The Thinking Drinkers Podcast

After a week off, the hardest working beefcakes in the drinks business slide back into the Pod saddle, digging their heels into some hard-nosed aural journalism and whipping up some searing investigative insight - namely the return of bananas to the UK in 1945 and. of course, National Pig Day (only America).

Like beer? Like bananas? Well you'll flipping love Mongozo Banana Beer - available here or via Amazon here

And how about A Pigs In Blanket Old Fashioned?

Pigs in Blanket Old Fashioned

Ingredients

12 pigs in blanket

70cl of Pork fat-washed whisky

5ml Maple syrup

2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

To make the fat-wash whisky

· Grill the pigs in blanket over a baking tray and collect 30ml of the fat.

· Strain it into a container filled with 70cl of blended Scotch whisky. Leave it to steep in the whisky for 6-8 hours or overnight at room temperature before placing the bottle in the freezer.

· Once the fat has congealed in the bottle, strain the bourbon into a new bottle.

Method:

· Take 40 ml pigs-in-blanket fat-infused whisky and stir in a mixing glass with the maple syrup and ice.

· Add bitters and stir.

· Strain into a child ‘Old Fashioned’ glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange slice.. Or a pig-in-blanket

While you're waiting for the pig fat to steep in the whisky, here's a video about pigs that play video games.

Drinks Deals Of The Week
Mirabeau La Folie Sparkling Rose - down £3 to £11 at SainsburysJohnnie Walker Black Label - Sainsbury, £22, save £10,

Martini Rosso, only £2.50 off, but down to £8 at Waitrose,
Jameson Orange, £15, save £9.50, great in an alternative to the Irish Espresso Martini Waitrose

For gin fans, Hayman’s London Dry Gin, fiver off, £21 Waitrose

Keep your eye out for the new Luxardo Espresso Liqueur

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Buy yourself or someone else annual membership (and a signed copy of our award-winning Thinking Drinkers Almanac Book) for just £120 here.

• 3 x 60ml pouches containing 3 x world class spirits delivered direct through your door every month.
• Exclusive access to the TD online magazine
• A signed copy of Thinking Drinkers Almanac (named Drinks Book of the Year 2021 by The Sunday Times)
• Monthly Online Tastings with The Thinking Drinkers & Guests

Check out dates and tickets for our "Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz" show, featuring lots of laughs and FIVE free drinks for evewry audience member, here:

• Harpenden
• Northallerton
• Alnwick
• Oldham
• Brighton
• Bedford
• Reading
• Didcot
• Stroud
• Leicester
• Corby

If drink-soaked discussion of aphrodisiacal accompaniments to oysters, 'titanic plums', guinea pigs with dodgy fivers, hangover cures and some seriously decent discounted drinks are your thing then listen to this Valentine's Special featuring a boffin.

VALENTINE DRINKS
The Properly Dangerous LiasonIngredients
45ml Brockmans Gin
75ml Taittinger Champagne or Sparkling Wine
15ml Fresh Lemon Juice
10ml Creme de Cassis
5ml Sugar Syrup
Method

– Combine all ingredients apart from the sparkling wine and creme de cassis in a shaker over ice
– Shake to combine, double strain into a champagne flute and
– Top with Champagne, then drizzle over the creme de cassis.
– Garnish with a lemon twist.

Chilean Red Wine: Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon – £12.99, Waitrose
Chargrilled asparagus with Westmalle Tripel – £4.20 from Beer Merchants
Oysters with Titanic Plum Porter – £1.80, Sainsbury’s

Discerning Drinks Deals
Aperol, Morrisons, reduced from £20 to £15.99,

Morrisons, Courvoisier VSOP, £29.99, down from £37,

Gin deal of the week, Sainsbury, 1l of Tanqueray, £20,

Asda Beer Deals

You can get two packs for a tenner on certain beers.

So 4xJaipur and 6x Pilsner Urquell for £10.

That’s a tenner for 10 quality beers, so that makes them £1 each. Some maths for you.

_____________________________

Buy yourself or someone else annual membership (and a signed copy of our award-winning Thinking Drinkers Almanac Book) for just £120 here.

• 3 x 60ml pouches containing 3 x world class spirits delivered direct through your door every month.
• Exclusive access to the TD online magazine
• A signed copy of Thinking Drinkers Almanac (named Drinks Book of the Year 2021 by The Sunday Times)
• Monthly Online Tastings with The Thinking Drinkers & Guests

Check out dates and tickets for our "Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz" show, featuring lots of laughs and FIVE free drinks for evewry audience member, here:

• London Leicester Square (THURSDAY 9th Feb)
• Harpenden
• Northallerton
• Alnwick
• Pendle
• Oldham
• Brighton
• Bedford
• Reading
• Didcot
• Stroud
• Leicester
• Corby

We tell the WWII story behind Whisky Galore before linking a classic gin cocktail to a tale of someone knocking a vase over.

You should listen.

The Ola Dubh range is available from The Whiskey Exchange

Sainsbury has its Villa Maria on at £8.75, down from a tenner,

Jameson is £19 down from £22.50,

Gin deal of the week, Asda and Waitrose are going at it in their bid to bring you the best price on Tanqueray Ten
Waitrose, £27,

Aviation Cocktail

60ml gin

15ml Maraschino Liqueur
10ml Créme De Violette

25ml Lemon Juice

Lemon zest, to garnish

Shake gin, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur and crème de violette over ice, Taste, then add a splash of chilled water to dilute, if you like. Strain into four chilled cocktail glasses and garnish with blueberries and lemon zest.

Buy yourself or someone else annual membership (and a signed copy of our award-winning Thinking Drinkers Almanac Book) for just £120 here.

• 3 x 60ml pouches containing 3 x world class spirits delivered direct through your door every month.
• Exclusive access to the TD online magazine
• A signed copy of Thinking Drinkers Almanac (named Drinks Book of the Year 2021 by The Sunday Times)
• Monthly Online Tastings with The Thinking Drinkers & Guests

Check out dates and tickets for our "Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz" show, featuring lots of laughs and FIVE free drinks for evewry audience member, here:

• Nottingham - 241 tickets use the word DRINKER
• London Leicester Square
• Harpenden
• Northallerton
• Alnwick
• Pendle
• Oldham
• Brighton
• Bedford
• Reading
• Didcot
• Stroud
• Leicester
• Corby

Hail Henry VIII's death with Tynt Meadow - the only Trappist Beer in Britain.

Read Mark Dredge's great article about the monastery in Good Beer Hunting here:

Watch the documentary "Outside City" - all about the realities of the modern-day Monky business here.
AA Milne & The Bee's Knees Cocktail
Get Hiver Blonde Beer from Waitrose here

Bee's Knees Cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 50ml Portobello Gin
• 25ml Lemon Juice
• Ice

Method: Loosen up the honey in a jug by stirring it with a little bit of freshly boiled water. When it's smooth, add the mixture to a shaker filled with plenty of ice, the lemon juice and the gin. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with some lemon zest.

This week's "Les Bargains"

Benriach The Original Ten Speyside Single Malt Scotch, £29 Waitrose (save £9)
Sweet and easy-drinking intro into whisky.

Balblair 15 Year Old, Whisky exchange, £64.95 (£13 off)
A bit more punchy, 46%, full-bodied, matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in first-fill Spanish oak butts.

Vestal Kaszebe 2011 Vintage Vodka, Whisky Exchange at £21.95 (£8 off)
The potatoes used as the based for this vodka are the Vineta varietal and are all grown in the Kaszebe region of central northern Poland.

Absolute, £16, Asda
Great vodka for mixed drinks and recreating the scene in Wolf of Wall Street

Heineken 0,0, 6xcans for £4.50,

Sainsburys doing Bacardi Carta Blanca for £14, £2 off.
Makes a wicked daiquiri, 700ml bottle, 50ml per daiquiri, how many can you make? You do the math.

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Buy yourself or someone else annual membership (and a signed copy of our award-winning Thinking Drinkers Almanac Book) for just £120 here.

• 3 x 60ml pouches containing 3 x world class spirits delivered direct through your door every month.
• Exclusive access to the TD online magazine
• A signed copy of Thinking Drinkers Almanac (named Drinks Book of the Year 2021 by The Sunday Times)
• Monthly Online Tastings with The Thinking Drinkers & Guests

Check out dates and tickets for our "Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz" show, featuring lots of laughs and FIVE free drinks for evewry audience member, here:

• Nottingham - 241 tickets use the word DRINKER
• London Leicester Square
• Harpenden
• Northallerton
• Alnwick
• Pendle
• Oldham
• Brighton
• Bedford
• Reading
• Didcot
• Stroud
• Leicester
• Corby

he full range of Diplomatico rums can be bought from The Whisky Exchange here:

Luxury chocolate supporting a great cause can be found at Harry Specters here

Waitrose chocs can be purchased here:

And you can the lovely wine packs from Bibwine here

And you can watch the pod here