What's trending for 2017? Part 2

Summer is officially here, everyone is getting out trying new things! There are plenty more opportunities to get on board with what’s trending for 2017. If you missed part one, click here to read. 

Britalian

London’s love affair with Italy is showing no signs of fading with plenty of restaurants serving Italian dishes made with British ingredients and the big return of pasta! At many bars, you can find an increase in customers ordering classic Italian cocktails mixed with Aperol, Campari and Limoncello.

Tacos

Love them or loathe them, you won’t be able to escape tacos in 2017. Tacos are so easy to make and the flavour possibilities are endless. 2017 will also be the year of the Super Garnish, so expect to see lots of sprinkles, sauces and salsas to be added by the customer at the table (customers love personalisation) so extras such as flavoured salts, experimental condiments and textural additions. Drinks to pair with these popular Mexican delights can range from refreshing margarita cocktails, tequila shots and light Mexican style beers.

The best of British

British beverages are having a big moment this year with the English sparkling and still wine scene really emerging as a strong category within the wine world. The producers Chapel Down, Camel Valley and Ridgeview are featured in the sparkling wine section of our new wine list (pages 22 and 23). This year, Chapel Down even replaced Bollinger as the official sponsor of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. It’s not just about the wine scene as of course, the Gin revolution very much continues this year with a new distillery popping up on every corner of London, some of which you can visit, have a guided tour of the distillery or even blend your very own gin!

It’s National Gin Day on the 10th of June so stock up on all your premium British Gins now!

Drink pairing

Food and drink pairing now goes well beyond wine. Some of you may be aware of beer and food pairings but this year the popular choice is spirits. So whilst wine and cheese will never grow old, some spirit and food pairings for 2017 may include Tequila with oysters, Gin with a prawn cocktail, Whisky with beef, Rum with pork, even Sherry with French fries and, naturally, Vodka with caviar. Pairing specific cocktails with food is also becoming increasingly common as well- how about giving the margaritas and tacos a try? Food and Drink

Food and Drink pairings featured heavily at our latest customer tasting event “Asian Fusion” where we had sushi paired with Sake, spare ribs with beer and even freeze dried insects paired with wine!

Discover more about our range of Japanese drinks in our Japanese Collection brochure, click here to view online.