Edinburgh Foodies Festival is on August 13th, 14th and 15th – in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. It’s a real feast for food and drink lovers with top Scottish chefs showing off their skills in the Chef’s Theatre, cooking with kids seminars, over 150 great stalls selling the best local produce, sushi, chocolate and cocktail classes and live entertainment from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe plus loads more. We’ll be there too doing Masterclasses exploring the delights of Beefeater 24, Caorunn, Hendricks, Plymouth, London No 1. and SW4.

Download and print your tickets for free entry for any day of the Festival.

• Foodies Festival Edinburgh E-Ticket

Here’s the full Edinburgh Foodies Programme:

• www.foodiesfestival.com/edinburgh

We’ve been involved in a top secret project and are delighted to be able to talk about it at last. Drinkology.com is a new website designed to make it easy for bartenders all over the world to source knowledge and network with their peers as well as join in debates on all things drink-related. Drinkology is the brainchild of Illy Jaffar, Pernod Ricard UK’s Head of Brand Advocacy and has been created by Pernod Ricard UK in collaboration with Henry Besant of the Worldwide Cocktail Club.

A unique feature of  the immensely stylish new website is the bevy of on site ‘gurus’ who will contribute specialist knowledge of their areas of expertise in the form of discussion forums and editorial focusing on the history and production of spirits, category styles and other relevant category issues. Gurus include Ian Wisniewski (vodka and malt whisky), Geraldine Coates (gin), Dave Broom (rum and blended whiskies) Gary Regan (legendary bars and barmen) Nicholas Faith (Cognac and brandy), Mark Ridgewell (bourbon/American Whiskey), Thomas Estes (agave spirits) and Ago Perrone (vermouth and bitters). They will be contributing regular features and answering questions. The Library section, curated by cocktail historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, contains an constantly updated store of historical information, downloadable (and searchable) vintage cocktail books and recipes.

It’s fab so check it out here – http://www.drinkology.com/

To showcase the brand’s unique botanical infusion and give visitors a taste of the Scottish Highlands, Caorunn Gin commissioned internationally renowned body artist, Emma-Jane Cammack to create a Botanical Body design in Caorunn’s signature art-nouveau style for last week’s Bar 10 in London.

Featuring Heather, Bog Myrtle, Rowan Berry, Coul Blush Apple & Dandelion, the gin’s Celtic botanical infusions, the Celtic Botanical Body design perfectly captured the brand essence and ensured that Caorunn Gin stood out from other exhibitors. Show visitors flocked to the Caorunn stand during the morning to watch the body painting take place and enjoyed an afternoon sampling session with Caorunn’s stunning model.

Since its launch in August 2009, Caorunn Scottish Gin (pronounced ‘ka-roon’) has become a major hit with gin lovers across the UK and key European gin markets. The handcrafted small batch distilled gin has inspired even the most discerning drinkers with its clean, crisp aromatic taste and long dry finish. The launch of the Caorunn Celtic Botanical Body forms part of an integrated marketing and promotional strategy that the brand will be rolling out throughout the year.

As Caorunn’s Brand Manager, Ibolya Bakos,  explains: “We were delighted to be part of Bar.10 this year and really wanted to cause a stir amongst visitors. Caorunn is a classy and artistic brand with Celtic prominence and through Emma-Jane’s inspired creation, this really came across. It was tremendous to have our Celtic Botanical Body as part of the team at such an exciting event.”

At Gintime we’re partial to the odd beer especially at this time of the year and when it’s a really special brew. So what a treat it was to be invited to a Innis & Gunn  Dinner where a selection of Oak Aged Beers were matched with delicious food. Think rump of Borders lamb paired with Triple Matured Innis & Gunn 7.2% and a selection of fantastic cheeses matched with Rum Cask at 7.4%. Mmmm …thanks guys!

On a recent trip to investigate Japanese whisky and Tokyo’s incredible cocktail culture Gintime had the great pleasure of meeting Suzuki Takayuki, one of Japan’s top cocktail maestros. Known as Mr. Iceman,  Suzuki-san is the inventor of the famous hand carved ice ball and is an expert in the technique of creating a perfectly spherical ice ball. We asked him about his own favourite drink and guess what,  it’s the Martini. Here he shares some of his favourite gin recipes.

Classic Martini

• Put plenty of heavy cracked ice into mixing glass
• Add enough water and stiir well with bar spoon
• Pour off the water and put more ice
• Pour 10ml Dry Vermouth and quickly discard
• Pour 60ml Dry Gin and then strain into cocktail glass very quickly
• {It is important that there is no mixing}
• Garnish / Lemon twist and Olive

Contemporary Martini  [Sapphire Lassi Martini]

Inspired by Bombay Sapphire Botanical “Scent of Coriander”

• Pistachio & salt rim
• Bombay Sapphire　40mL
• Milk 20ml
• Yoghurt  20ml
• Pineapple juice 20ml
• Syrup 2tsp
• Combine in mixing glass over ice and strain into cocktail glass
• Float １tsp Pastis

Sapphire Lassi Collins

• Pistachio & salt rim
• Bombay Sapphire　30mL
• Milk 20ml
• Yoghurt  20ml
• Pineapple juice 20ml
• Combine in mixing glass over ice
• Top up with tonic water
• Float 1 tsp Pastis

Caorunn Scottish Gin last night crowned Scott Ingram of Blythswood Square Hotel in Glasgow the winner of the new nationwide cocktail competition The Caledonian Bartenders Cup. Held at the LA Group’s state of the art bar academy in Glasgow, Scott dazzled the judges by showcasing his exceptional mixology skills as he triumphed over stiff competition from 18 of the country’s top bartenders.

Scott and his fellow entrants were tested to the limits in a contest, which included rounds of neat and blind tasting and a mixology innovation challenge, where they had to prove their creativity against the clock. Entrants’ cocktails were judged on flavour, aroma, technical ability, presentation, discussion and name by a panel of industry experts.

The contest, which was launched by leading bar consultancy the LA Group in partnership with Caorunn Scottish Gin and anCnoc Highland Single Malt Whisky, was devised to challenge, celebrate and educate Scotland’s leading bartenders.  £1000 prize money and an engraved crystal punch bowl trophy were up for grabs as competitors battled it out by creating two original cocktail concoctions to present to the judges – a ‘Mid Summer Night’ cocktail using handcrafted small batch Scottish gin Caorunn and an ‘International Innovation’ themed masterpiece using anCnoc.

Infused with five Celtic botanicals Caorunn’s crisp dry taste provided the perfect base for a host of cutting edge cocktails and after a highly competitive round, Scott was declared the winner with his impressive Caorunn and anCnoc creations. Yan McPherson from the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh and Dean Evans from Glasgow’s Blythswood Square Hotel were named runners up.

The competition was judged by some of the industry’s foremost experts in taste, style and bartending namely Barry Chalmers, General Manager of Eau De Vie in Sydney, Australia’s most influential speakeasy, Adrian Gomes from LPNY Consultancy, Caorunn Brand Ambassador Ervin Trykowski and Michael Lovedale from the LA Group Ltd.

Ibolya Bakos, Brand Manager, Caorunn Gin: ‘Caorunn were delighted to be involved in this exciting new competition which champions creativity within the bartending industry. Many first class bartenders create cocktails that capture the spirit of the moment and the Caledonian Bartenders Cup is the perfect platform to celebrate and highlight bartending as an art form.’

Scott’s Mid Summer Night Caorunn Cocktail

• 40ml Caorunn,
• 10ml Tempranillo,
• 20ml Calvados,
• 12.5 Cointreau,
• 12.5ml Grenadine,
• 3 drops Bitter Truth orange bitters,
• 2 drops Angostura bitters

Method – Shake and double strain

For further details on Caorunn visit: www.caorunngin.com

Tiffany Thompson was the winner of our March Competition for a Beefeater 24 Tea for Two at the Langham Hotel. Here she tells us all about it: ”I entered the competition online as it was a combination of my two favourite things gin and afternoon tea. Not thinking anymore about it I was so happy to receive an email saying I had won! The prize was absolutely amazing, it exceeded every expectation I had. The hotel was beautiful and when we arrived a pianist was playing, it was perfect. The afternoon tea itself was more of a work of art, the sweets were delicious. The gin tea was delightfully different and a pleasant change to the normal tea I have at home. We were treated like royalty and would now definitely recommend everyone to go and have the Beefeater Gin Afternoon Tea at The Langham – it should be on the top of the list of best things to do in London!”

The fabulous Hendrick’s Horseless Carriage is about to start on a summer spectacular tour. Check here for details www.hendrickshorselesscarriage.com/

At £60 London Cocktail Summit tickets aren’t cheap. Think dinner for two. A good night out. An autographed photo of Shakin Stevens. But it seems the entry fee is not aimed at participants, just spectators (you know the ones, falling over drunk at the show by noon), and participating is simple. With this in mind Mixellany Limited is giving away FREE TICKETS to attend both days of LCS (15-16 June 2010 at Bar.10, the London Bar Show) from today, 31 May, until Friday, 4 June. Why are they doing this, you ask? Simple.

Mixellany, the Drink Factory, and Taste & Flavour have worked hard for the past 8 months creating a strong programme of sessions intended to inspire you and hone your skills as a bar professional in the British bar industry as well as give you a glimpse into your future in it. They’re not willing to stand back and watch this information land on deaf ears simply because the organisers saw fit to charge such a steep admission. So if you want to attend this stimulating, thought-provoking event for FREE, here’s all you have to do:

1) Click on the Mix Masters Competition

2) Fill in your contact details, especially your name and email address

3) Submit a drink recipe to the competition in one of 4 categories:

• The Ultimate Classic Revival Creation
• The Ultimate Tiki Creation
• The Ultimate Modern Cocktail Creation
• The Ultimate Molecular Creation

4) Click the Save Record button

By simply entering the competition, you will gain access to both days of the London Cocktail Summit sessions, which include the Taste & Flavour and the Drink Factory sessions for FREE. Even if your drink does not make it to the short list, you can attend all of the sessions.

If you’ve already submitted a recipe to the competition, you name is on the guest list. We will send an email out on 10 June 2010 with details on how to pick up your badge.

Want to know what you’re missing if you don’t attend the London Cocktail Summit?

Then click this link to view the entire programme, which is not posted on the Bar.10 web site.

An amusing report from the Huffington Post on last week’s Manhattan Cocktail Classic