Forty One, 41 Church Street, Palmeira Square, Hove

The restaurant is set just off Hove’s Palmeira Square – one street up from the sea.

The interior is intimate and has a rustic, stripped back simplicity helping it operate from breakfast and brunch through to lunch and dinner. The best table in my opinion is the upper window seat, which is wonderfully romantic and a great spot for people watching, although if the weather is fine you should opt for one of the tables out front if there’s space.

Interior at Forty One, Hove

The wine list is inviting and easy to navigate with plenty of well-priced finds complemented by a fine wine list for those special occasions.

I opted for a glass of Prosecco to start followed by a bottle of Lunate Merlot Nero d’Avola. This modern Italian red wine blends Sicily’s hero black grape Nero d’Avola and international favourite Merlot to produce a juicy, smooth wine with a refreshing food-friendly acidity.

Lunate Merlot Nero D’Avola

The food menu is rich and varied and caters for a wide range of dietary requirements with several gluten free options detailed on the menu and imaginative vegetarian choices.

I started with the scallops, cauliflower puree and jamón iberico – a sophisticated, elegantly crafted dish with a wonderful combination of textures and flavours. Hubby chose the pork belly, quail and black pudding scotch egg served with an apple and shallot puree; it had him at scotch egg.

Scallops, cauliflower puree and jamón iberico at Forty One, Hove

For mains, I went for the rosemary crusted monkfish, puy lentils and crispy onion parcel. The crispy herb crust set off the sumptuous fleshy monkfish.

Rosemary crusted monkfish, puy lentils at Forty One, Hove

I didn’t really need dessert but couldn’t say no to the cheese board which was offered with a pairing of Port or Sauternes; I couldn’t choose between the two and so got both. Both worked as pairings, although I suspect the Port edged it, but then again the Sauternes was so delightful cheese or no cheese I was happy with my indecision and indulgence.

I popped back on Sunday for the obligatory roast and enjoyed a generous portion of roast topside of beef, complete with all the trimmings including some of the tastiest seasonal veg I’ve had in a while.

Roast top side of beef with all the trimmings at Forty One, Hove

Forty One is a real local find serving superb quality, elegantly constructed and presented dishes. As if you needed a reason to try it, Forty One operates a keenly priced fixed price set menu Tuesday-Saturday until 7pm and hot off the press has just introduced a BYO Tuesday for wine lovers. Book now.

Forty One | 41 Church Road | Hove | BN3 2BE | 01273 220 663

Barcelona beach

The gin tonic reigns supreme in Spain. But it is not served in the highball/Collins glass we’re used to in the UK, but a copa de balon – a big bowled, long stemmed glass.  The Spanish don’t scrimp on the ice nor the gin for that matter, they are also pretty good at intricate garnishes too, which are more complex than a wedge of lime (my default garnish).

So I’m back home and the sun is shining and it is perfect G&T weather, in order to replicate my Spanish gin experience I needed the right glass but couldn’t find it on the high street. Fortuitously, I receive an email on behalf of Alexander & James, a new shopping site backed by Diageo which focuses on premium Diageo spirits and gift sets with loads of gorgeous glassware and I so road test a Tanqueray Copa gift set.

Alexander & James Tanqueray Copa gift set

I am already familiar with Tanqueray, it’s a classy Juniper heavy gin which I benchmark most other Juniper style gins against, and I’m keen to see the Copa glasses in action, wondering whether they will still hold the same magic back home.

The gift set comes beautifully wrapped in individual wine red boxes lined with black acoustic foam, for safe transit and stylish presentation. The Tanqueray Copa is an elegant, indulgent way to enjoy a large gin & tonic Spanish-style and would make a cracking gift for a gin lover.

Beautifully boxed

So why drink your gin and tonic in a copa. According to Spanish bartenders, a large bowled glass opens up the drink and allows the ice, tonic, gin and garnish to marry more elegantly. Plus a long stemmed glass, so long as you hold it by the stem, means your gin & tonic stays ice cold and isn’t warmed by your hands.

Tanqueray copa gin & tonic glass

Spain is bang on trend in the UK right now, so expect to see copa glasses in increasing numbers of bars before long – London Gin Club at the Star at Night has been serving Gin Tonics in Copa since it launched last March. More will surely follow…

Top of my ‘to do list’ in Barcelona was tapas at Tickets. Tickets is run in partnership with Albert and Ferran Adrià of El Bulli fame and the Iglesias’ brothers, Juan Carlos, Borja and Pedro whose family owns Rías de Galicia, a seafood restaurant in Barcelona.

Tickets tapas bar, Barcelona

It sounded like a fun Willy Wonka take on tapas and I wanted in and so set a reminder to book a table the required 60 days in advance. A little after the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, while hubby was busy wishing friends and family a Happy New Year, I was booking a table at Tickets for March 2nd. There may have been tables left over in the morning but I didn’t want to chance it. Tickets release 80 tables at 12am exactly two months in advance and with the time difference it was already gone 1am.

Fast forward two months and we are  being greeted by a circus ringleader and led past the illuminated Tickets box office, all slightly surreal and it already feels worth the effort.

We were led to a cutesy iron chair made for two at the seafood bar in the La Presumida area of Tickets. Here you have a great view of the fresh crabs, oysters and clams and the chefs at work. You can also watch the jamón carver meticulously slicing and weighing the Joselito ham.

Chefs at work at Tickets, Barcelona

Our waiter was friendly, knowledgeable and approachable. He asked us what we liked and what we didn’t and then offered to navigate the menu and choose a selection of dishes for us. We trusted him and let him be our guide for this alien food experience.

The first plate to arrive was Joselito Gran Reserva Jamón iberico and Pan de Tomate. There was nothing weird and wonderful about it and I was glad. Jamón this good does not need any special effects; it was sliced to perfection allowing fatty wafers of cured meat to melt elegantly on the tongue.

Joselito Gran Reserva Jamón iberico at Tickets, Barcelona

Next up was the olives, I’d heard about these exploding olives before and was intrigued. These liquidised olives encased in a barely there membrane were offered on a spoon. We were directed to eat them whole and they exploded on the tongue with brain-shaking olive hit, the sensation was strange and made us both laugh. Laughing it seems is very much part of the concept for La vida tapa on which Tickets was based.

“there is no place for boredom, sadness or loneliness but there is much for laughs, complicity and good company.”

Exploding olives at Tickets, Barcelona

The mini airbags stuffed with manchego again was an experience in texture, flavour and fun – Manchego was served here three ways including as a creamy, oozing centre of the fluffy airbags, released on impact in the mouth.

I enjoyed the fact I didn’t have to compromise what I wanted on the tasting menu just because my hubby doesn’t eat fish, we were both given our own separate tasting menu with a couple of dishes to share but many special to us.

So while enjoyed the tuna belly cone, the presentation of which was reminiscent of Brighton beach while hubby had Mollete de papada, which looked a little like a McDonalds McMuffin with its greaseproof paper, but tasted a world away I’d told – it was arguable his favourite dish of the evening.

Slightly spicy tuna belly cone with lime zest at Tickets, Barcelona

Mollete de papada

Several more dishes passed through in quick succession, Avocado Cannelloni with crab and romesco sauce, Airbaguette of Iberian pancetta Joselito,  Crostini with tomato seeds and Cantabrian anchovies all visually stunning and appetite satisfying.

Imagination was still flowing when it came to desserts with an unusual interpretation of Mugaritz Torrija with orange zest ice cream just one of three heavenly sweet courses. 

The waiter had crafted out a culinary journey for each of us and every course had a story and a way of surprising and delighting and making us smile, giggle or laugh in some way. We were thoroughly entertained and fed and the experience although not cheap was worth every penny.

London Cocktail Society knows how to coax me out on a Monday night; offering me a gin distillery tour and cocktail session with fellow cocktail aficionados.

The distillery in question was the imaginatively named City of London Distillery in Blackfriars, a distillery-come-bar in the heart of the City.

The distillery is reminiscent of an open kitchen in a restaurant; you can see both the shiny stills and bottling line from the bar and in theory watch the gin being made while supping on a G&T.

The tour was hosted by master distiller, Jamie Baxter. Jamie helped create the Chase distillery, which was quickly known for producing ‘the best vodka in the world’ – and also makes a pretty fine gin too.

Jamie introduces us to ‘gog’ and ‘magog’ his stills, named after the two benevolent giants said to guard the City of London, an ironic name given the size of them.

There are two broad stylistic camps for gin; a juniper heavy style or a lighter, citrusy style. The City of London Gin falls firmly into the latter camp with a pink grapefruit highlight providing a refreshing twang.

In common with most gin distilleries they buy in a neutral spirit, the basic starting point for both gin and vodka. What is less common for a gin distiller is to redistill it, which is what they do here to make it smoother and improve the mouthfeel.

What makes this a place you will visit again and again is the bar, which is probably several times bigger than the distillery itself and houses over 130 different gins.

Aside from the house City of London Gin the next best seller is Gin Mare – a Barcelona gin which uses unusual Mediterranean botanicals – okay so rosemary, thyme and olives aren’t exactly unusual in the foodie world but when being used in gin they are.

The bar has every style of gin and its precursor genever including Old Tom sweetened gins, prohibition-inspired Bath tub gins, London Dry Gins and a plethora of experimental gins some that don’t even taste like gin (with a seriously lax interpretation of ‘must taste predominately of juniper’).

This bar is a real gin treasure trove and has a passionate, knowledgeable team behind the bar to help guide you through the best gin for your chosen serve and help you experiment with gin cocktails.

Tozino is run by the finest Jamón carver in London, Chuse Valero, it serves the most exquisite, expertly carved jamón. It is bustling, informal, authentic and ridiculously good value – everything I love; a genuine Spanish culinary hideaway nestled underneath some antiquated London arches on Maltby Street Market.

Tozino, Maltby Street Market

Now to me jamón is the best ham in the world, although even the best ingredients are useless in the wrong hands. I was at an event at Great Western Studios last week and enthused to see jamón being carved. Although my initial excitement turned into deep disappointment as the person wielding the knife had all the grace of my good self (I’ve yet to perfect the art of jamón carving). The resulting servings were not slithers of jamón so wafer thin they melt on your tongue, but tough chunks an inch thick that needed some serious chewing. Talk about a waste of money. If you are going to serve jamón, serve it right, call Chuse.

Chuse Valero, Master Jamón carver

Right of course means first the getting the right quality ham, the acorn-fed iberico pork, we were enjoying on Saturday was the Jamón de los Pedroches, there are plenty of other regional specialities to chose from and enjoy.

Second, ensure the jamón is carved by someone who know how to wield a knife and slice wafer thin slithers (harder than it looks).

Three, enjoy it with some Spanish drinks – a caña of beer (Tozino serves Moritz on draft and offers 1/3 pint serves), a glass or indeed a bottle of Cava (cuts through the fattiness of the ham brilliantly) and definitely some of the sherry, I was loving the medium sweet Amontillado which complemented the nuttiness of the jamón.

Bar Tozino drinks menu

Four, enjoy with people you love in a bustling bar full of atmosphere. Jamón is made for sharing.  Tozino may look super busy at times but it is worth persevering to secure your spot at the bar. Although warning, you may well be there some time.

Tozino is not simply a bar, it is a shop, a workshop, a market stall, a place to eat, drink, talk and share. It has a rustic feel and traditional décor, with jamón hanging from the ceiling, large barrels for tables and plenty of stools for those wanting to prop up the bar; it is authentic, intimate, informal.

The food was simple, classic dishes done extremely well. The tortilla was gorgeous and gooey in the middle, chickpea and chorizo stew – flavoursome and moreish, trio of manchego showed the quality of the sourcing here (classic manchego and versions with a red wine rind and my personal favourite with the rosemary rind).

Chickpea and Chorizo stew

Usually I’ve been left a little unimpressed by Spanish desserts but the almond cake was superb, and dessert is a great excuse to indulge in the raisiny syrupy goodness of Pedro Ximenez sherry.

Service was great, prices really reasonable although if you decide to go home with a leg of jamón it can get pricey, legs will set you back anywhere between £180 to £350 and even up to £700 a leg, but it would be so worth it!

Tozino Lassco Ropewalk, Maltby Street, SE1 3PA

Open 5-10pm Thursday and Friday, 10am-10pm Saturday and 12am to 5pm on Sunday

www.bartozino.com

Make no mistake I only ever come to London Cocktail Club to party. If you are after a quiet tipple and in-depth chat go somewhere else. If you want to let your hair down, sing  along to tune after tune (some old, some cheesy but all of them good) and imbibe some creative, quality cocktails then this drinking den for you.

I’ve long been a fan of London Cocktail Club’s work and as much as I love Sarah and the gang at LCC Shaftesbury Ave I feel like I’m cheating on them a bit with LCC Goodge Street at the moment. LCC Goodge Street has won me over partly due to its proximity to my office and mostly because of this guy.

Bram, is a one man multi-tasting cocktail machine and it is incredible to watch  him mixing drinks with pizzaz for four different groups, taking payments and still having time to turn up tunes and rock out to his favourite tracks and sink a shot or two.

What sets London Cocktail Club apart for me, is that the team behind the bar killing it with the drinks, look and act like they are loving every minute of service. They work their nuts off don’t get me wrong but they have a good time with it and this definitely adds to the atmosphere. The bar team are well loved looking at the notes from guests written on napkins behind the bar and the collection of bras hanging up above the bar I can only assume were donated by admirers.

The quality of cocktails and imaginative breadth of the menu will mean you will never get bored. One of my favourites is the signature Bacon & Egg Martini, a frothy creamy bacon  infused bourbon expertly blended with maple syrup, egg white and lemon. It is garnished with the tastiest strip of cured bacon and sometimes with a Haribo egg planted on top. It messes with your head to have the combination of sweet, sour and salty flavours but trust me it so works.

London Cocktail Club is simply a good time waiting to happen, go there with a group of mates after work for a damn good time and expect to have a sore throat and head in the morning.

When FEW started production on April 30^th 2011 it was the first time alcohol had ever been produced legally in Paul’s town of Evanston, Illinois – the home of prohibition.

The town’s most famous resident, Francis Elizabeth Willard, was the second person to head up the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which petitioned for prohibition in the States.

Evanston remained dry long after prohibition. The city got its first and only liquor store in the 1980s but even now the city has no bars just restaurants.

It took three long years for a distillers licence to be approved in the town. Something Paul pursued because it seems distilling is in the blood. Prior to WWII Paul’s Grandfather Al had a family business brewing in what is now known as the Czech Republic. When Hitler invaded the business was taken from the family and Paul’s Grandfather spent the rest of his days trying to get the business back, but sadly never did. After he died in 2008, Paul decided to continue the family legacy but do something different and so FEW was born.

Everything about FEW speaks of where it’s from and what it’s about. All the imagery on the bottles is from the 1893 Chicago World Fair, which is Paul’s way of saying Chicago without using the word Chicago. The name implies the right kind of things about the business, small, exclusive and there’s not much of it (this is very small batch production). What’s more F.E.W. is the initials of the most famous resident of Illinois one Francis Elizabeth Willard. There is a certain poetic justice to the fact the woman who spearheaded the temperance movement and fought so hard for Prohibition should be immortalised by a distillery just a mile south of her one time home.

Not only that, Paul has named one of the stills in her honour. FEW has two stills both named after the personality and characteristics of key people in FEW’s history; Francis and Al, (Paul’s Grandfather).

Francis – is prim and proper and a classy lady. As for the still, set it, forget it, she goes on and does her work, you don’t have to bother her. No muss, no fuss, she gets the job done. Al on the other hand, is difficult to deal with and demands a lot of attention, you have to have your hands on him, constantly talk to him, play with all his controls.

So that’s the story behind FEW, now what’s in the glass…

FEW Bourbon

Contrary to popular belief Bourbon can be made anywhere in America, not just Kentucky. Bourbon must be made of 51% corn and be aged in new American oak barrels.

FEW Bourbon is slightly different as it is so very spicy due to the high rye content and the type of yeast used.

It is aged in char 3, American oak barrels, which are sourced from Minnesota, whereas most bourbon barrels are sourced from the warmer, more southerly Missouri. Minnesota has a much shorter growing season, which means its wood has a tighter grain and imparts different characters on the bourbon.

My impression: Sweet with a rich pepper spice, plenty of vanilla and caramel and just a hint of dried fruit, a warm but long finish – well it is 46.5%!

FEW Rye

Now to the Rye. Rye it is an expensive grain to purchase as it is low yielding. What’s more it is difficult to work with – ‘a right pain in the ass’ according to Paul. Whereas to mash the corn takes 15 mines or so, rye will take three hours or more. It is really sticky and you need to add it in slow and use a lot of manual labour. Because it is expensive, low yielding and a ‘right pain in the ass’ most distilleries use the legal minimum of 51% rye when making a rye whisky. Paul clearly doesn’t take the path of least resistance in life and decided to make his rye 70% Rye.

By using 70% rye Paul argues he gets all the spice and pepper of rye but also the complexity and depth of flavour of using just 20% corn to add a touch of sweetness and mellow the Rye out.

Yet again, yeast is the key to the flavour composition, with Paul using a yeast more common to red wine production and designed to highlight the fruity esters.

My impression: A beautifully balanced whisky with plenty of pepper and spice but mellowed by a distinct fruity character of apples, plums and banana skin.

FEW Gin

FEW American whisky is not trying to reproduce a London Dry Gin style, and why should it, it is American and so it seems only fitting for it to use a whisky base to make its gin.

While Bourbon has a great many very specific rules, the glory of gin according to Paul is that there’s ‘no stinking rules’. The only thing a gin needs to do is taste predominately of juniper, FEW gin takes that with almost as much of a pinch of salt as Hoxton Gin. But while I usually turn my nose up at gins that aren’t juniper dominant there is something really quite good about this more citrus/vanilla focused gin.

The cascade hops that give a grapey fruitiness grow in Paul’s back garden. There are 11 different botanicals in the mix although we’re not privy to what they all are – top secret and all that.

My impression: There is a sweetness and a lovely creamy texture this gin. It has a rich and complex flavour dominated by grapefruit, lemon peel and vanilla with the required nod to juniper softly in the background

FEW Navy Strength Gin

Navy Strength Gin is at least 57% proof which means if it was spilt on gunpowder on board a ship, it would still light – as it is that bloody strong. Gin was included in daily rations of the British Navy for many a year. The fantastic G&T was supposedly first created by a Navy doctor who approved of tonic’s anti-malarial properties and had a ready supply of Navy strength Gin.

This gin was created with an entirely different interpretation of the term ‘taste predominately of juniper’, in that it actually does taste of juniper and it is much more pronounced, dominate even. There are just five botanicals used here and I’m putting myself out there and guessing they are juniper, fennel, orange peel, angelica and liquorice or aniseed. Shoot me down!

It is bloody strong and numbed my lips with just a sip but will no doubt make a damn fine G&T.

My impression: A fiery spirit with a slight sweetness, juniper dominates the palate along with fennel and angelica and hints of liquorice and aniseed.

FEW Spirits – hitting good cocktail bars now and available online through Master of Malt from £32.95.

Fino is a beautifully delicate style of Sherry and one that demands to be drunk whilst fresh and young. Having been lucky enough to have visited Jerez where I tried Fino straight from the barrel, and having enjoyed Gonzalez Byass’ Fino En Rama – a very fresh lightly filtered style within a month of it being shipped, – I can contest that fresher really is better when it comes to Fino.

Until now it has not been easy to tell whether the Fino you are enjoying is a freshly shipped bottle or one that has been sat gathering dust on a shelf for quite some time. But from this month (September 2012) good ol’ Gonzalez Byass has introduced the date of bottling onto the back of each bottle of Tio Pepe Fino shipped to the UK, so you know it’s fresh. I can tell that my bottle was bottled on the 13th of August and I am enjoying it at its very best within just a month of bottling. They recommend you enjoy the Fino within 12 months of bottling and fairly soon after opening, treat it like a delicate white wine and don’t keep it open for too long. If you really struggle to finish a bottle of Fino within a few days, invite a few friends round to help you out (I very rarely say no to Sherry), experiment cooking with it – or try the half bottles.

So why does freshness matter. Whereas Olorosos seem like they can last forever, this is because they have been aged oxidatively and therefore won’t spoil with further contact with oxygen. Fino on the other hand is an incredibly delicate wine that has been aged biologically, with a layer of bready yeast called flor protecting it from oxygen and imparting an unmistakable tang, which makes it a phenomenal match to a range of different savoury and salty foods – jamón, crab, salted almonds take your pick.

Tio Pepe Fino sherry is available from all major retailers, with an RRP of £9.47 for 75cl

So last weekend, Chase vodka opened its farm doors to the drinks industry yet again with the second Rock the Farm, an industry only drinks festival. Two immediate thoughts; this is extremely generous of Chase and extremely brave – cocktail bar tenders know how to party!

The sun was shining as GinMonkeyUK , LdnBarScene and I pitched our tent in the farm grounds, and walked onto the distillery site. Chase hadn’t done things by halves – it looked amazing, with bales of hay laid out to sit down on and a Williams gin and Fever Tree tonic stand out front and plenty of that moreish Sweet and Sour Tyrrell’s popcorn, which combined with the pizza van would prove to be my saving grace later.

I started the day with a Wyld Wood cider made by Westons, another quality Hereford brand. Although I’ve been told Chase will be launching its very own cider soon, if it’s anything like the quality of its vodka – exciting times are ahead for cider fans.

We signed up for a tour of the farm by Harry Chase and got the lay of the land. Harry says they grow what they’re good at in Hereford, the farm here grows two main crops; potato, for the Chase vodka, and apples, for the Williams gin and apple juice.

Hereford is located in a basin and enjoys good rainfall from Wales, although a mite too much rain this year, and does not suffer from much frost during apple blossom season. You need a good amount of rain to grow apples and, well potatoes are pretty much just water and starch, so these wet conditions work well.

You know what, it really is something seeing the farm and raw materials behind the products you love so much – and to find there is no illusion, it is so real, so genuine. While Chase may be successful, this is still very much a family operation and a family which makes its living through their land.

All were clearly part of the action today, James Chase organised Rock the Farm, Harry Chase showed us the land he looks after, and William Chase Sr (who gave his name to Williams Gin) judged the Chase Cup cocktail competition while Grandma and Grandpa Chase even joined us on our tour of the farm.

After the farm tour, we head to the tasting room set up in the distillery. First stop is the Chase Vodka table, that’s why we’re here after all.

I love the Chase potato vodka, I used to thank my lucky stars when it came up in blind tastings, I could spot that cream soda nose at 20 paces. The Chase Marmalade vodka is a mixologist’s dream, made from Seville oranges it is bittersweet and tangy and so distinct from other products out there. I taste through a weird and wonderful range of vodkas which include Islay Whisky cask vodka, Rhubarb vodka, Juniper vodka (is that not gin?).

Of the experimental range the Kentucky Bourbon aged vodka was my fave it is pretty hefty at 62.5% so has a bit of a bourbon bite. The Stupid Hot Chilli Vodka was indeed stupidly hot and totally beat me. To be fair it was locked away in a top secret safe so – my bad.

Then Chartreuse called my name, I’ve always been intrigued by Chartreuse, a herbal liqueur originally made by Chartusian Monks. Over 400 years later and it is still made by monks, with only two monks entrusted with the secret recipe. There is something warm and fuzzy about the fact that sales of these liqueurs allow the Chartreuse Monks to survive in today’s commercial world and give them the ability to continue dedicating their lives to prayer and meditation.

There are two main Chartreuse products, Green Chartreuse and Yellow Chartreuse. The Green Chartreuse is naturally green in colour from the maceration of 130 different herbs. It is 55% so pretty fiery when consumed neat, but more and more is being enjoyed as part of a long drink. We were offered a refreshing cocktail made using Green Chartreuse, Lemon Cello, Fresh Lemon and soda – a great aperitif, or sunny afternoon drink. The Yellow Chartreuse is much sweeter and milder and can be enjoyed neat or mixed.

Next stop was the collection of cider and perry by Olivers, a small producer in Hereford.  There was a beautifully delicate, sparkling, bottle conditioned medium Perry, but my head was turned by the polar opposite, Olivier’s Real Hereford Dry Cider 2010 Vintage – a bone dry, sour bitter cider that challenges the palate and sang of blue cheese (a key phenolic of bitter sweet cider apples), orchard floor and had a chewy apple skin finish.

So that was the farm, now for the rock. Reverend and the Makers put on a stonking show and DJs kept the party pumping until around 2am when I needed my bed.

Rock the Farm is an incredibly generous gift from Chase to the trade, not many brands could do something like this with as much credibility and kudos – that would be as much fun. If you work in a bar that serves Chase and weren’t there this year sign yourselves up here.

What became apparent when asked what we knew about Rémy Martin or Cognac at the beginning of the tasting was either that there were lot of shy people in the room or the modern cocktail loving consumer doesn’t yet know a huge amount about Cognac.

While trying my best not to be the annoying know-it-all at the back of the class I offered up that Rémy Martin sources its grapes from the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne regions of Cognac, yet before getting stuck into Crus we needed to establish that Cognac was indeed French and made from grapes.

This demonstrates quite what a job the guys at Rémy Martin have on their hands educating and inspiring a new generation of Cognac fans. However, Remy Martin ambassador, Anne-Laure Pressat was perfectly placed to give consumers a friendly introduction to Cognac and a potted history of Rémy Martin so consumers who signed up to the class were left with an understanding of quite what makes Rémy Martin so special.

Cognac is a region is South West France just north of Bordeaux – only eaux de vie made and aged in this appellation can be called Cognac. The Cognac region is made up of six districts called ‘Crus’. At the heart of Cognac lies the best of these Crus; Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, these Crus enjoy a chalky soil similar to that of the Champagne region where France’s famous world class bubbly is made.

To be a Cognac, the spirit must be double distilled in a copper pot still (Armagnac can be distilled just the once) by 31^st March in the year following harvest and aged in French oak for minimum of 2 years and must produce a spirit with a minimum of abv of 40%.

Cognac has three age classifications VS, VSOP and XO which relate to a minimum ageing period (2, 4 and 6 years respectively, although as we’ll see later this is just a minimum). Blending and ageing is key to Cognac, where the mission is to create a consistent product every year regardless of the weather conditions of the particular vintage.

Rémy Martin is a Cognac house of some heritage, it was first founded in 1724 and because of its philosophy of quality it doesn’t create a basic VS Cognac.

As Anne-Laure is explaining the distillation process at Rémy my ears prick up at…‘when the barrels are sleeping, she will blend’.

‘She’ is Rémy Martin’s Cellar Master, Pierrette Trichet. In this day and age I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that a woman is at the helm of a major Cognac house, but in this male-dominated industry I confess I am a little surprised and indeed impressed that a woman has broken through – what a woman she must be I wonder. Pierrette Trichet is the only female Cellar Master of any of the major Cognac houses, and she has been there for some time (20 yrs +), as had her predecessors – there have only been four Cellar Masters at Rémy in the past 100 years.

So what else makes Rémy different? Well the sourcing of grapes is key, but also the fact that 100% of the base wines are distilled on their lees. These dead yeast cells adds complexity and character to the final spirit but makes distillation that much more difficult as will need to be careful not to burn the sediment. Rémy is distilled in small copper pot stills of just 25hl and then aged in oak from France’s oldest and most renowned forest, the Limousin Forest.

Onto the Cognacs….

Rémy Martin VSOP Mature Cask Finish

Remy Martin VSOP (Very Special Old Pale) contains a blend of 240 different Cognacs aged between 4 and 14 years old.

The recipe is the same as when first created in 1927, however, the finishing has changed in recent years following the bottle redesign and it is now finished in mature casks.

This is a great aromatic Cognac for blending into cocktails as it has a strong flavour that can stand up to a multitude of ingredients.

It exudes a fruity aroma with peach, apricot and pears which develops into a crème brûlée, vanilla, spicy white pepper on the palate and a soft honey finish that lingers.

Rémy Martin Coeur de Cognac

A light Cognac which is simple, feminine and fruity and presented in a stylish, curvaceous perfume-inspired bottle.

Rémy Martin XO

Rémy Martin XO (Extra Old) was first created in 1981, a very good year!. This is a luxury connoisseurs’ Cognac which is a blend of 360 different Cognacs aged between 10 and 37 years old. 85% of the blend comes from the ‘grander’ Grande Champagne Cru.

This is an intense tipple which shows in waves of flavours, from a waft of jasmine and dried apricot followed by an array of figs, caramel, toffee and hazlenut and finishes with a distinctive liquorice finish. Divine.

And the cocktails…

So once we were won over by the spirits, we were shown how to enjoy them – in a range of cocktails so simple we could easily recreate at home – and trust me I have!

French Mojito – Light, refreshing way to introduce someone to Cognac – my hubby’s favourite

Rémy Martin Side Car

This is a classic brandy cocktail of which I am a fan, I won a prize on the evening for my  Side Car creation – so proud!

Summer Toddy

A twist on hot toddy but adapted for warmer times, given the number of summer colds I’ve had this year I will keep this recipe to hand, it is tasty and refreshing whether you are suffering from a cold or not

Thank you Rémy Martin for the inspiring masterclass and cocktail demonstration and thank you Waitrose for the phenomenal food and of course the invitation to such a special night.