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Christmas drinks gift guide: Best gin, best whisky and more for the festive...
Whether you're keen to make your own infused gin, try a ten year old whisky or open a bottle of champagne with a bang, we've got something for you.Warner’s Christmas Cake Gin It’s beginning to taste a...
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Curious Questions: What is it REALLY like giving up alcohol for a lifelong...
Sobriety is easier and more interesting than it used to be, finds Giles Kime, who has spent the past year exploring the unanticipated delights of alcohol-free beer.Giles Kime loves a tipple so much...
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How to decant wine — and why
Is your decanter gathering dust at the back of a cupboard? If so, says Harry Eyres, it’s high time you started using it to breathe more life into your wine.Britain’s most established wine magazine is...
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Hangover cures from some of Britain's greatest writers
Got a hangover? Heave yourself out of bed and throw yourself on the mercy of one of these literary cures, suggests Emma Hughes. If happiness writes white, inebriation’s ink is a tedious shade of puce....
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Seven of the best non-alcoholic spirits to help get you through Dry January
Whether you’re doing it for health reasons or simply for a New Year’s challenge, giving up alcohol isn’t necessarily all that easy. To help you on your way, the Country Life office put a variety of...
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Perry: The pear cider dubbed 'the English champagne' that's been an English...
Not to be confused with cider, the art of perry-making is more than a craft — it’s an English passion. Ben Lerwill meets some of our best producers of fermented pear juice.Clear pear juice in a glass...
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Curious Questions: Why was absinthe banned?
Absinthe is almost unique among alcoholic spirits for having been outlawed in even some of the world's most liberal countries — but how did that happen? Martin Fone traces back the story to find the...
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The iconic American bars in London perfect for lifting a Thanksgiving cocktail
Glamorous American bars were once a familiar sight in London, catering to US and British citizens alike, but only two of the historic ones remain: The Savoy and Stafford Hotel. On the eve of...
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Dry January 'is an abomination' dreamt up by 'misery merchants who are never...
Our columnist Agromenes turns away from his usual focus to take a look at the Dry January movement. It's fair to say, er, that he's against it.Dry January is an abomination. It’s a Puritan hangover...
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Patrick Galbaith: If you don't keep using your local pub and butcher, you...
Patrick Galbraith laments those who complain about the price of beer in pubs and and meat in butcher's shops — the real value is in the sense of community they create.Well over a decade ago, I sat at a...
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A Drink for All Seasons: One man's mission to create a better non-alcoholic...
Wine writer Matthew Jukes spent years looking for a decent zero-alcohol alternative to wine — and in the end decided to start making his own. He tells the story of how he did it.Matthew Jukes (left)...
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A Drink for All Seasons: The world's prettiest gin bottle, plus four more...
The nights are drawing in, the temperature is plummeting and your finger is hovering over the switch to put the central heating on. So how about a nice gin to pick you up? Where gin meets the...
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How to make perfect sloe gin
Make sure you've got the right recipe for your sloe gin batch this year. Ours is tried and tested! Make perfect sloe gin this year with our ultimate recipe. Of course you should really make your sloe...
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A Drink for All Seasons: Oktoberfest at home, honey beer and the nearest...
This time of year usually sees hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Bavaria to celebrate — er, well, we're not quite sure, but at any rate they drink lots of beer. So what better time to take a...
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A Drink for All Seasons: Five fine alcohol-free tipples to see you through...
If you haven't already started Sober October... well, you've missed the start, but it's never too late.Macmillan Cancer Support have long run fund-raising campaigns tied in to October, and are...
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Curious Questions: Why is gin flavoured with juniper?
The prickly juniper bush has been in decline for decades, a worrying development at a time when gin is soaring in popularity. Vicky Liddell takes a look at the history of this fascinating plant, and...
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11 of the best gins to buy this Christmas
Our Christmas gin special includes some of our favourites available right now.The proliferation of gins in recent years has removed the old conundrum (“Should we go for Gordon’s or Beefeater?”) with a...
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How to make Ed Brown's Elderflower 'Champagne'
Ed Brown is arguably Britain's top expert on elderflowers — and here's his favourite method for turning them into something rather special...Ed Brown has something of an obsession for elderberry trees:...
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Chateau International Space Station: The $1 million bottle of wine that's...
Sending wine to space, and bringing it back down to earth to sell for a good cause seems like a Herculean effort. But the true admiration must be for the astronauts who managed to resist the temptation...
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Best Father's Day gifts for foodie fathers and thirsty dads
Father's Day is coming up on June 20, and a little treat will always be a winner. Of course, a big treat is even better... Toby Keel and Martin Fone pick out some of their favourite Father's Day food...
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Everything you need to throw the perfect posh picnic, from luxurious wool...
We're not saying that you'll need all these items for a picnic, but we can guarantee you'll want them.Les Jardins De La Comtesse — Saint Germain four person wicker picnic basket Put all your eggs in...
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The traditional Gloucestershire cider producers keeping a great Cotswolds...
Cider will be forever associated with the Cotswolds thanks to Rosie. Jane Wheatley meets the makers keeping the tradition alive.According to the enchanting 2020 book Orchard: A Year in England’s Eden,...
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The best gins for Mother's Day
What better for Mother's Day than a bottle of 'Mother's Ruin'? We've selected some of the finest gins on the market which are sure to give your long-suffering parent a treat.This is our now-legendary...
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5 drinks to try if you're bored of Pimm's
Swap your lukewarm party pitcher for one of these Continental aperitifs, says Emma Hughes. Camparino in Galleria, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, Lombardy, ItalyWhisper it: not everyone loves...
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How to make The Hudson, Country Life's 125th anniversary cocktail
The Hudson is a cocktail created by the team at Claridge's to commemorate Country Life's 125th anniversary. Here's how it's made.On Wednesday May 11, the great and the good of Country Life’s past and...
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Best summer gins for sipping on long, hot afternoons (or for drowning your...
Theres nothing wrong at all with a standard London dry gin and tonic in summer — in fact, there's an awful lot right with it. Sometimes, though, you hanker after something more exotic, and Martin Fone...
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The beekeeper who became an accidental distiller: 'When I took it to the...
Frustrated by wasted honey in her frames, a beekeeper tried soaking them in whisky. The results are award-winning, discovers Vicky Liddell, as she samples Beeble’s spirits.Nicola Reed: artist,...
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10 of the most beautiful corkscrews to make opening a great bottle of wine...
The best corkscrews you can buy today, as selected by Amelia Thorpe.Barley Pattern silver corkscrew, £320, Asprey 020–7493 6767; www.asprey.com Opinel corkscrew and pocketknife, £25 020–7043 1478;...
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Champagne with fish and chips, and what to drink at Christmas with Oscar Dodd...
Fortnum & Mason's wine and spirits guru joins the Country Life podcast.Wine and spirits buyer Oscar Dodd.‘Anything said with absolute confidence and in absolute terms is normally nonsense,’ says...
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Mushroom gin, Lego houses, and dull men and women, with James May
That bloke off Top Gear joins the Country Life Podcast to talk about making his own gin, how to run a pub, why dull men and women are anything but and why he hates the North Pole and suitcases with...
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