Aperitif

Dear reader,

Welcome to the November edition of The Hide's Newsletter.

November is traditionally the time we launch our hot cocktail menu, so not to disappoint, this month's Digestive runs through some of the up-and-coming winter specials and some practicalities should you feel like making them at home. The full menu will be on offer in the next week or so - see your Hide bartender for more details, or keep an eye on our Facebook page. We've also got a couple of great specials on, both great for this cold, dark, frankly unpleasant time of year.

Not to leave it at the drinks, we've got a few new dishes on the food menu as well, along with our finalised Christmas canapé and lunch menus. We're booking up rapidly for Christmas, so get in quick if you'd like to join us. More information available here.

We have upped the tastings again for November, and will be having a tasting every Tuesday this month. Not only are there more, but they're also fantastic. Quantity and quality! Have a look below for more information, but if you haven't already got your place booked for the Bollinger tasting, you'd better get a move on as places are already going fast by word of mouth.

Finally, our apologies about the till; as you may have noticed, we've been having a few problems with the till recently. I am very relieved to inform you that it's all up-and-running again and everything is accounted for. You can now get that all-important expenses receipt without having to wait for us to write you one out (fortunate with party season rapidly approaching!). I think this might be more exciting for us than it is for you, but we're so happy, I had to mention it!

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Cheers,

Paul

Tuesday Tastings

Our Tuesday Tastings cost £10 per person. Tastings start at 7pm and last around 2 hours. They are a mixture of tasting, talk from one of us, a wine maker, spirit producer or expert of some kind, general chat, plus a little bit of food to pair with the tastings.

They are held in our back room, so we are limited to 25 participants on a first-come basis. We can take reservations for the tasting, but due to no-show bookings, we need to take payment in advance. Please let us know if you would like a table in the bar afterwards as well.

Click here to reserve space at a tasting

Tuesday 3rd November, 7pm
New hot cocktail menu tasting

It's that time of year again - our hot cocktail menu is back in November, so we'll be giving you a chance to try them all at our tasting on the 3rd. Expect a little history of the drinks, instruction on their creation, flames and heady aromas throughout the bar! From the Toddy to the Blazer, the Wassail to the Egg Nog. Sweet, rich, warming and delicious cocktails. The best thing about winter! 

Tuesday 10th November, 7pm
Whisky tasting with Glenlivet and Chivas Regal

It's been too long since we last did a whisky tasting, so we're very pleased to have a great one lined up. Amongst others, we'll be tasting the Glenlivet and Chivas 18 year-olds - both fantastic drams. These will be presented by an expert on the brands who will also be recommending some food pairings with samples from our kitchen. Whisky, food and a little bit of whisky chat. Splendid.

Tuesday 17th November, 7pm
Tanqueray Gin and the history of the gin cocktail

We have gin expert and all-round great bartender Tom coming to visit. He's going to talk about the history and development of the gin cocktail, as well as obviously giving you some gin and some cocktails to try. We're also planning to let you get behind the bar and make a few as well, so this is your chance to show off your cocktail skills and maybe even create something new! Bring a firm shaking wrist and your finest bartending banter.







Tuesday 24th November, 7pm
Champagne Bollinger

This one needs no introduction. We've done Champagne tastings with Bollinger before. They've always been fantastically good, amazing value for money and fully booked a long way in advance. It's not often you get to taste an array of fantastic Champagnes, so send us an email and book your spot. Space is limited, so the sooner the better.

Digestive

Hot Cocktails

In this newsletter, our digestive focuses on our seasonal hot cocktail menu which we're launching this month. We've gone on about how far back the hot cocktail goes in previous editions of the newsletter, from Dickens to Jerry Thomas, the Wassail to the Flip. Rather than treading old ground again, this time we're going to go straight into three of the new drinks and then give you a few handy hot cocktail tips...

1.       Gin & Milk - Seamus at Bunnyhugs
Based on one of the Queen Mum's legendary drinks (honestly), a chap called Seamus came up with this variation on the ancient Gin & Milk recipe. (you can find him at http://bunnyhugs.org)

150ml hot full-fat milk (need to keep the cold out)
35ml Bols Genever
15ml Orgeat
Stir the ingredients, pour into a flute and add a dash of Angostura bitters and a Star Anise to garnish
 
2.       Café de la Mañana -
 from The Saint Social Club in Seattle
Mix in a goblet or Irish coffee glass:
35ml La Penca Mezcal
20ml Coffee liqueur
125ml fresh-brewed coffee (in our case Monmouth Coffee's excellent organic blend)
Then top with agave nectar whipped cream:
200ml double cream
2 teaspoons agave nectar
small (5cm) strip organic vanilla pod
Whipped until stiff enough to float on the surface of the drink
Garnish with grated nutmeg.
 
3.       Christmas Pudding Blazer
We've let a bottle of Comte de Lauvia VSOP Armagnac steep with raspberries, a bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon with cherries and a bottle of Woods 100 Navy Rum with raisins. We've mixed the lot and christened it our 'pudding mix' (actually, we only used half the bottle of Woods - it was too potent!).
 
Warm 50ml of this pudding mix in a brandy balloon, light it and keep turning the glass to prevent breakages.
Add a pinch of our Christmas spice blend (mainly cinnamon & nutmeg). Watch out for your fingers.
Whilst still alight, pour through 2 cloves and 4-5 black pepper corns in tea strainer into another brandy balloon. Hopefully it should go out at this point; otherwise you'll need to cover the glass until extinguished. Wait a moment for it to cool!
 
Please be careful with these - particularly the last one. It burns quite well...
 
With that in mind, here are our five tips for making hot drinks
 
1.       Don't overcook it. Lots of our hot drinks involve wine, milk or eggs. All of these things make very nice foodstuffs when cooked, but we want to just drink them. The flavours will be totally different if boiled, not to mention the fact that your Flip will look like scrambled egg. Warm means warm.

2.       Warm your glass with water before starting. It's really annoying to spend 10 minutes making a delicious cocktail only to pour it into a cold glass where it either gets chilled, or shatters into a rather unpalatable combination of puddle and glass shards.

3.       While hot cocktails lose a little alcohol in evaporation (or combustion), they're still pretty potent and the temperature helps them to be absorbed quite quickly. A few too many blazers and you might find yourself leaving the Christmas party before you've fully utilised the boss's bar tab...

4.       Cloves make your mouth go numb. Not really sure this is a tip, but a batch of mulled wine that reduced our palates to cardboard left a lasting impression last year!

5.       Play with matches and you might get burnt. Come to the bar and let us burn ourselves for you (or something to that effect!). We're professionals and really enjoy our jobs!