With refreshing recipes, like the Disaronno Cranberry Cooler or Amarula Frozen Springbok, which are guaranteed to keep you cool as the heat rises, you’ll be able to create that foreign holiday feel, even if you’re not going away this year. So, if you want to develop your cocktail making skills, then log on to the live and interactive webTV show to find out how to ensure your party shines this summer.

Mixologist Ben Reed joins us live online at http://webchats.tv/chat/summer_cocktail_masterclass on Friday 17th July at 15:00 BST for tips on making perfect summer cocktails.

One of the world’s most versatile drinks, rum is also intrinsically linked with the history and culture of its origins in the Caribbean. The earliest references to sugarcane spirit production in the region date back to 1647, and through innovative techniques like oak barrel ageing, rum quickly gained a foothold in global markets and earned its place as a highly sought-after commodity during the golden age of piracy in the years 1690-1720.

Throughout the islands of the region - from Belize right across the Caribbean Sea to Barbados - there is a grand tradition of rum production, with traditional family-owned brands practising a variety of methods of fermentation, distillation, casking and blending just as intricate and distinct as the Scotch whisky industry.

In recognition of this a new three-tiered Authentic Caribbean Rum marque has been established as an assured sign of quality and provenance and as a proud symbol of a heritage stretching back four centuries.  

Varieties such as St Lucia’s Chairman’s Reserve, with its rich aromas of chocolate, raisin, spice and vanilla, or El Dorado 15 Year Old, made in Guyana using a unique wooden Coffey still, are ideal for sipping ’straight-up’ or over ice, mixing in cocktails, or with your favourite mixer. In 2007 the Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago awarded the latter the accolade ‘Best Rum in the World’, achieving the highest score for any rum ever - 98 points.

Helping us to explore the world of authentic Caribbean rum is Ian Burrell, host of the WebTV show but mostly known as ‘Mr Rum’. A well-known London mixologist and organiser of the 2007 UK Rum Festival, there is no-one better equipped this side of the Atlantic to give us an inside track on producing, appreciating and mostly importantly drinking a drop of the good stuff.

Ian Burrell joins is live online at http://www.webchats.tv/chat/an_authentic_taste_of_the_caribbean   on Wednesday 15th July from 1500 to 1530 (UK time) to discuss Rums of the Caribbean

Click here to submit questions before the chat http://www.webchats.tv/chat/an_authentic_taste_of_the_caribbean

For more information visit www.truerum.com

And excellent bases for cocktails, as these two recipes demonstrate. More cocktail recipes are detailed on their website.

Sparkling Cobbler
½ tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon Curacao
Thin slice of orange
Chilled Griffith Park Sparkling Rose

Half fill a large goblet with cracked ice. Add lemon juice, Curacao and orange slice. Stir and fill glass with Griffith Park Sparkling Rose. Stir again gently.

Rose
Several drops Pernod
1 tablespoon Cognac
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons Curacao
Griffith Park Sparkling Rose

Add the Pernod drops to a Champagne saucer, turn to coat the inside of the glass. Pour in the Cognac. Soak the sugar in the Curacao until the sugar has dissolved, then add to the Cognac and stir gently. Fill the glass with Griffith Park Sparkling Rose.

My Yahoo! users are now able to peruse thousands of recipes from leading publications such as Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Real Simple and Health, among others, and get automatically generated wine pairings based on each individual dish.

The app will also highlight the most popular recipes, pairings, and wines of the day, with links to purchase the corresponding bottle.

For example, for a Tomato-Chicken Pasta dish, Snooth’s digital sommelier recommended “Fontaleoni Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2007? with the rationale, “This mineraly white offers nice acidity with a medium bodied feel, allowing it to partner perfectly with this meal.”

The functionality was hand built using Snooth’s database of the world’s wines and the decades of accumulated wine knowledge among Snooth’s employees, particularly that of Gregory Dal Piaz, Snooth’s Community Manager. Snooth’s expertise in systematically analyzing and categorizing wine data was transferred to analyzing and categorizing recipe data in order to create the complex pairing algorithm.

“This algorithm is an interesting combination of our backend tech functionality, as well as the human expertise of our resident wine guru Gregory Dal Piaz,” said Philip James, CEO of Snooth. “We’re trying to democratize the wine experience and make finding good wine easier, and now everyone has access to a top-tier sommelier with the click of button.”

Since its inception in June 2007, Snooth has grown to be the world’s largest wine site, with over 500,000 users per month, 1 million wines and prices from 11,000 merchants and wineries worldwide. The site currently handles over 2 million searches per month and has over 125,000 registered users.

Marco Pierre White last week crowned Ryan Chetiyawardana of Bramble in Edinburgh, Scotland the UK’s best bartender in the final of World Class 2009 – the Oscar’s of the bartending world. Held at the exclusive Kent House in London’s Knightsbridge, Ryan dazzled the judges by showcasing his exceptional mixology skills as he triumphed over competition from fourteen of the country’s top bartenders.

In a day-long trial, Ryan and his fellow finalists were tested to the limits in a competition which saw them take part in rounds covering bartending knowledge, mixology and an innovation challenge where they had to prove their creativity against the clock. After 15 bartenders were whittled down to the final two, Ryan went head-to-head with Andreas Tsanos from Zuma in London to battle it out for the grand prize where the two bartenders had to create their final bespoke cocktail and present it to the panel of judges. After a highly competitive and tense round, Ryan was declared the winner with his impressive and delicious Three Storm Flip cocktail (recipe below).

Alongside Marco Pierre White, the infamous Michelin-starred chef, the competition was judged by some of the country’s foremost experts in taste, style and bartending, namely Andy Pearson, TV Mixologist; Bill Prince, Deputy Editor of GQ; Ian Cameron, Managing Editor of Theme (one of the bar industry’s leading magazines) and Barrie Wilson, Reserve’s Head of Brand Ambassadors.

Ryan will now go on to compete in the prestigious World Class Global Final, taking place later this month, which will see him representing the UK against the finest bartenders from around the world including Australia, China, Singapore, Brazil and Greece. The global winner will go on to have their definitive book of cocktails published courtesy of Diageo and be the face of a global campaign to raise the profile of the industry, themselves and their bar.

“It’s unbelievable” says Ryan, “this was far and away the most challenging and nerve-wracking competition that I’ve ever been in and I’m absolutely thrilled to have won. I was up against the best bartenders in the country – lots of whom I know and admire personally – and performing in front of judges of this calibre has been the highlight of my career so far. I’m hugely excited about the global final and I’m planning to show that cocktail-making in the UK can rival, if not better, anywhere else in the world – it’s an amazing opportunity”

Ryan’s winning recipe:

Three Storm Flip
50ml Pampero Aniversario
25ml Velvet Falernum Liqueur
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
5ml Lagavulin 16
1 whole egg
A pinch of salt and pepper
Nutmeg Garnish

Method – dry shake all ingredients. Then shake with cubed ice and double strain.

To see a video of Marco Pierre White and the Diageo World Class UK event please visit: www.youtube.com/worldclassuk

For photos of event please visit: www.flickr.com/worldclassuk

Six different vintages of Penfolds Bin 389, often referred to as ‘Baby Grange’, will be tasted at events in the US, Germany, Australia, the UK, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sweden, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea.  Attendees will assess for themselves the longevity of this quintessential Australian blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz with vintages including 1976, 1985, 1991, 1998, 2002 and 2006.
 
“New World winemakers have often strayed from convention in the way wine is traditionally made, so it stands to reason that we are doing the same with this original mode of wine tasting,” says Peter Gago.

“Throughout this webcast, people across the world will collectively - in real time - be sampling six different vintages of one of Australia’s most iconic wines, Penfolds Bin 389, which has only just been vintaged for the 50th consecutive year. And yes, it’s symbolic that we’ll be broadcasting the tasting from Bordeaux, the heart of Old World Wine. Ideally, participants will witness the graceful aging of a New World wine style.”

Wine lovers will have the chance to view the footage from the tasting from 23rd June.

“An irresistible mix of dark grungey smoke and light sweet fruit. If you could barbeque a tin of Del Monte exotic fruits this is what it would taste like. Stunning.” Dominic Roskrow

“Big, fruity nose, dried fruits, dried herbs; waxy mouthfeel, sweet taste, crystalline sugar; mouth-cooling. A cracker!” Charlie MacLean

“Sun heated pebbles. A marine and spicy breeze. Hints of soot. Oysters with a dash of Tabasco. Powerful, uncompromising, wild. Superb.” Martine Nouet

And, as if that wasn’t enough, the same judges at the same awards voted Highland Park 40 year old the World’s Best New Release.

“I guess these awards say something about the entire Highland Park range; the two newest expressions have won these prestigious and significant awards. Talk about a squad with strength in depth.”

For more information about the World Whiskies Awards visit www.whiskymag.com/awards/wwa/

Kevan Evans, from Fife, Scotland, signed-up to become a Naked Wine Angel, a scheme which allows customers to sponsor indivudal winemakers looking to break into the UK market.

“Naked Wines is really rather different to any other wine retailer I’ve come across before, and very refreshing!” explained Kevin. “I’ve ordered from Laithwaites and Tescos.com in the past, but often found myself confronted with un-expected cases turning up on my doorstep, full of wines I didn’t choose. Naked Wines allows me to set aside a small amount of money each month, which I can spend when I feel like it, on the wines I want.  Kind of like a personal bottle saving plan! I also like the idea of buying from smaller producers.”

“Kevin was sent a case of champagne in celebration, and we’ll be popping the champagne corks too,” said Rowan Gormley, founder of Naked Wines.

To find out more about Naked Wines, who offer Next Day Delivery throughout the UK for £4.99, visit www.nakedwines.com or call 01603 281 800.
Naked Wines offerings have featured on Spittoon recently, including two new Australian wines and the wines from Chilean producer Angel’s Share.

Building on the success of the multi award-winning Smokehead Single Malt which launched in 2006, Extra Black takes the DNA of the core brand to the next level, reflecting the luxury and limited edition status of this 18 Years Old matured whisky.

Created to appeal to the discerning and adventurous drinker, the contemporary frosted black squat bottle features silver letterpress type applied directly to the glass ensures it stand out presence adding a spot of sophistication and visually differentiating Extra Black as the premium product in the Smokehead range.

Despite its 18 years maturation giving Extra Black a slightly more mellow flavour than the original Smokehead Islay Single Malt, Extra Black is certainly not for the faint hearted. A neck-booklet provides tasting notes, bringing to life the rich, complex and peaty flavours of this distinctive Single Malt. Instantly full of peat smoke with hints of ginger and mint, the taste starts light and briny with gentle cloves, before building with flavours of vanilla and cocoa, creating a rounded and smooth mouthfeel. The finish brings together the ever present smoke with rich dark chocolate and kiwi fruit undertones.

A stylish and robust matt black flight case with silver Smokehead logo, reaffirms that this product is every inch, ‘Extra Black’. While the individual numbering of each bottle, highlights the product’s rare, limited edition status.

Limited stock of Smokehead Extra Black 18 Years Old Islay Single Malt is now available from specialist suppliers throughout the UK and online, RRP £85. For further details visit www.smokehead.co.uk

The embodiment of Glengoyne’s famed unpeated and authentic ‘Real Taste of Malt’, the natural strength 40 Years Old Highland Single Malt is regarded by the distillery to be one of the finest whiskies they have ever produced.   Its superior quality and flavour reflecting Glengoyne’s long standing commitment and enthusiasm for their craft and heritage.

Every detail of the design and presentation of the Limited Edition Single Malt was carefully considered to reflect the outstanding character and craftsmanship of the Glengoyne 40 Years Old. Even the producer of the stunning hand blown crystal decanter, Glencairn Crystal, a well-respected independent Scottish family company, was specially selected for its shared values with Glengoyne.

The shape of the crystal decanter creates a strong visual feature of the 40 Years Old Single Malt’s dark copper colour, complemented by gold engraving. Each decanter’s individual number, engraved in the base, is accompanied by an etching of Scotland’s most beautiful distillery, reflecting up through the malt itself. 

The 11 times lacquered piano-finished solid oak wood presentation box, complete with gold plates on the front and hand-stitched cream leather interior, further reinforces the excellent quality and showcases the rich, natural colour of the 40 Years Old Malt.  An accompanying cream leather and gold foil traditionally bound book, personally signed by Distillery Manager, Robbie Hughes, provides tasting notes and detailed background on Glengoyne’s long and illustrious history as an independent distillery since 1833.

With a nose of red apples, crème brulee and strawberries and cream, the Glengoyne 40 Years Old offers a complex and oily mouth feel of ripe bananas, spiced plums, honey and cereal, before drying into grapefruit and soft oak, with a long and lingering dry finish.

Iain Weir, Marketing Director for Ian Macleod Distillers, brand owners of Glengoyne commented: 

“This is a world class, once in a lifetime bottling. It was essential that the design and presentation of the Glengoyne 40 Years Old Highland Single Malt be a true reflection of its outstanding quality and reinforce its position as one of the top luxury Limited Edition Single Malts available in the market today.

The 40 Years Old Single Malt captures the pure essence of Glengoyne, from its heritage and craftsmanship through to its exceptional and unpeated ‘Real Taste of Malt’.  It is a joy to open casks after four decades and find such great balance between malt and Still. It doesn’t get any better than this”.

From August just 250 crystal decanters of this unique and treasured Malt from Glengoyne’s rare whisky reserves will be available from specialist whisky outlets in the UK and worldwide, Domestic RRP £3,750 (EUR4,250/ $5,730)

Stylish diamond display plinths, designed to complement the bottle design and create maximum standout, will also be used to showcase the Glengoyne 40 Years Old in opinion-leading international luxury outlets.

Glengoyne Highland Single Malt is one of the leading premium malt whiskies in the world and has been distilled at Glengoyne distillery since 1833. The 40 Years Old Highland Single Malt joins a multi gold award-winning range, which includes the Single Malt 10 Years Old, 12 Years Old Cask Strength, 17 Years Old and 21 Years Old, as well as a number of limited edition single casks released each year.