Someone must be reading this.

Well, I did complain a couple of posts ago that I never get included on the tasting of our products... and it seems like someone has listened.

Friday evening, our director decided we'd have a little tasting of some of our Italian Wines. I have to admit, I'm not a wine drinker - I much prefer the coffees we've been trying lately - but the two I tried were very nice indeed.

The first one I tried was our Pinot Nero red - the Vinificato Rosso. Now, because I'm a little bit of an artist, the first thing I tend to look at is the colour. The Pinot Nero is a lovely deep, rich red, and was sharply fruity with a little bit of a bite to it - it's not a sweet red wine - and it went down very nicely with the crisps and sweet chilli/cheese dip we were snacking on. I'm sure it'd be lovely with a nice roast beef dinner or even an addition to our Truffle Gift Hamper as an accompaniment to the pasta with sauce, as far as it goes.

I also had a little taste of our White sparkling wine, the Casaleggio Brut - this one was a fairly dry wine, but it also went down well with the nibbles we were having. It's quite refreshing - I could imagine it would go well with sweet puddings or breads, like our Panettone and Sparkling Wine combination. I know that one comes with the Prosecco Rose sparkling wine, but I'll be adding the Casaleggio as an alternative option today. I've also been told that the Panettone makes a wonderful bread and butter pudding if you're looking for something a little different - we have just received our most recent shipment from Italy, and they're available now for the Christmas season!

Cakes and Biscuits and Perfumes, oh my!

Well, I'm putting the Ashers Bakery gift hampers onto the site now... and they look even better than I'd thought. I still haven't gotten to try the Chocolate and Grand Marnier cake, nor the Cranberry and Orange biscuits.

That said, this week has been surprise coffee week. We're taste-testing some coffee that might just wind up being on the site, and with a new flavour every day so far, we're having a lot of fun. And this time I did get to be on the tasting list, because I was the one who found the company in the first place. Today's flavour was Mocha Orange. Very, very nice. If you're interested in us stocking gourmet flavoured ground or instant coffees in our gift hampers, please tell us about it!

Keep your eyes out for some new gift hampers in the next two weeks - with name-brand perfume and aftershave gift packs.

Whisky and Liqueur Cakes - Sneak Preview

I have to admit I have a terrible sweet tooth. And the new cakes and biscuits sitting behind me, all waiting for photography and adding to our festive hampers, are absolute torment, especially since our tasting crew has told me that they are absolutely fantastic. Of course, I'm not allowed to try any yet!

The whisky and liqueur cakes come in round collector's tins, and I can't wait to see what they look like once we start putting together some gift ideas around them. The nice folks at Ashers Bakery have certainly done some beautiful work with these.

Here's to hoping someone will decide I get to be on the next tasting trip :)