And the alcohol for tonight is....?

[Ray Finkle]

As I have no work tomorrow we decided on a BBQ accompanied by some Thatchers Gold that Mrs F bought home. Not the greatest cider I have tasted but definitely drinkable 👍

I have a bottle of Malbec ready and waiting 🙂

 

[TheLocalYokel]

As I have no work tomorrow we decided on a BBQ accompanied by some Thatchers Gold that Mrs F bought home. Not the greatest cider I have tasted but definitely drinkable 👍

I have a bottle of Malbec ready and waiting 🙂

What was lacking in the Thatchers Gold, Ray? I'm not a big cider drinker but on warm evenings if we go out for a meal I sometimes have a glass of Thatchers Gold if it's available and it usually is because it's a local cider to my part of the world.

Thatchers is a big cider maker in North Somerset with its base in the village of Sandford about halfway between Bristol Airport and Weston-super-Mare.

 

[Ray Finkle]

What was lacking in the Thatchers Gold, Ray? I'm not a big cider drinker but on warm evenings if we go out for a meal I sometimes have a glass of Thatchers Gold if it's available and it usually is because it's a local cider to my part of the world.

Not a massive cider drinker myself either but every now and then, when the mood takes me, I do enjoy it.

I wouldn't say anything was lacking as such as I definitely enjoyed it but my cider of choice is Cornish Rattler, which is on another level to any other that I have tasted.

Of course it could be that drinking a pint of freshly poured ice cold Rattler on a warm summers day whilst sat in a beer garden with views over Tolcarne Beach cannot possibly compare to something poured out of a can in my back garden in East Birmingham. Maybe if I had a pint of Thatchers Gold in similar circumstances things would be different 🙂

 

[Ray Finkle]

@Aviador nice Malbec from Tesco (other supermarkets are available) 👍

 

[Aviador]

Asda is my current preferred supermarket but I shall keep my eyes peeled for that when I go.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Not a massive cider drinker myself either but every now and then, when the mood takes me, I do enjoy it.

I wouldn't say anything was lacking as such as I definitely enjoyed it but my cider of choice is Cornish Rattler, which is on another level to any other that I have tasted.

Of course it could be that drinking a pint of freshly poured ice cold Rattler on a warm summers day whilst sat in a beer garden with views over Tolcarne Beach cannot possibly compare to something poured out of a can in my back garden in East Birmingham. Maybe if I had a pint of Thatchers Gold in similar circumstances things would be different 🙂

When I was growing up in rural Somerset some of the farmers still produced their own scrumpy. I was never a big drinker in my teens and didn't take to alcohol until getting on towards the 20 mark as we used to say. I do remember that on one occasion I somewhat unwisely gave in to one of my mates whose father was a farmer and tasted what I was told was home-made scrumpy cider at the farm. I can't really remember what it tasted like now, except that I have an abiding memory that it was dreadful. I don't think I took more than one mouthful.

It was probably an acquired taste because when I first tasted whisky I didn't like it one bit but over the years that opinion has completely turned around and, whilst certainly not an old soak, I can certainly appreciate a good whisky nowadays.

 

[Ray Finkle]

When I was growing up in rural Somerset some of the farmers still produced their own scrumpy. I was never a big drinker in my teens and didn't take to alcohol until getting on towards the 20 mark as we used to say. I do remember that on one occasion I somewhat unwisely gave in to one of my mates whose father was a farmer and tasted what I was told was home-made scrumpy cider at the farm. I can't really remember what it tasted like now, except that I have an abiding memory that it was dreadful. I don't think I took more than one mouthful.

My first taste of alcohol was being 'called for' by friends of ours who had pinched eight cans of Kestrel Lager from the local off licence. We went to the abandoned garages a few streets away, lit up a ciggie and took our first sip. All I can remember is it being one of the most disgusting things that I had ever had the misfortune to taste.

It was probably an acquired taste because when I first tasted whisky I didn't like it one bit but over the years that opinion has completely turned around and, whilst certainly not an old soak, I can certainly appreciate a good whisky nowadays.

Nothing like a decent single malt, something that I would have turned my nose up at 25 odd years ago.

 

[Aviador]

It's FRIDAY and I need a drink......

 

[Ray Finkle]

 

[thunderchild]

Currently enjoying a New Zealand that completed tonights Chinese takeaway very well! Praise the lord for elasticated waistbands!

 

[Aviador]

Campo Viejo Rioja tonight for us.

 

[thunderchild]

Campo Viejo Rioja tonight for us.

Nice!

 

[Ray Finkle]

La Geria red tonight, bought back from Lanzarote.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Just found an Abbott Ale lurking at the back of the fridge. That will make a nice start to the BBQ 🙂

Have a great weekend all 👍

 

[paully]

Might be tempted to a glass or 6 of some rather smooth Merlot I bought from a small winery in very rural France this summer...Comes in 5 or 10 litre boxes............guess which one stupid boy Pike bought🤐

 

[lbaspotter]

My sip for tonight is a cocktail of Lemsip & Paracetamol seen as i'm full off the Cold. May get either the bottle of Bourbon Whiskey or Brandy out later though to make me sleep

Hope you all have a nice weekend and enjoy some of the late summer sunshine.

 

[paully]

May get either the bottle of Bourbon Whiskey or Brandy out later though to make me sleep

In view of your awful cold I suggest you take advantage of both...you will feel better.......sort off
seriously get well soon and hope your weekend gets better

 

[Ray Finkle]

My sip for tonight is a cocktail of Lemsip & Paracetamol seen as i'm full off the Cold. May get either the bottle of Bourbon Whiskey or Brandy out later though to make me sleep

Double brandy mixed into a Lemsip, a sure fire winner.

I hope you feel better soon mate.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Enjoying a Kumala Shiraz tonight.

Can't have too much as we're off to Worcester in the morning 🙁

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Probably attended the last bbq of the year late this afternoon and this evening. We're not great bbq fans but our son and his wife are keen on them so we always go as the social thing is good. Athough it was sunny (until it went down) the wind was a bit fresh so the patio heaters were welcome later.

We enjoyed Asda Italian Sauvignon Blanc with the burgers and sausages which although not expensive was very acceptable. My wife and I are people who drink the wine we like not because some so-called wine expert has said this wine should be drunk with that food and that wine with this food.

We tend to drink more red wine in the winter (usually Merlot, Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon) and white in the summer as we find that in general white tends to be more refreshing and certainly lighter. We are also partial to Pino Grigio on the white side.

We would drink most wines if set before us although my wife isn't the greatest fan of Chardonnay and I'm not a major aficionado of Pino Noir.

When holidaying in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago we had a bottle of Swiss Riesling most nights with our meal in the hotel. It was from the Lake Thun area which is literally just down the road from where we were staying in the Bernese Oberland. It was superb - ought to be for the price of wine in hotels and restaurants in Switzerland.

The thing is that before and in the early days of our marriage (the 1960s) wine was often considered the province of the well-off and then few 'ordinary' people would think of having a bottle or a glass with a meal, not that 'going out for meals' as we think of the trend today was widely practised in those days by the majority of people.

Perhaps the likes of Berni Inns began to make eating out and drinking wine with meals in restaurants and later in pubs more widespread. I always think of a Berni Inn meal as prawn cocktai, rump steak and Black Forest gateau, washed down with a bottle of Mateus Rose in the funny-shaped bottle. Our younger generation of those days really thought we had joined the 'jet set' after an evening out like that. I suspect that prawn cocktail and Black Forest gateau are considered passee in these more sophisticated gastronomic days. I sometimes still have prawn cocktail as a starter but I'm not a gateau enthusiast.