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Showing posts with label END. Show all posts
Showing posts with label END. Show all posts

Monday, 31 October 2016

Ending on an END

Yum...
Ok, that acronym bit is old now... What isn't old is donating money, which you can do via this link [thanks to all my donors by the way!]: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Palmer5

Anyhoo... Today I went out on a walk and found a bottle of Eisberg Alcohol Free Cabernet Sauvignon in one of my local shops. We used to stock it ages ago in The Wineyard, and I always wondered what it'd be like. I assumed it'd be something similar to fruit juice. At £3.49, I had to give it a go, and there I was, cracking open a bottle of wine in the mid-afternoon.

On first smell it seemed a bit sour, and on first taste it was a muted fruity affair with a bitterness akin to apple seeds, and a sort of chalky-velvet mouthfeel. Whereas the smell put me off a bit, I was reasonably happy with how it tasted. It took a while for the flavours to build up and for me to appreciate what they were - basic cherry, raspberry and maybe some blackcurrants. It's decent, but quite shallow.

Maybe all the wine needed was a bit of a breathing, and the aroma grew on me. Still a weak smell, but at least not off-putting. Yeah, bottom line, I enjoyed it. Without the body of the booze, it just isn't complex enough for me. It's not just like fruit juice, but then it kind of is too. I've paid more for 'actual wine' that has been disgusting and disappointing. This was neither. Presumably it's lower in sugar than grape juice from concentrate, and it's only 28kcal per 125ml glass, so, hey, it's got more positives on top of the taste.

Boo!
In other news, the main reason I went to the shops was to get a pumpkin. Since going sober, I've been surprised just what fills my time... It was a good little laugh, getting a bit mucky and cutting out a menacing face, a nice nostalgia journey. I even roasted the pumpkin seeds and I'm enjoying eating them right now. The only thing I would say is that, even totally sober, I shouldn't be trusted with a knife...
Ow!

Friday, 28 October 2016

It's just another END post today, I'm afraid. I've just published a post over at All Hail the Ale [which you can view here], so I guess I'm all blogged out. Nah, I'm not really, it's just that it's been one of those days. I'm both really grateful for the good things, and sick of everything. As much as I love you all, dear readery brethren and sistren, I haven't got the fight in me to form anything more cogent than a picture and some trite explication. Speaking of which:

Here is a Peter Spanton mixer [available from the Wineyard and Deli, by the way...] of flavour grapefruit. I'm surrounded by amazing beer, wine, cider and spirits all day long at work, and on days like today it's been hell not being able to unwind with one at the end of the shift. My next best thing [more like 'really far away from what I want thing'] is this alcohol free fizzy fruit-based drink which I don't have to walk far to get [handy, since I don't exactly get breaks...].

I like how bitter it is. It's nice, yeah.

I know it wasn't worth all the effort to read this post, but it's always worth the effort to give to charity [isn't it?]: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Palmer5

Monday, 24 October 2016

The Plot Thickens

Did you know that, on average, it takes an hour to process one unit of alcohol? An hour of a Macmillan nurse's time could cost £25. If you help me reach my £500 target on JustGiving, you'll have helped pay for twenty hours of Macmillan help. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Palmer5

What an exciting and informative introduction, eh? I like to spoil my readers, as I'm sure you've noticed, and today is no exception. It's not even over! Prepare yourself, for I am about to update you with two new ENDs. Woop woop, etc...

Erm so last night I was on this Innocent Smoothie. It was jaw-motoringly sweet and quite sharp, so it wasn't a great alternative to the ale, but hey. It's supposed to be 'energising' [or at least I assume so, based on what it's called...] but, oh lord, it didn't scratch the surface of my drowsiness. Meh. What are you gonna do?

Was in Sainsbo's today and they had a pretty decent non-alcoholic range. They got the Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Cobra Zero [I was surprised to see it, but the regular lager isn't up to much, so I don't think I'll give that a go] and the one I bought: Bavaria 0.0%.

It's really rather good. A bit lighter than the Erdinger, quite sweet-tasting - which is a downside - but pleasant and malty. I tell myself that I'm getting in touch with my Dutch roots, which is rubbish, really, and I mean who even cares? Imagine there's no countries, indeed.

Ok, tot ziens!

P.S. Only seven more days to go...


Sunday, 16 October 2016

Rolling Along.

As a great man once said, you're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on. But that's got nothing to do with anything. Click this link and donate some of yer readies, please: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Palmer5

I'm sure you're already thirsty for another Exciting New Drinks post, so fear not, as this is one. You know, there's going to come a time in the not-too-distant future, when the world's infrastructure collapses, that blog posts will replace food and water. Humans will evolve to take digitally disseminated data as sustenance, you mark my words. But anyway, this post isn't going to be about that... This post is about Erdinger Alkoholfrei.

First, though, I must talk about Beck's Blue. This is, as I have said before, the most common alcohol-free lager that I've seen on my travels. It's okay if you want to get a bit of a bitter tang, but it has a bit of an overly-metallic aftertaste that stops me from really enjoying it, and in general reminds me that it's not proper beer. It is common with some European lagers to get a bit of a metallic taste [I think some of the Alsatian hops tend to have it. At least, cheap French lagers are generally the ones I taste this in], but not to this extent. In short, it's an ok drink, not more compelling than that.

Second, I must talk about Rothaus Alkoholfrei. This is, in my opinion, better than Beck's Blue. It has less of the metallic aftertaste, which would already make it a winner, but the roundedness of the lager flavour is there as well. The bitterness and the malty notes balance well, and there's even a decent mouthfeel. Good stuff, but still not quite there.

NOW is the time to talk about Erdinger Alkoholfrei. Or should I waste another paragraph talking about something else? No, I suppose I'll put you out of your misery... This beer is so nice, I think that if I can get another bottle to take home with me, I might review it on All Hail the Ale, a site which reviews and revels in beer in all shapes and sizes. The strap-line for this beer is that it's the closest non-alcoholic beverage to beer that I've had. They are very keen to highlight its health properties [it's isotonic [apparently all alcohol-free stuff naturally is, according to the Rothaus website, but I digress] and full of vitamins, so they say], but I'm just focussed on the taste. One site I looked at described its genuine wheat beer taste. I'd say it was heavily malty, and a bit bready, but not much like wheat beers I've had. They're usually sharper/crisper and with a sort-of fresh wheat, dryish mouthfeel [yes I realise that sounds stupid. I'm having trouble saying what I mean [as usual]]. Regardless of my differing of opinion with respect to how to describe it, all I want to say is that the flavour was great, I enjoyed it, and I'll definitely seek it out in future.

Now I'll really put you out of your misery by signing off. Byeee!

Thursday, 13 October 2016

This is an END, My Only Friend an END

Yes, it's that time again! An Exciting New Drinks [END] post! Bet you've all been champing at the bit since the last one.
"When's our next END?"
"I want another END!"
"END now!" are probably some of the things what you've been shouting into your computer screens. But that's not an effective way to communicate.

Anyway... Here's some delicious root beer. It continues to be a mystery to me why root beer is not at least as popular as Irn Bru in this country. I would say 'as popular as coke', but those big hitters in the soft-drink league are way out ahead because of all their disgusting, inhuman and evil practices which have led to them to make a ton of money and become one of those 'non-monopoly monopolies'.
 
I wish I had some root beer right now...
Taken by the fabbest photographer I know.
Surely it's worth checking to see if my JustGiving page is less boring than this post? https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Palmer5

Sunday, 9 October 2016

New Sensations

Other brands are available. But they're not as good...
Here marks the beginning of a new series for Blogtastic: the Exciting New Drinks [END] series. In this series of posts, I will share with you some of the exciting new drinks [clue's in the name] I encounter on my Sober journey. Calm down now, don't get over-excited. Oh okay, get over-excited, because I'm kicking it off with a double header!

On the left was the J2O Spritz what I tried, apple and watermelon and flavour, and, on the right, a spiced tomato juice. As you can see in the picture, I didn't mix them. The former was a nice change from the overly-sugary regular J20s and cokes, had a pleasant flavour, and the latter was a nice change from drinks that don't involve tomatoes. Actually, after drinking the tomato one I felt very weird and had an out-of-body experience.

I won't tell you how I felt after the next five bottles...

Have a click. You know you want to! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Palmer5