A visit to Da Vinci Italian restaurant on Fleet Street is always agreeable. And a recent visit with chums, one of whom rounded off his meal with an Amaretto liqueur coffee gave a fab opportunity to do this Swindon in 50 drinks post about Amaretto Italian liqueur.
15. Mythos Hellenic Beer
Mythos Hellenic Beer at the Greek Olive in Swindon
Over the years I’ve sunk a fair few bottles of Hellenic Mythos beer on sunny holidays on the Greek island of Samos. Oh and Corfu too.
14. żywiec Polish Pilsner Beer
Recent weeks have seen me make two visits to Do Syta (AKA the Bear Restaurant) in the Polish Club in Park South. Thus arises an opportunity for a Swindon in 50 Drinks post! This time we raise a glass to żywiec Polish pilsner beer.
13. Hercule Belgian Stout
Recently, meandering round town with a Federation of Small Businesses colleague, Ruth Lambert, we chanced upon The Drink Valley – sounds good right? Well it is. There’s a good selection of beers some of which I doubt you’d find in the supermarket.
12. Absinthe – La fée Verte
Known often in literature as la fée verte (the green fairy), this most potent of libations is so often associated with the French post impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. And The Tuppenny in Swindon’s Old Town it seems.
11. Peroni Red Label Beer
Peroni Red Label BeerI guess this one is a bit of a cheat in that I've already done a generic Italian beer post in this Swindon in 50 drinks blog series. But here I'm taking the top off Peroni Red Label beer,In that post I covered the ubiquitous Peroni Nastro Azzuro...
No 10: Arkell’s Ales
Well listeners. This Swindon in 50 Drinks post No 10: Arkell’s Ales, is something of a milestone. Not because it’s the 10th post in the series. Oh no. Rather because today is the day after our current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, put the country into a condition that is lockdown in all but name. The reason for that being the pandemic Covid-19 – also known as the coronavirus.
No 9: Italian Beer
A recent visit to Da Vinci – the Italian restaurant down on Fleet Street gave me the perfect opportunity to do a Swindon in 50 Drinks post on Italian beer. Well two of them anyway. Peroni and Moretti.
No 8: Hot Chocolate
The on-the-ground research for this Swindon in 50 Drinks post about hot chocolate necessitated a return visit to Los Gatos, on Devizes Road in Old Town.
No 7: Sherry – Fortified Wine of Spain
Right! If your perception of sherry is the dark, somewhat sweet stuff you remember your granny drinking in a schooner at Christmas – prepare for a surprise. Because there’s as much variety with it as there is with other wines. The fortified wine you associate with grandma and Christmas is more than likely Harvey’s Bristol Cream – or something similar.
No 6: Hop Kettle Pilsner Lager
For this post and this drink we make a return visit to The Eternal Optimist bar on Devizes Rd above Los Gatos.
See also in this series, No 5: Gin & Tonic for more on the Eternal Optimist.
No 5: Gin & Tonic
I have a confession to make. I loathe gin. And I’m not a fan of tonic either. Which is as bit of a bummer given that every bar in the land is awash with every variety of Mothers’ Ruin you can imagine. And, I daresay, some you can’t. So I can’t tell you how pleased I was when my good chum, Jo Garton, volunteered to take one for the team and write a few lines about her gin experience at Old Town bar, The Eternal Optimist.