Happy Birthday Clever Little Tailor

 

Last week Clever Little Tailor celebrated their first birthday. It was one of the first bars in Adelaide which served classic cocktails. Located just off of Hindley Street, it's a sweet place to kick back and relax. 

Unlike many bars, CLT is cosy and warm- no blasting air conditioners which leave you scrambling for a sweater in summer. The bar is handsomely stocked with spirits and there's even beer on tap!

The Old Fashioned

The Old Fashion is the grandfather of all cocktails. I'm not a whisky drinker but according to J, the Old Fashion has very much improved since the beginning of CLT.

$8 Pilsner and West Winds Gin served with lime

I started off on the $5 West Winds Gin special! Generally, I am not a fan of dry gin but with lime it was perfect. At The Howling Owl, the dry gins are served with cinnamon and orange which enhances the dryness and that alcohol taste most of us don't like. I'm definitely going to try lime in the future (except for Hendricks, always have cucumber with Hendricks). Oh and my OCD self is loving the perfectly square ice cubes.

The left features a '$8 Pilsner'. It was my first experience tasting a pilsner but since I'm not beer junkie I really can't say much about it. Apparently it was 'okay'.

Hops Hog Beer and Daiquiri

It was disappointing when there was no tomato juice because Bloody Marys are the best. However, I settled for the summery daiquiri and recieved this frothy thing. At first I thought the bartender had no idea what he was doing but a quick Google search tells me that it's common enough and is a result of not straining after shaking the ingredients. Doesn't speak of summer vacation as your typical daiquiri, but it was interesting enough. I could taste something along the lines of nutmeg or cinnamon giving it that winter feel.

The Hops Hog is an American style India Pale Ale produced in Australia. As far as beer goes, I like it! Thumbs up for the both of us.
 
So whether you're after a cocktail or beer, Clever Little Tailor has your back. And if you like none of those, there's a generous wine list too.

-C
 

Mclaren Vale Part 2: Alpha Box & Dice

Alpha Box & Dice is a small winery literally across the Road from Maxwell's. Not only do they produce my all time favourite red, this brand actually started my adventure into wine. AB&D is unique from pretty much every winery out there- down to earth and incredibly groovy.

Last summer, The Happy Motel came to AB&D featuring their 'Korexican' cuisine- weird ey? Unfortunately I missed out on that dinner but the door is a remnant of those dinners.

This is literally a room within the AB&D winery.

 

The perks of having only 5 wines on tasting is that you get to taste everything they have available. Wightmare is the only white on tasting at the moment. It's supposed to be a dry white but it's not dry in the way I dislike. It's still refreshing and crisp with an 'oily' mouth-feel (as described by the connoisseur).

The Imaginarium is the only Shiraz that I could say I love. As mentioned, it's just not my type of grape. Can't remember what it tastes like but it was definitely worth a purchase!

Not only does the Tarot have a really cool label, this is by far my favourite wine I have ever tried. In the past I thought all wines tasted the same. But this was 'the one' for me. It's super spicy, light but not too light. It's great for easy drinking and suitable for those who aren't a fan of wine. It's 100% Grenache in the current vintage (2011), but I think 2008 had a blend with Tempranillo which was the one that got me into wine.

The Mistress is classed as NV meaning it's an nonvintage wine- a production blend of two or more years. It's 53% Touriga Nacional, 37% Tinta Roriz, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Apart from the last grape, I haven't really had the other before. The Mistress tasted really earthy at first, but then I couldn't get this flowery flavour off my tongue. It reminds me of Jasmine but it's not. It's something pungent, small white petals grown on a wild tree/bush (I think).

Kit & Kaboodle is the only red I don't own of AB&D. It's more full-bodied than the others. 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Shiraz, 18% Grenache, and 12% Touriga Nacional.  Looking at the blend, I'm quite surprised I didn't enjoy it more but it just goes to show that what you think you like about wine doesn't always indicate what you will actually enjoy.

If you ever want to start drinking wine, I highly recommend AB&D. Even though I tried the same wines in January, no less than 3 months later I started to pick up on so many new flavours that I didn't sense before. The makers encourage you to just think for yourself because sometimes they won't even tell you what's in the wine! 

-C

Mclaren Vale Part 1: Maxwell winery

One of the best things about living in Adelaide is the wine country. This weekend we went to McLaren Vale

and visited a couple of my favourite wineries. First stop, Maxwell Wines. 

In the flurry to taste as many varieties of wine possible, I failed to take many photos, but here are some of the bottles we picked up along the way:

Four Roads Old Vine Grenache, Ellen Street Shiraz, Spiced Mead and Honey Mead

In no way or form are we experts or professionals in wine tasting. We taste what we taste and are still learning! Lets talk about each of them in tasting order.

The Grenache has always been my favourite sort of grape - it's spicy, seems to have a lot of elements to its flavouring, but still remains a light wine. In the past, my experience with pure Grenache wines is that it can be too light and could use some Tempranillo or Shiraz grape to balance it out. However, this particular bottle had the spiciness I look for in Grenache and had the medium-to-full bodiness in which I prefer.

Even though the photo shows the Ellen Street Shriaz, that is not actually the bottle I intended to buy. I'm not even sure I even tried this one. What I did try was the Maxwell's Silver Hammer (named after The Beatles song). The Silver Hammer was as enjoyable as a shiraz could go for me (not a favourite grape) - maybe something I'd buy a friend or family member. What I did intend to purchase was the Lime Cave Cabernet Sauvignon. I could be drinking wine and read tasting notes all day but all I can say is that 'this one is just super juicy'.

Honestly, the stars of the show are really the meads. Besides the excellent customer service at Maxwell's Winery, this is why I would bring all my friends. The honey mead is sweet but light best served over ice on a hot day. It reminds me of honey, apples, and apricot and tastes like summer. The spice mead is best served warm. The Cinnamon and clove spices gives it a winter warmth and reminds me of Apple Pies and sitting by a fire. If  you're not a wine drinker, you will most definitely love the mead. 

Next stop, Alpha Box & Dice.

-C