Aperitif

Dear Reader,

Blimey - December again. This year really seems to have flown! Anyway, welcome to our last newsletter of 2009.

Firstly some bragging. We've just been awarded The Publican's Spirit Pub of the Year trophy. It's a trade award that means we've been recognised for having a great selection of spirits and for knowing what to do with them. We're pretty proud of it and hope you'll come and put us to the test!

As befits our newly-awarded status, we have some great new things behind the bar for you to try (not all spirits), including a liquorice mojito, a great Uruguayan Tannat and a range of new grappas, including the fabulous 7 year old mentioned next to this. There is also a great new chocolate liqueur from the same Italian producer as the grappa, and some Chinese white spirit (白酒) if you're feeling adventurous... If you fancy trying anything, just ask. We don't have any formal tastings until the new year now, but we're always happy to help you sample before buying.

One of the things the award recognises is the quality of training we give everyone at the bar. An example of this is Mick's tough educational trip to St Lucia to learn a little more about our house rum, Chairman's Reserve. His homework was to write up a piece for the Digestive below. Scroll down for an account of the arduous life of a bartender...

If you fancy trying Chairman's for yourselves, pop along from 6pm on Thursday (3rd December) where we will be handing out tasters and having a bit of a seasonal rum party. See the note adjacent for details.

Finally, our opening hours for December and the beginning of January can be found in this newsletter as well. Hope they fit with your plans.

Cheers,

Paul

Tuesday Tastings

Due to private bookings throughout December, we will not be able to hold our usual tastings. Normal service will resume in January.

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.

Tuesday 12th January 2010, 7pm
Pulenta Estate wines from Argentina
Pulenta Estate is located in Alto Agrelo, Mendoza. They produce some great wines, from the young 'La Flor' range of easy-drinking bottles, through to the Estate reds that see 12 months in new French oak and 12 months bottle aging. We will have a range of their products to taste, along with a knowledgeable young chap to show them off. Our particular favourite is the straight Estate Malbec, but come and give us your opinion.

Tuesday 26th January 2010, 7pm
Meantime Brewery
Meantime, provider of our tap beers and regular supporters of our Tuesday Tastings, will be back again to tell us about what they have planned for 2010 and to taste a few things. The guys & gals from the brewery are always great to have over for a glass or two, so we hope you can join us for beers and beer snacks. More details nearer the time.

Click here to reserve a space at a tasting

Digestive

St Lucia Distillers

Being General Manager of a busy bar like The Hide can sometimes be a challenge. Every now and again however a little perk does come your way, so you can imagine my delight when St. Lucia Distillers (SLD, producers of our house rum Chairman's Reserve) invited me out to have a look at their distillery in, you guessed it, St. Lucia.
 
After a 9 hour flight, the fantastically named Evil drove us out to Rodney Bay. The first thing that hits you about St. Lucia is how green and mountainous it is. We drove past field after field of banana trees and lush green forest and watched a beautiful sunset go down behind the mountains, before heading out to a few of the bars we would be making cocktails in over the next few days.
 
The first day was the tour around the distillery, conducted by Laurie Barnard the Managing Director of SLD. The Barnard family has been in St Lucia since the 1830's and first opened a distillery in 1932. They bought the Rosseau distillery from Geest, the Dutch banana company in 1972 and amalgamated it with their own Denross distillery. They now have 3 different stills, 2 John Dore pot stills (1 large and a smaller one which allows them to produce more pungent fruity, estery rums) and a Vendome still made by the Vendome American & Brass Works Company. This is mainly used by the Bourbon industry and gives the benefit of pot distillation but has the flexibility of the rectifying column where the plates can be adapted.

 
St Lucia Distillers use three different yeast strains and are currently working with tropical strains, each of which gives a different flavour profile. The cultures are introduced to the molasses in the mother holding tank where they ferment until 8.5% abv. The ferment is then directed to one of the three types of stills.

Chairman's Reserve is a blend of between 5 - 8 marques of rum and is a mix of the Vendome, pot and column stills. Although this is all very scientific, the real art is in the blending and this means keeping track of all the different barrels to ensure the final product has all the attributes we have come to expect from St Lucia's favourite rum.

 
After the distillery, we headed off for lunch at the Marigot Bay Hotel, an incredibly picturesque spot which was the setting for a historic battle where Admiral Barrington hid his fleet behind large palm fronds and then came out to attack the French from the rear.
 
There was just enough time back at the distillery to visit the recently planted sugar cane vines & get a chance to chop a few down before heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the next couple of days of working with bartenders and chefs. Highlights included a beach barbeque Caribbean style, complete with blinged-up jeep and an amazing array of fish, chicken & lamb all cooked in delicious sauces, great bars, dominos, Soca & Reggae.
 
The final day we invited some of the bartenders from local bars & hotels for a rum master class and training session. This consisted of an exchange of ideas on both sides, and gave us a great chance to learn from each other. The local guys had some great rum punches (some of the recipes I've included here) and we all took over some of our home made ingredients to show how we can make variations on classic cocktails. After lunch the chefs gave us a cooking master class. Wonderfully simple dishes cooked in minutes, a couple of which we will be serving up at the Chairman's Reserve secret Santa Tiki party at The Hide on the 3rd of December.
 
Overall to say I enjoyed this trip would be a mild understatement. St. Lucia is without doubt paradise, the people are warm and friendly, the scenery is breathtaking and the food and drinks are second to none. One thing that really struck me is how much Chairman's Reserve is ingrained in their culture. SLD have only been producing it since 1999 but it comes across as if it has been around for hundreds of years.

Mick

 
Recipes:
As with all punches, measures are inexact. the following are guidelines:

Original punch

Boil up cinnamon and nutmeg in small amount of water. Add good dash of bitters, rum and top with water or fruit juices to taste.

Punch #2

Stir ground nutmeg and cinnamon, rum, lime juice, sugar syrup and bitters. Add water or juices to taste.

Soufrières Punch

Boil up demerera sugar with a bay leaf, lime peel, cinnamon and nutmeg in a little water. Add rum, orange, pineapple and grapefruit juices.

Links
Chairman's Reserve Rum
  Pulenta Estate Wines
Late night shopping on Bermondsey Street Flyer (1.5 meg PDF)
Meantime Brewery
Castagner Grappas
Pisano Wines
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