The Great British Tea Party
Bring out the buttercream! The Great British Bake Off has all inspired us to start baking again, and now it's the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, making it official: tea parties are fashionable again! Whether it's sponge cakes, cupcakes, fairy cakes or celebration cakes, nothing beats a slice of cake with a cup of Afternoon Tea. It doesn't matter whether your a domestic goddess or prefer to rely on Mr Kipling, we've got a great selection of different cupcake stands and cupcake decorations for your tea party display!
Indoor Sparkler with Cupcake
If you're looking for a unique cupcake stand to display your elegantly iced cupcakes, the revolving Ferris Wheel Cupcake Holder might just about be the most cute and unusual cupcake stand we've seen. With UK exclusive, drinkstuff.com is the place to buy! Holding 8 medium to large cupcakes, we think it's perfect for tea parties, baby showers, weddings, fates and fairs!
Ferris Wheel Cupcake Holder
No tea party is complete without a classic Victoria Sponge cake and our Stainless Steel Cake Stand and Metal Handle Cake Dome offers an elegant cake stand for displaying your baking creations. The classic design means it can be used for all types of cakes and sweet treats for any occasion.
Stainless Steel Cake Stand and Metal Handle Cake Dome
Jubilee Cupcakes
If you're hosting a Jubilee tea party or Jubilee street party we've sourced a cute Jubilee Cupcake Recipe for inspiration:
Ingredients:
150g caster sugar
150g butter
130g self-raising flour
20g cornflour
3 medium eggs
30ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream:
250g butter, room temperature
500g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
30ml milk
To make the cakes:
1. Preheat your oven to 160°C/320°F/Gas Mark 3. Place 12 cases in your muffin tin.
2. Beat the sugar and butter with the vanilla essence until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
3. Combine the flour and cornflour.
4. Add 1 egg, 1 third of the flour mix and a splash of milk and beat until just combined and repeat until all the ingredients are added.
5. Divide the batter between the 12 cases and bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.
6. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack.
To make the buttercream
1. Add butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl, then beat for about 5 minutes with an electric whisk until smooth.
2. Pour the milk gradually if you need to loosen the mixture.
Piping a swirl
1. Attach the nozzle to the piping bag and place in a tall glass, pulling the bag down around the glass. Fill the bag 2/3 full with the buttercream and twist at the top of the bag to close.
2. To pipe a swirl, apply pressure to the top of the bag and pipe a star shape in the middle of the cake. Release the pressure and pull up quickly.
3. Then, start at the outside edge of the cake and pipe around the star and build up into a swirl. When you reach the end of the swirl press down slightly, release the pressure and pull up quickly.
4. Add the sprinkles and Union Jack decoration.
Jubilee Cupcake Recipe and image sourced from goodtoknow.co.uk.
If you've used any of our stylish cake stand or decorations for your party feel free to leave a photo review at drinkstuff.com.
Cheers!
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Marshall Amp Mini Beer Fridge
Music and beer lovers rejoice! The Marshall Amp Mini Beer Fridge is perfect for the rock star in your life; it's shaped just like a classic Marshall Amp and holds plenty of cans and bottles of beer! It features the authentic Marshall signature, logos and even has control knobs that go up to 11. We think it's perfect for hot and sweaty rock stars to replenish themselves on stage; or prehaps just in your living room? Either way it will set you back $299 and you'll have to wait till October 2012.
Cheers!
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A Short Guide to British Cider
Once known as the stuff drunk on park benches, cider is enjoying a resurge in popularity. According to recent reports cider is as popular as lager, with 47% of drinkers choosing cider and 46% naming lager as their preferred beverage. With cider sales growing by 24% over the last few years it seems there's plenty to celebrate in the apple orchards.
So why has cider suddenly become more popular? Prehaps because lager has long become too associated with the drunk and dissorderly, the term 'lager lout' instantly springs to the mind of many. Also with many drinkers becoming aware of the amount they are consuming they are opting for a more refreshing beveage, cider being the obvious choice. And unlike much lager advertising, cider appeals to both men and women.
Think of cider and you'll probably name brands like Magners, Bulmers, Strongbow and Koppaberg, yet there's plenty more varieties of this English Champagne out there just waiting to be tasted...
Somerset and the West Country
A major cider producer, Somerset and the West Country might be best known for their Scumpy. However there are many great ciders to look out for - Burrow Hill, Sheppy's, Hecks and Wilkins.
Wales
With over 40 cider producers in Wales, there's plenty of choice from this small country including Gwynt-Y-Draig, Ty Gwyn and Hallett's.
The Three Counties
Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire are best known for their Perry (cider made from pears), but is also home the famous and popular Weston's brand.
Suffolk
Suffolk might not instantly spring to mind when you think of cider, but is home to another popular cider producer: Aspall.
Next time you order cider, why not try a local variety? The CAMRA website provides information on which pubs to enjoy real cider and local cider festivals in your area.
Cheers!
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Taste Your Words with the Typewriter Cocktail Machine
What do you get if you cross a QWERTY keyboard with alcohol? No we're not talking about a drunk work colleague sending inappropriate emails, but in fact the ingenious Typewriter Cocktail Machine. Designed by 'Morskoiboy' just for fun (like you do), this machine mixes a cocktail as you type.
Each key is in fact a pump made from a syringe, which takes the corresponding liquid to the letter display before delivering it straight into your glass. Designed for use with syrups, the alcohol (or water if you prefer) is attached to the top of the machine and mixes with the syrup. We'd be interested to see how 'drinkstuff' tastes!
Below is the video where 'Morskoiboy' explains his contraption:
Typing has never been so rewarding!
Cheers!
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The Ultimate Pint Glass Launched
On June 8th drinkstuff.com was invited down to the headquarters of the Design Council in London for the unveiling of Arcoroc’s brand new revolutionary piece of glassware, The Ultimate Pint.
The Ultimate Pint is 5 times stronger than any standard annealed glass and represents the first innovation in glass strengthening techniques since Arc International’s development of the now classic Nonic pint glass 50 years ago.
The Ultimate Pint is the result of a commission by the UK Government to address the presence of glass related crimes in the UK as part of the Design Out Crime initiative. Each year in the UK there is an estimated 5,500 glassings, with 973,000 cases of alcohol related violence costing the NHS up to £2.7bn.
The Design Council and Design Bridge have worked closely with international glassware manufacturer, Arcoroc, to research the implications of creating a tougher pint glass. The Ultimate Pint has a far greater resistance to mechanical and thermal shock, which means it cannot be broken as easily as a normal pint glass to be used as a sharp weapon.
John Goodman, Market Expert at Arc International, stated “By combining both the design and the technology processes, we have created a glass profile that is safer and stronger for use in busy public environments. Whereas normal glass, when broken, either breaks in to large shards or the base of the glass remains intact thus creating a weapon that can be repeatedly used.”
Helene Klimsza, Drinkware Product Director at Arc International, added, “To actually break the glass it takes a lot of energy and in most cases people give up after the first or second attempt.”
No matter how strong a glass is made, each knock and bump will naturally reduce the lifespan of the structure, but The Ultimate Pint features a lifespan 10 to 15 times longer than other standard glassware. When The Ultimate Pint finally does break, it utilises Stress Fracture Management which promotes Reverse Breakage, ensuring the entire glass shatters into small, blunt fragments, leaving no sharp edges which could be potentially used as a weapon.
At the launch of this innovative piece of drinkware at the Design Council offices in Covent Garden, London, drinkstuff.com rubbed shoulders with members of the press, members of the metropolitan police department and publicans from across the UK, all of whom were treated to a presentation to launch the glass into the UK market, which included a hands-on afternoon with The Ultimate Pint and the chance to talk through all aspects with the creators of this new development in glassware.
drinkstuff.com is proud to be among the first UK retailers offering The Ultimate Pint glass, which offers a highly preferable alternative to the increase of polycarbonate tumblers which tests prove have been berated by regular pub goers.
Available in the usual CE marked and nucleated options, The Ultimate Pint heralds a new era in safer glassware manufacture which drinkstuff.com is proud to be a part of.
For more information, and to order your Ultimate Pint Glass, visit drinkstuff.com.
The Ultimate Pint Glass CE
The Ultimate Pint Glass CE Head Booster
Glenlivet 70 Year Old Whiskey
Whiskey on the rocks anyone? Maybe with a dash of coke? Well there's one particular glass that might set you back a bit; this bottle of Glenlivet 70 Year Old Whiskey costs £12,999.00. Extra mature, this rare spirit was distilled on February 3rd, 1940 and comes in a hand-blown crystal tear-shaped decanted, with silver base and stopper, within a handmade box crafted from Scottish Elm.
Glenlivet 70 Year Old Whiskey
Only 100 of these pricey bottles were made as part of Gordon & MacPhail's Generations range, so you'd better be quick if you want to get your grubby mitts on one! Available to buy from various online shops, although you will have to pay a bit extra for delivery.
We're pleased to hear that a bottle of Glenlivet is being auctioned off to help raise funds for the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Due to be auctioned at Bonhams in Edinburgh, this is 1st bottle out of 100 and will raise funds for the Red Cross Japan Appeal.
Bottoms Up!
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BarBot Slot Machine
The BarBot combines two ultimate sins in one unique machine; it’s a gambling slot machine that dispenses alcohol when you win! Winner of a hacker competition, the creator NYC Resistor gave it a Fear and Loathing theme (very appropriate) and reprogrammed it to dispense cocktails.
BarBot Machine
The BarBot doesn’t just dispense any old cocktail however, you have to get a winning combination of traditional cocktail ingredients on the three wheels. A variety of spirits and mixers are connected via pressurized tubes powered by a microcontroller and solenoid valves. If you’re thinking you could do with one of these in your home bar, think again, the whole process took 320 hours and cost $3000!
Cheers!
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The Best Free Cocktail iPhone Apps
Mixing cocktails while using an iPhone is usually a recipe for disaster, unless you happen to be using a cocktail recipe app of course. We've compiled a list of some of the best free (yes, that's right free!) cocktail iPhone apps currently available so you'll be whizzing up martini's faster as fast as you can shake your cocktail shaker. Ideal for any party host or budding bartender, you'll be able find out exactly what the base ingredient is in a Fuzzy Navel and what on earth a Scarlet Pimpernal involves.
Not just limited to every flavour of vodka, the Drinkspiration app by Abolut also has recipes for gin, rum brandy, whisky and tequila, and non-alcoholic cocktails. With a sleek design and vivid imagery, this app lets you post to Facebook and Twitter and helps you select cocktails by time of day, location or even background noise!
The comprehensive web-based cocktail resource now has it's own brilliant app. Simple to use, simple to make, this app helps you create the perfect cocktail, right down to the right glass to use. With over 400 recipes, it's ideal for cocktail parties and even allows you to send recipes to friends! A favourite feature of ours is the ability to shake the phone to pick a random cocktail.
8,500+ Drink & Cocktail Recipes Free
This colourful app does exactly what it says on the tin; there's over 8,500 drink and cocktail recipes you can browse, we don't recommend trying them all in one night however! Fast and simple recipes make this app useful for those who know what they want to make, offering several variations for most recipes.
The Drink & Cocktail Pro Lite app combines functionality and inspiration well. You can search by ingredient, which is perfect if you've got a bottle of cherry brandy that's been sitting in the back of the cupboard for years or if you're feeling adventurous you can select a random recipe! This handy app also features a converter, ideal when referencing US and EU recipes.
Mainly aimed at the American market, thebar.com from mega drinks corp Diageo is still a useful resource. With hundreds of recipes you may find yourself stuck for choice, however, you have the option of browsing drinks by event, such as poker nights, themed nights, BBQs, baby showers...and book club nights. Either way, it's the perfect excuse to throw a party!
Cheers!
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Paul Smith for Stelton – Statement Bar Set
When it comes to designer stuff you expect to pay a little extra. After all you're getting high quality goods aren't you? Let us introduce you to the Paul Smith's Statement Bar Set, it's a snap at £1,500 (if you happen to be a millionaire of course). It's enough to make your bank manager wince and your partner to demand a separation.
Paul Smith for Stelton - Statement Bar Set
If however, you love your designer barware, this might just be the set for you. Created in celebration of Stelton's 50th anniversary, Paul Smith has taken classic Stelton products from the 1960's and given them a modern day revamp. However much we like the design, this one might just be out of our budget...
 Statement Bar Set - Ice Bucket & Tongs |
 Statement Bar Set - Jug |
Most Expensive Alcohol in the World
Fancy another? Well it's your round! We've complied a list of some of the most expensive booze around. You'll never complain about the price of a pint in your local ever again!
Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne
$1,946,617
Soon to be stocked at your local Tesco (no only joking), this bottle of Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne is in fact cognac. This 1 litre crystal bottle has been dipped in 24k yellow gold and sterling platinum, complete with 6,500 certified brilliant-cut diamonds, master-crafted by the well-known jeweler, Jose Davalos.
How's that for a bit of bling? After aging for mere 100 years, the cognac measures in at 41 percent proof.
La Ley del Diamante (the Diamond Sterling) Tequila
$1,547,880
You might think twice about pouring a tequila slammer from this bottle of Mexican Tequila. The bottle has been created using hand-blown glass created by 32 Mexican craftsmen and covered with 4kg of pure platinum and sterling silver and finished with 6,000 certified brilliant-cut diamonds.
As for the tequila itself, it's been extra-aged (3, 6 or 9 years), blended in cured barrels with an alcohol content of 42 percent.
DIVA Premium Vodka
$1,060,000
50ml of this DIVA Premium Vodka makes one hell of an expensive vodka and coke. Made in Scotland (didn't see that one coming did you?), this vodka varies in price, depending on how many gems you fancy showing off inside your bottle.
Triple distilled, Blackwood Distillers make this with natural spring water. Filtered through ice, Nordic birch charcoal and a sand made from crushed diamonds and gems, this really is the bee's knees.
The Macallan Fine and Rare Collection, 1926
$38,000
Highly sought after, this 60 year old whiskey is no longer available to buy. However, if you're ever in the area, the Old Homestead Steakhouse in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey sells it for $3,300 per dram.
Chateau Lafite 1787
$160,000
Possibly not the best wine to bring out at a dinner party, this bottle of Chateau Lafite was originally bought by Thomas Jefferson in France (his intials are on the bottle). For some reason he never got round to drinking it and the wine sold for $160,000 in 1985 to a London collector.
Cheers!
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