If you’re looking for inspiration for World Gin Day, what could be more appropriate than a Tom Collins made with Langley’s Old Tom. Made for the job, one might say.

Fabulous bottle, so are appearances deceptive? Absolutely not.

It’s a fabulous gin and first rate for creating an iconic Tom Collins – for you, or if you feel inclined to share,  your friends too.

Langley’s  England have sent Frost Magazine a recipe which, oh dear me, we felt we must – on your behalf – test.

Of course we made it  using Langley’s Old Tom – a style which dates back from the 18th century England and which is sweeter with spiced undertones –  the Tom Collins was first mentioned in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, the father of American mixology. It is a delicious serve that’s refreshing and really easy to make.

But first things first – what is the legend behind the name Tom Collins?

A bit like Topsy, it was a joke that grew. Said to have started in 1874 in New York, perhaps a bit like the whispers game, a man would ask a friend if they’d seen Tom Collins.

‘Who? Why?’ Was the answer.

‘He’s bad mouthing you. You’d better find him and put a stop to it.’

So a search would ensue around the bars for a Tom Collins. But Tom didn’t exist. The search for Tom Collins grew as the joke took hold and travelled widely, catching more and more people, and quick to see an opportunity, a barman eventually dreamed up a tall gin drink and when asked if he knew a Tom Collins, he would say. ‘Yep, coming up’

The searcher, knowing they’d been had, would do what any sensible person would, and down the Tom Collins and forget about everything.

So give it a go for World Gin Day, and any other day, come to that.

Have a look at how:

Ingredients

50ml Langley’s Old Tom

20ml Lemon Juice

10ml Sugar Syrup

Topped with Soda

Method

Fill Collins glass with ice.

Add 50ml of Langley’s Old Tom Gin.

Add lemon juice, and sugar syrup and soda to glass, stir.

Garnish with lemon wedge and cherry.

Langley’s have created a video here to show you how to make it:

http://langleysgin.com/cocktail-menu/collins/

Langley’s Old Tom is available nationwide at Amazon and independent retailers (£25)

I have to admit that I have spent most of my adult life disparaging and dismissing Rose wine, as over hyped and marketed to people who don’t particularly enjoy wine.

Similarly, there was a time when I believed that the only good wines came from the Old World. Since then I have matured like a fine wine and now relish wines from the New World and the opportunity to taste Villa Maria, Private Bin Rose, Hawkes Bay 2017.

(£10.75 from Asda)

Well, it is definitely time to apologise, I have done Rose wrong. Villa Maria, Private Bin Rose, Hawkes Bay 2017 screams of summer days, serve chilled at picnics or barbecues or perhaps enjoyed in the garden – see I am positively evangelical? This perfectly dry wine boasts a gorgeous salmon colour with bright floral aromas and tasting of strawberries and other red fruits together with a hint of spice making me wonder what I have been missing all these years.

Encouraged by this revelation I moved on to another bête noir of mine – that of Beaujolais Village. Such ignorance does not deserve to taste such wine, which is made of 100% Gamay grapes. The Louis Jadot Cuvee (£11.70 Tesco and Wine Rack) is light and fruity and recommended to serve slightly chilled. It is certainly youthful and fresh, with strong taste of red fruits such as strawberries and cherries again with a spicy finish.

£11.70 Tesco and Wine Rack

I would try this with a plate of charcuterie, but it would go just as well with pate, grilled or roasted red meats and even some strong cheese and crusty bread, definitely one for those hot summer days of al fresco eating.

I had not heard of Esk Valley or Verdelho 2017 (is there no end to my general ignorance?) but my goodness I won’t forget in a hurry, those mineral notes with flavours of Mandarin ,Passion Fruit and Peach.

Verdelho is a famous variety originally from the Portuguese Island of Madeira where for centuries it has been used in the production of fortified wines. The vines were planted in New Zealand in 1998 and 2002, since when Esk Valley has pioneered this variety with astonishing results.

This is a young and fruity, dry style wine with a rich body and a crisp acidity perfect to enjoy with fresh seafood perhaps enjoyed on the beach or the deck of a boat on those long summer days? A man can only dream.

(£13.75 The Wine Reserve, Banstead Vintners, Shenfield Wine Company)

Finally, the Zalse, Bush Vine Chenin Blanc 2017 from South Africa boasts grapes mostly from the Stellenbosch region and the rest coming from select coastal vineyards.

The wine offers a rich texture and minerality with initial aromas of lime and citrus zest with what can only be described as a veritable fruit salad of tropical fruit with Kiwi fruit, Melon, Peach and Mango to the fore. The wine has a very long finish considering the price, defying the drinker not to smack one’s lips after each satisfying mouthful.

Such is the finish that I would happily drink Zalse, Bush Vine Chenin Blanc 2017 on its own, or with salads or fish and at only:

£10.00 from Waitrose, Morrisons and Asda it is certainly a bargain.

‘Every day is a school day,’ they say and for these wines I am more than happy to go back to the classroom, just so long as I can enjoy them during those long hot summer breaks.

(Images courtesy of Michael Rowan)

“a bold and adventurous take on a Sondheim beauty”

There are seventeen in the cast, five in the band. The stage is in the round. The wood is actually made of wood. The music and lyrics are classic Sondheim… Ambitious to tackle such a large production – and director Tim McArthur just keeps this show under control.

Into The Woods ensemble Photography David Ovenden

The story does have a modern twist. The mixing of all the well-known fairy tale characters is brilliant anyway, but this production has influences of the UK today. Jack and his mother are superb characters straight from an episode of Jeremy Kyle. In fact, the part of Jack’s mother can be immensely forgettable – but not Madeleine MacMahon’s interpretation. Jack himself, played by Jamie O’Donnell is innocent, dumb and lovable in equal quantities.

Jack’s Mother condescending her son, Jack photography David Ovenden

The leading triumvirate that drive the plot along are The Witch (played at the start as a bag-lady by Michele Moran) and the two Bakers: Tim McArthur and Jo Wickham.

The Witch has words with The Baker, as his Wife looks on Photography David Ovenden

In these demanding roles, Jo Wickham shone as the Baker’s Wife. She wants a child and her journey is a tough one – full of ups and downs (literally, when you include the ladders!) and is thrilling to watch. Abigail Carter-Simpson’s Cinderella is, likewise, a key character in the story and she also excels in the role.

Cinderella Photography David Ovenden

Coming from a household very much in The Only Way Is Essex genre, she meets the Prince and discovers his world is Made In Chelsea. She approves of neither.

Overall, I think the best element of the show is the setting itself  – the clash not just of fairy tales but of class and accents. The set (all wood, of course) is a rambling forest of ladders and pallets and boxes designed by Joana Dias.

The bag lady Witch shows her true colours Photography David Ovenden

This rambling, annoyingly, comes across in the whole feel of the show. There are some stunning solo performances but the whole is a little blurred. The witch isn’t scary enough, the jokes aren’t funny enough, the loss isn’t painful enough. Needing a little more focus and smoother group choreography, this intriguing interpretation of Into The Woods doesn’t quite hit the mark. It is still a bold and adventurous take on a Sondheim beauty.

Photography:     David Ovenden

Venue:               Cockpit Theatre, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH

Running:            Until Saturday 24th June 2018 at 7.30pm (no Monday performances)

Sunday Matinees at 3.30pm

Running Time:   2hr40m (with an interval)

Tickets:              £15 – £26

www.thecockpit.org.uk – 020 7258 2925

Twitter:               @allstarpro, @TheWoods2018, #Woods2018

Producers:         All Star Productions and Trilby Productions

Director:             Tim McArthur

Musical Director: Aaron Clingham

Music & Lyrics:  Stephen Sondheim

Book:                 James Lapine

Set Design:        Joana Dias

No, not an annoyingly clever 5 year old but an amazingly vibrant young publishing house called The Emma Press and named after Emma Wright, who started the venture along with Rachel Piercey, my featured poet and Newdigate prize winner in 2008. And in the 5 years of its existence they have supported over 400 new writers and some of them like me with a “6” in front of their decade.

Their mission which they have accepted with great energy, professionalism, commitment and kindness, has been to seek out poets and prose writers and encourage them through their “calls for submissions”. This has allowed an amazing array of talent to see the light of day. These “calls for submissions” are on their website and open to all, topics ranging from the traditional love theme to aunts and beyond! They want to encourage literature that is welcoming and accessible. And, importantly, they are concerned to foster writing for children. They are also committed to having a live persona and can be found at their local well known national bookshop in Birmingham and at book events at venues up and down the country.

But their greatest virtue, in my opinion, is the blending of an intellectual rigour with a sense of fun to deliver the writer’s words. I attended the London launch in January of their Anthology of Love held in a café serving fab cakes iced with our words – a convivial and enlightening experience.

Anthology of Love

Their Anthology of Love contains 50-plus new poems from a variety of pens, some more tried and tested than others. Edited by Emma and Rachel it is has black and white illustrations by Emma and is wrapped up in a vibrant, colourful cover which will not be missed! Rachel has one poem included, titled Symbiosis, a witty and tender poem, in sonnet form, about love between two unlikely participants, an Egyptian plover and a Nile crocodile. Despite their obvious differences they “share four-chambered hearts which beat in time”. In the fourteen lines she creates the intimate world of two intimates allowing us glimpses of the tenderness of this “unlikely pairing”.

Rachel Aunts Launch

In addition to her writing Rachel also runs workshops in schools and at festivals and I shall be welcoming her to Dorset in June, Saturday 16^th, when she will be running a poetry writing workshop at Littlebredy Walled Garden, Dorchester, Dorset, a real haven of peace, entitled “I hear it in the deep heart’s core”. Information is available at www.littlebredy.com.

But now they’re in process of editing the next anthology and selecting their next series of individual pamphlets. Not surprising, then, that they won the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlet Publishers in 2016. They deserve it and more.

Poetry Writing Workshop at Littlebredy: www.littlebredy.com

www.theemmapress.com