The rhubarb number is courtesy of the most recent addition to our team, Hannah, and comprises Rufus’s 3 month rhubarb-infused vodka, vanilla schnapps, spiced bread liqueur(!), lemon juice and sugar. A brilliant long drink!

The Poire William sour is a little simpler, with pear spirit, triple sec, lemon and a dash of apple juice, shaken and served straight up.

The Ginger Cosmo is a slight twist on the classic, with an additional splash of ginger liqueur adding a great bite and working well with our citron vodka.

Random bit

Randomly not even drink related this week, but instead a bit about the cheeses on our current cheese platter from Neal’s Yard Dairy. We usually have one blue, one soft, one hard and one goat’s cheese. This week the list looks like this (thanks to Neal’s Yard Dairy for the text and pics):

Gorwydd Caerphilly
Three distinct melodies of flavour run through this cheese: its springy, citric, lactic centre; oozy, mushroomy cream under the rind, and musty, earthy rind. Millstone shaped cheese with piecrust-like edges and a wrinkled, grey-brown rind which the Trethowans call ‘the brains’.

Todd Trethowan became interested in making cheese after a stint working behind the counter at Neal’s Yard Dairy, having previously studied archaeology. Although hailing from Cornwall, originally, he had a Welsh grandmother and his parents had retired to Gorwydd Farm near Llanddewi Brefi. The obvious choice seemed to be Caerphilly, especially as his grandmother, Eleanor Lewis, had grown up in the Eglwysian parish, just outside the town of Caerphilly and had at onetime made the cheese herself.

Finn
Fluffy white discs with a firm creamy interior. Fresh, lactic, creamy flavours with a rich double cream texture. Takes on a mushroomy flavour as it matures.

Finn is a cheese developed by Charlie at the Neal’s Yard Creamery. It is named after a dog that he had at the time and seemed appropriate as in Irish it means ‘Great White One’ which is a better description of the cheese than the dog.

Sleightlet
Little discs mottled with black ash and white, blue and green moulds. The interior is bright white as with most goats cheeses. Soft, creamy and slightly fluffy texture that seems to dissolve on your tongue. The flavours are lemony, a little bit goaty and slightly nutty.

Mary Holbrook’s farm is up on the windswept Mendip Hills near the town of Timsbury and not far from Bath. In this atmospheric, picturesque setting, Mary and her helper Julianna make 3 different goats cheeses, of which Sleightlet is the most recent.

Stichelton
Rusty orange-brown rind with indentations from the piercing needles. The interior is creamy white with delicate veins of blue-green mould. Flavours are fruity and appley with underlying nutty toasty notes and a long lasting savouriness with a spicy element from the blue mould. The flavours expand and develop in your mouth and last long after swallowing. The texture is rich, soft and creamy.

Stichelton is a new cheese made from unpasteurised organic cows milk by Joe Schneider at Collingthwaite Farm on the Welbeck Estate. It is a blue cheese in the traditional English vein and its recipe calls for very small quantities of starter and rennet. The resulting delicate curd is hand-ladled from the vat to drain and acidify overnight.

Other stuff

Our back room is available for hire, and we’d love to hold tailored wine tastings or cocktail classes. Just get in touch and let us know what you’d like to do. Likewise if you have any comments and suggestions, please email everyone@thehidebar.com.

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