you sir are more than welcome. Don't forget your turbot.
Had a good glass of iced kummel

Good call.
Browsing trade websites for knives seems to confirm this.


"Even" John Lewis stock two grades of Sabatier (or they did when I last bought one there).

There's the "Fully-forged" type where the blade, bolster and tang are all one forged piece. A nice modest knife with good balance.

Then there's the second type where, although the blade and tang are all one piece, the bolster is merely an aluminium collar surrounding the bit where the blade appears out of the handle and, as far as I could tell, fulfils an aesthetic function only. Still perfectly serviceable and although the balance isn't the same, most of us wouldn't even notice.

Both grades are stainless, which doesn't take as good an edge as carbon steel* but, again, as any normal person will be happy with them.



* Carbon steel can rust, of course, but not if you wash and dry them properly.

Back to gin. The ginophiles amongst us may find this primer of interest, purely in the name of reasearch of course And, given these difficult economic times, a website that may prove of interest

Back to gin. The ginophiles amongst us may find this primer of interest, purely in the name of reasearch of course And, given these difficult economic times, a website that may prove of interest

cod'ead wrote:Back to gin. And, given these difficult economic times, a website that may prove of interest In last weeks Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey one phrase jumped right out of the TV set - it was in the scene where she was in some high mountain village on the Bulgarian border and she visited an old man of the village who made his own Raki, "He has the largest still allowable in law for personal use" is what she said. Greeks can legally own their own stills, for personal use.

cod'ead wrote:Back to gin. And, given these difficult economic times, a website that may prove of interest In last weeks Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey one phrase jumped right out of the TV set - it was in the scene where she was in some high mountain village on the Bulgarian border and she visited an old man of the village who made his own Raki, "He has the largest still allowable in law for personal use" is what she said. Greeks can legally own their own stills, for personal use.

Yes, and why shouldn't they? Just because we are used to paying tax just for having the temerity to draw breath doesn't mean we should be surprised to see that others can do it for free.

Many years ago, I remember touring an ouzo distillery on Lesvos and after the obligatory tour, we then went to the bar/shop for a tasting session. After sampling about half a dozen of the usual brews, I was attracted to one particular type that was in an aluminium flask, similar to what you used to find on old Claude Butler racing bikes. The geezer poured some out and I reckon he then poured about 80% of water into the glass before it even started to turn cloudy. This stuff was rocket fuel.

I enquired as to the volume of alcohol and was shown the bottle, that clearly stated 39%. "So why is it nearly twice the price of the other stuff then?" the reply was: "because it's usually closer to 60%". Apparently at that time (pre EU), the Greek government requested minimal excise duties for anything below 40% vol. They simply had labels printed with 39% on them and no one ever bothered getting the hygrometer out.

On the raki subject, some old friends in Kipseli (Northern Athens) owned a bar on Kos and one night I asked Rena if she had any raki. "Of course David, what do you need it for?" I just fancied trying it said I. "No, no. no, it is not for drinking, it is for rubbing on the children's chest when they have a cold"

Since that day, I have never felt any inclination to try raki or its close relative, absynthe. Both are distilled from what is left after wine pressings: seeds, pulp, stalks etc.... FFS it's bloody turps with an aniseed flavour added, no wonder Toulouse Lautrec went barmy

My mum lives on Rhodes where they def make the most of brewing non laws. Every year we visit the village of Siana for their fabulous honey and also the local "wine" suma. It is the single strongest thing i have ever tasted. I'm not even fond of it, its just a tradition! http://www.manos-siana.com/homemade_suma.php

My mum lives on Rhodes where they def make the most of brewing non laws. Every year we visit the village of Siana for their fabulous honey and also the local "wine" suma. It is the single strongest thing i have ever tasted. I'm not even fond of it, its just a tradition! http://www.manos-siana.com/homemade_suma.php

Thats what the old guy told Ms Lumley, he stills the clear liquid into what he claims to be "almost" 100% alcohol and its used by the women of the village for "medicinal purposes", he reckoned that the stuff he uses to drink was around 60 to 70%.

We were given some clear liquid shots in a "proper" (ie the locals ate there too) Greek restaurant when in Corfu this year which was unbranded and simply called "Holy Water", they made a big thing of it so we looked impressed when knocking it back but actually it was pretty unpleasant, a bit syrupy and burned your mouth and throat like hell, you can imagine that you wouldn't be able to drink much of it and you'd probably be dead within a few months if you made it your booze of choice.

Theres a place on the scale of alcohol content in wine, beer and spirits where the level seems to become the focus rather than what the drink tastes like, I'd much rather have a pleasant cask ale than knock back high alcohol shots, I don't want to get drunk I want to enjoy the drink.

I'm glad the gin chat has popped back up, I was away at the time. I don't think it was mentioned at the time but I recently very much enjoyed a bottle of this. http://www.blackwoodsgin.net/ I haven't tried the 60%, it was the 40% that I had, a very nice sip.

I'm glad the gin chat has popped back up, I was away at the time. I don't think it was mentioned at the time but I recently very much enjoyed a bottle of this. http://www.blackwoodsgin.net/ I haven't tried the 60%, it was the 40% that I had, a very nice sip.

Home-distilled stuff can be very dangerous to drink ... apparently the "heads" and "tails" (the first liquid to come through the still, and the last) can cause all sorts of brain and liver damage ... the knowledge to avoid those isn't very widespread.
So, it's not just down to tax alone.