Czech pourk

Living in the moment, Burnt Faith brandy and Hepple gin. Plus have your say on what to read next time.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a press trip to Czechia — or should that be the Czech Republic? I never quite know — organised by the good folk at Budvar. It has resulted in two articles:

• For CAMRA, a short look at what British pubs might learn from their Czech counterparts

• For Ferment Magazine, a forthcoming feature on Wild Creatures Brewery.

One thing I didn’t write about was our trip down into the Budvar cellars. And you know what? I’m not going to write about it here either. Not in detail. I only mention it now to introduce an idea: the pressure to turn every experience into content for others to consume can rot away at your enjoyment of things if you’re not careful. I am going to keep my time in the cellars as a pleasurable memory. If you really want to hear about it, you’ll have to get me talking in person over a beer.

Instead I’ll offer another quick anecdote:

Before our cellar tour, about 20 of us went for lunch at the restaurant attached to the brewery. The schnitzel, which came highly recommended, turned out to be the popular choice that day. I reckon at least half of us chose it over goulash or what have you. While we waited for our food to arrive I pictured the kitchen staff all busily flattening and tenderising endless cuts of meat. The image pleased me so I tried to share it with the group. What came out instead was: “I bet they’re all busy pounding the pork.”

I can’t think what everyone was laughing at.

More reading

• “Somewhere in a mushroom farm in Oxfordshire sit 170 or so barrels that will make or break the future of London’s only dedicated brandy distillery — one of the most intriguing startups the city has seen for a while.” Continue reading about Burnt Faith over on my website.

• “This is a different drink altogether. The botanicals have loosened up, like the quiet dinner guest who begins to crack wicked jokes over their second martini. A resinous piney thwack of juniper rushes to my limbic system where it calls up fresh air and wide horizons, needled leaves trembling in a moorland breeze.” My story on Hepple gin is achingly close to publication in Tonic Magazine volume 5.

You choose

Now it’s time to give you some input into the next edition. I want to write more about gins and have two competing ideas.

One is to explore three gins that all share the same botanical. I could give you tasting notes and links for where to buy the gins online.

The other is to look at three interesting gin/mixer/garnish combos beyond the usual London Dry, Indian tonic, slice of lemon.