RTDs

 

Ready to drink… It makes you cringe a bit, doesn’t it? Memories of Bacardi Breezers in lurid tones and tropical flavours flash through your mind’s eye… But things have changed. RTDs are now Ready to Deliver, and are Really Thoroughly Different.

What’s being bottled now are drinks that are sophisticated and premium, targetting the consumer who is well-educated in the drinks arena. The ingredients being used are high-quality and their story is being told; provenance and sustainability are key factors in the making of these drinks. For example, the tea used in Harry Brompton’s Alcoholic Ice Tea is all from the one tea plantation in Kenya.

These drinks are also letting consumers know that they are healthier than previous RTDs. Some are incredibly low calorie, and low sugar, a far cry from RTDs of previous generations. Many have adopted an all-natural approach, with no artificial ingredients, and have limited processing. Cranes is one such example with their range of cranberry drinks, where the alcohol comes from using brewed crushed cranberries only.

What is the appeal of an RTD? Sometimes, depending on the venue,  a full-bar setup is not an option, but you want to give the consumer variety, and that’s where this new generation of RTDs step in. They offer the consumer something as convenient as a can of beer, but offer choice, innovation and interesting flavour combinations. Take Wild Elderflower Spritz, which is a gorgeous combination of elderflower, perry and gin. And sometimes, even if you have a fully stocked bar, a drink that is just perfect and consistent every time your pour it out, is a thing of beauty. It removes the variables such as the ability of the person behind the bar to mix a good drink, and it also means you can take your favourite drinks from your nights out, and enjoy them at home on a Sunday lunch as most RTDs are readily stocked in major supermarket chains.

So next time you’re ready to shun those three little letters, RTD, know that they are changing and are delivering on the most important front: the taste.

 

 

 

The Young and Hungry

In a recent report produced by the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, in partnership with CGA, findings show that young people aged 19-24 are binge drinking less and are in fact, favouring to spend their money on eating out.

With this generation rapidly becoming a foodie generation thanks to the influence of celebrity chefs and reality cooking programs, young consumers are eating out on average 5 to 6 times per month. And they aren’t just eating at the usual chains. Now conscious of things such as provenance, and calibre of ingredients, younger diners are choosing quality and are making the effort to support new local businesses.

Provenance is a buzz word that gets thrown about in many food and drink related articles these days, but what does it actually mean? Provenance, if you will, is the story of the food or drink you’re having; where did it come from? Who produced it? How far did it travel before it ended up on your plate or in your glass?

Why does this matter? Provenance not only impacts on freshness, which in turn impacts on nutrition  – who wants asparagus that has travelled 6000 miles from Peru and has sat in cold storage for weeks – but actively pursuing a product’s provenance gives consumers the power to support local farms and food producers. It also makes one conscious of seasonality, something we all should pay attention to more.

We are so used to having everything available all year that true seasonality is something a lot of people don’t understand. With the influx of imported fruit and veg, consumers are spoilt for choice, but may indeed be choosing things that are spoiled.

With key figures in the food and drink world driving the importance of seasonality and buying local, this is influencing young consumers and their food choices, which is a terrific thing.

Just because the rise of eating out is on the up, and nights of binge drinking are in decline, this is great for the drinks industry, as it means people are enjoying food and drink together and are becoming more interested in matching their food and drink. Their knowledge of what they are drinking is growing and palates are becoming more adventurous and discerning.

This is reflected in the rise of younger people returning to classic cocktails such as the martini and the old fashioned; gin and whisky were seen as old people’s drinks for decades, however, the reinvigoration of these markets is thanks to the young ditching vodka and its blandness and wanting drinks with flavour. The boom of gin producers over the last six years is certainly evidence of the demand for younger consumers preferring products with a story, products made by people and not companies and products made from quality ingredients.

Likewise the younger crowd has played a role in craft beer boom; London has so many wonderful small breweries and their open days are jam-packed with the under 30s enjoying their IPAs and oatmeal stouts – a drink that was vehemently out of vogue until recent times.

Education is why these changes are occurring. With information so readily available these days through the internet, social media and mainstream television and print media, consumers before they consume the actual food and drink, have consumed the knowledge and information behind it, and it is this digestion of facts that will better equip everyone, consumer and producer alike, to create a vibrant and thriving food and drink scene.

Perfect Christmas Gifts for the Difficult to Buy For

We all have those people in our lives who are impossible to buy gifts for. They either have everything or give us the old “oh, I don’t need a present” lie, or perhaps they are one of those family members you only see once a year – like Uncle Stanley and the only thing you know about Uncle Stanley is that he’s a single malt kind of uncle…

We have decided to take the edge off gift-buying for you and have come up with a list of killer gifts to get for those difficult people.

We’ll start with Uncle Stanley, the single malt kind of guy… When giving someone a bottle of scotch, you don’t want to get it wrong. If somebody gave me an average bottle of scotch, I would judge them, and I would have no idea what to do with the scotch. I couldn’t even re-gift it as I wouldn’t want anyone to cast the same judgement on me… So stay away from anything that can be bought at the supermarket, and try for something a little more interesting such as the Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old.

For only £34 a bottle, this Highland single malt delivers a quality the same as bottles many times its price. A complex dram with punches of green apple, vanilla and a whisper of smoke. It tends to become woodier in flavour with the addition of water. And when Uncle Stanley, or Uncle Bob (apparently he’s your uncle) unwraps it, you can throw in this fun fact – Queen Victoria visited this distillery in 1848 when she was staying at Balmoral.

With Uncle Stanley, inevitably comes choosing a gift for Aunt Meredith. All you know about Aunt Meredith is that she belongs to the WI and often wins prizes for her champion marmalade. Enter Chase Marmalade Vodka (£37). After its initial 1000 bottle run, it was such a coveted product that the family-run Chase distillery decided to make it a permanent feature in their beautifully crafted spirit selection.

Made using Chase’s triple distilled award-winning vodka, the tang and bite of Seville orange marmalade is added and then distilled a fourth time, creating a gorgeous and natural tasting vodka. Breakfast martini, anyone?

Moving on to Mum. Although you know Mum better than you know anyone, she is still hard to buy for, and is always guilty of the “oh darling, I don’t need anything”… What she means is she needs gin. A bottle of the old mother’s ruin to amp up the festive times this Christmas. With the craft gin scene thriving in the UK currently, you are spoiled for choice. So we will help you choose.

Dodd’s Gin is small batch and crafted in Battersea, London. Using organic botanicals including, juniper, angelica, fresh lime peel, bay laurel, cardamom, red raspberry leaf and London honey, this gin is fresh and exciting. London’s gin scene is exploding, and the distillers are being bolder with their choices. Gone are the days of overly heavy juniper-focussed gins. The gins are layered and complex and can be used in a variety of ways: neat, with tonic or in a cocktail.

You can pick up Dodd’s (£37.50) from Fortnum & Mason and you can ogle the Christmas decorations while you’re there, or oder online from leading spirits retailers.

As well as the ginaissance, bourbon has certainly been making a come back on the scene. And you know what? Rightly so, as the new wave of small batch bourbons are pretty special. And who doesn’t love an Old Fashioned? Your dad certainly does, which is why a lovely bottle of some craft bourbon is an ideal gift. Often bourbon gets a bad wrap as the big boy bourbons come premixed in horrible cans with cola and evoke nights that end up in gutters… But bourbon is a classic spirit. It can be sophisticated and timeless and can possess much complexity.

Four Roses has been named American Whisky Distiller of the Year four times, and currently hold the title bestowed by Whisky Magazine, and they are incredibly deserving.

Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon is a mix of four different original bourbon recipes and creates a multifaceted and quite frankly, amazing drink. There’re notes of spice and fruit and sweet oaky caramel and it has a lingering finish. This baby just picked up double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, so you know it’ll deliver. And for only £27 it’s a bloody bargain.

Grandpa deserves a top notch bottle of something too, so why not indulge his naval heritage and get him some rum?

The East London Liquor Company Demerara Rum (£25) is produced in Bow Wharf and uses Guyanan sugar. Aged for three years in ex-bourbon casks, it has sweet vanilla notes as well as a good amount of spice. It is also distilled in the world’s last surviving wooden still. The upside down horse on the label is a tribute to the distillery site once being a glue factory. Bottoms up!

Grandma will love you (even more than she already does) if you give her a bottle of Glayva Liqueu (£20). This Scottish gem is Christmas in a bottle, and is made of a blend of whisky, honey, spices, almonds and tangerines. In fact, Glayva is now trademarked as “the best liqueur in the world”, after winning the IWSC trophy a record-breaking 5 times! Who can argue with that?

Pour over Christmas pudding, mix in with warm custard, pour down your throat, mix with chilled ginger ale… Endless possibilities for this luxurious tipple.

And now we arrive at what to get your other half. Always difficult. If your other half is the beer kind, then why not break out of that Carling mould and make your own craft beer hamper? The world of beer is staggeringly diverse and is certainly worth exploring. Some tips for a super little hamper include, Er Boqueron, which is a Spanish beer brewed with sea-water. The result is a lovely minerality and lightness, not a mouthful of salt.

Founders All Day IPA is a gorgeous example of a hoppy and floral American style beer with plenty of punch.

And for something with some weight to it, throw in a can of Beavertown Smog Rocket. Not only is the branding out of this world, but this beer is like a velvety mouth hug. Packed with a rich, smokiness this beer is perfect for winter drinking. These and other excellent craft beers are all available at Ales by Mail.

And now if your other half is the non-beer drinker, a case of a rather marvellous thing called Harry Brompton’s will be a hit. Harry Brompton’s is a London invention combining black tea with vodka and citrus. Alcoholic ice tea. Yep. Delicious. It’s crisp and refreshing and is the perfect thing to drink on any occasion… I see it going down very well in a hot and tumultuous Christmas kitchen on the 25th. Available also from Ales by Mail, a dozen will set you back £21. Why not get a dozen of their other flavour, Berries and Cucumber? Yes. Do it.

Christmas shopping sorted… And you didn’t even have to brave the crowds. Go have a drink… Get into the Christmas spirit, whichever your favourite is.