Showing posts with label Sober Lane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sober Lane. Show all posts

Monday, June 26, 2017

Cork's Dessert Festival launches today!

press release

Where and What's on Offer

Electric Bar and Restaurant
Mad Hatters Afternoon G+T July 1st 2-4pm
Cake Club Sunday 2nd July 3-5pm Also featuring dessert specials all week
The Franciscan Well
Ice Cream and Beer Weekend July 1st and 2nd from 1pm
Nandos Academy St
Free Nata with every coffee ordered
Blue Haven Kinsale
Promoting Ice Cream Sundae Menu all week
Casanova Gelato
Launch of "The Giant" Sundae
Featuring parfait cups all week
Arthur Maynes
Beefeater & Tonic with an orange foam
paired with an orange scented Creme Catalana
Hassetts Bakery
Featuring all their homemade desserts
Fundraising cupcake event Fri June 30th 11-3pm
Cafe Velo
Pie with Italian Meringue
Cronins
Homemade ice cream made with Cronin's brown soda bread
and Russian Imperial Stout from the White Gypsy
LISHH Dessert bar all week featuring fresh homemade desserts
with a coffee for just €5
Malay Kitchen
Featuring fresh Malaysian sweet treats all week
Griffins Garden Centre
Featuring all Grannys Griffins Fabulous Homemade Desserts
Competition for afternoon tea for 2
Amicus
Featured Desserts: Amicus After 8
The Allotment Sundae: Butterscotch Bonanza
143
Corks only entirely vegan cafe!
Dessert Demonstration Wed 28th 7-9pm €30
Sober Lane
Guest Dessert- Kinder Sundae
Guest Cocktails: 1. Nutty Russian- Absolut Vanilla, Frangelico, Kahlua and Milk
2.After Eight- Tia Maria, Creme de Menthe, Baileys and Milk
Holy Smoke
Featuring Desserts: Devil's Fruit and Holy Revenge

More desserts and events to be confirmed by: Midleton Park Hotel, The Oriel House Hotel, Myo Cafe, Box of FrogsThe Cornstore, Huckleberry Donuts, Oh My Donut, The Granary Foodstore.

The public will be voting all week on social media for :
Corks Best Dessert
Corks Best Treat and
Best Dessert Event


All other info will be posted on our social media daily!


For any more info email : dessert@festivalcork.com Or follow us on social media!

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Powers to all our Friends. Cork Whiskey Fest at Sober Lane

Powers to all our Friends

Cork Whiskey Fest at Sober Lane
The Powers be with you! Pic via Sober Lane
Great to meet up with the Powers Family at Sober Lane as part of the Cork Whiskey Festival. Powers Ambassador Michael Carr introduced us to Powers Gold Label, Three Swallow Release, Signature Release and John’s Lane Release, quite a stellar team from the venerable whiskey family.

Cheers

Powers first made their mark on the Dublin whiskey as the 18th century closed and soon their concentration on quality saw them become the biggest in the capital. 

Quality was always to the fore and it was because of concerns that the “brand” was being damaged that led to the founder’s grandson deciding to bottle their own, rather than have it bottled exclusively by middlemen or publicans. And this was where the gold label started; it indicated that the whiskey inside was bottled by the distillery.

That, by the way, was in 1866, about 100 years before Jameson bottled. Powers were always innovative and their release of the miniature bottle, the “Baby Powers”, was a world first.

The current Gold Label was our first sip of the night. Michael advised “when smelling, keep mouth slightly open”. Spice, sweetness and oak and the barley of course all combine to make this whiskey a real pleasure.
Partners in Powers

By the 1880s, Power were very popular. They were great record keepers too and most of the old recipes survive and that made it easy for Irish Distillers in Midleton (where Powers is now produced) to recreate the old styles. The Three Swallows is triple distilled (like all Irish whiskeys) and is a relaxed and gentler whiskey, according to Michael. It is a true pot still style, smooth and complex, the intrinsic Irish style. The Swallows, by the way, are the whiskey equivalent of the stars on a brandy bottle.

Now we were moving on up to the Signature Release. “Very delicate on the nose… very active..zesty..on the palate..you know you're drinking whiskey”. It has a higher abv of 46%, “one of the reasons for that lovely zip on the tongue…we used only 2nd and 3rd fill bourbon barrels for this.”  He emphasised that this was regarded as a grown-ups whiskey, maybe even old-fashioned “but now becoming modern again!”.
Then it was the turn of a favourite of mine, the John's Lane Release, “full bodied, spice upfront, followed by vanilla, honey and dried apricot”. John’s Lane is where the Powers Distillery was in Dublin and it was first made here by Barry Crockett in the 1970s. “This is a big whiskey, big on flavour. By the way, the 12 years refers to the youngest whiskey in the bottle.”

While the gold label is a blend, the other three are Single Pot Still Whiskey, Irish of course! Having done the talk, Michael showed he could walk the walk as he demonstrated his cocktail making skills by making an Old Fashioned. He had a one big tip. “In cocktails, don’t use your expensive whiskeys! Use the Gold Label. It has a lovely sweetness to balance the sours.”
Taking a closer look!

Then there was an exodus to the smoking area to try out the Punch Cigars along with a 12 year old Powers Gold Label. I split with the smokes back in 1994. I did of course sample the whiskey, another family gem. Like the opening Gold Label, this is a blend with a good amount of pot still content and some very old whiskeys as well. Heard that it is going off the market in the near future so best to get your hands on a bottle or two before then.

Big thanks to Powers, to Michael, and to Dee and crew at Sober Lane. Not alone did we enjoy the whiskey but they came up with trays of delicious sliders as the enjoyable evening came to a close. Here’s to the next Cork Whiskey festival!