The Tulleeho Blog

Drinking in Colombo

2012-01-12T13:22:00.003+05:30

There's hope for a country in the developing world, where cars actually stop at zebra crossings, and jaywalking is frowned upon. Try using a zebra crossing in Delhi, or indeed any Indian city, and hoping that the traffic will stop for you. Suicide wish. That's Colombo for you. Of course, it's also a city, where an auto driver offers me a massage (fortunately, not by him personally) at 2.30 in the afternoon on Galle Face road, right in the heart of town (but that's another story).

It's great to be flying Sri Lankan airlines this time, especially as I'm offered Lion Lager on the flight over from Delhi, which I gratefully accept. A really nice, crisp and refreshing lager, 3 cans keep me sane for the flight, and on a visit to the Taj Samudra, I have it's cousin a bottle of Lion Stout beer, along with a plate of an island speciality, the Devilled Prawns. At 8.5% abv (alcohol by volume), Lion Stout is not for the faint hearted, but it's an excellent stout.

I was last in Colombo in November 2006 when the LTTE led insurgency was very much in full swing, and Colombo was under a virtual state of siege. Post the LTTE's supposed disintegration, things are far more relaxed. My taxi in from the airport is still stopped a couple of times, by soldiers, but maybe that's because it was 2 am in the morning. For someone however used to post 26/11 India, where hotels resemble security bunkers, the non-existent security provisions at any of the hotels I visited, made me nervous. Maybe that's why I drank so much in the 3 days I was there.

Lion Lager kept me company most of the time, but on my visit to Mix at the Samudra, where I was hosted by members of the hotel's F&B team, they recommended I try a cocktail from one of their younger bar staff, who had been drafted from the banquets into the bar. Prasanga, duly obliged and whipped me up an improvised cocktail, his own creation, a tall, fruity and delicious combination of of Vodka, pineapple juice, lime juice and mint. Sri Lanka's bartenders (and bars) are crazy about flair bartending, and Tulleeho had been drafted in to send in a team of flair bartenders to Colombo, to be placed in major hotels for the month of December.

Prasanga's Creation

Mixology or cocktail skills, is still not top drawer, and a common complaint I hear is that the moment a bartender learns his craft, he's off to the Middle East or to a job on a cruise liner. However Sri Lanka gives all signs of being a nation moving rapidly forward, and with ambition of it becoming the next Singapore. Tourism seems to be doing well, and the hospitality industry is growing fast, especially as more and more resorts open up on their beautiful coast line, and one hopes that better job prospects will keep Sri Lanka's talented bartenders closer home.

Of course my too brief sojourn was not only to be spent drinking the local beer, I also made it a point to visit the legendary Galle Face hotel, and head for their sea facing al fresco drinking and dining area. Seaspray, their sea food restaurant, had a "buffet only", so I shifted scene to Patio, right next door, and with all the Seaspray benefits. Bear in mind, that Seaspray literally means just that. The waves are crashing literally at your feet, and little children are being whisked away from the side of the cliff. All of Colombo is out to party, as tis the run up to Christmas, and even the stony faced soldiers manning check points across the City, manage a smile. Patio has a BoB of 3.75 (LKR) for a 650 ml bottle of Lion Lager.

I scan through the drinks menu and order one of the Galle Face's signature cocktails, the Old World Charm (LKR 550), a combo of Pimm's # 1, Gin, Lemonade, Mint Leaves, and with a Cinammon stick as a stirrer. On further probing, Sampath, the bar captain reveals that the first case of Pimm's # 1 was exported to Sri Lanka, and brings out a small tent card which confirms the same. The cocktail itself was well balanced, and as the band played Besame Mucho at Seaspray, I sat and sipped it as the waves crashed on the waterfront. I'll be back.

Old World Charm @ the Galle Face

Grant's Tasting

2011-12-02T10:13:00.001+05:30

The barter economy is alive and well in Scotland. "We just swap trucks" says Ludovic "Ludo" Ducrocq, the Global ambassador for William Grant and Sons, the largest family owned whisky company in Scotland, currently run by the 5th generation of the Grant family.

Coming back to the swapping. There are 3 types of whisky made in Scotland, Single Malt (whisky made from barley, at a single distillery), Single Grain (whisky made from typically barley and wheat, but at a single distillery) and blended Scotch (a mix of Single Malt and Single Grain).

Well there are just 7 Single grain distilleries and over a 100 Single Malt distilleries in Scotland, but the beauty of the matter is that any half decent blended Scotch will typically have 15-20 different Single Malts as a part of the blend. As a result, it would be difficult for any one company to make all that Malt from their own distilleries, and therefore they often just swap tankers of whisky in between themselves, without going through all the rigmarole of invoicing each other. Makes for a cozy industry!


Rishi Raj Singh, F&B Manager, ITC Sheraton with Ludo

It's Ludo's first visit to India, he tells us, as he takes us on a journey through the heritage of William Grant and Sons, as well as an enjoyable tasting of the Grant's Family Reserve, their 12 year old and their 25 year old blended scotch. We unfortunately are not tasting the Girvan, which is the Single Grain whisky made by William Grant and Sons.

Considering it's only one of the 7 Single Grain whiskies made in Scotland, it was a visionary step in the 1960's, by Charles Gordon, the great grand son of William Grant, to set it up. It was another Charles Gordon however, William Grant's son in law, who in 1909 went on a year long trip around the world to promote their whisky, a trip which helped lay the foundations for their business success in the years to come. It also must have been the world's longest travel expense statement!

To commemorate a 100 years of Charles round the world trip, the Grant's 25 year old was released in 2009.

Tulleeho's Rohan Jelkie & Sweta Mohanty

Currently only the Grant's Family Reserve is available in the domestic market, but the 12 and the 25 year old can both be picked up in duty free.

William Grant and Sons also make the Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, both Single Malt whiskies.

Tulleeho!

Chile-d in a candy shop!

2011-11-22T13:53:00.001+05:30

I have always preferred the new world styled wines morebecause they are fruit driven and suit my (read “Indian”) palate very well. Chile is my preferred choice because ofthe quality it offers for the price. On the 17^th November 2011, Iknew I was gonna be spoilt for choice with an exclusive Chilean wine tastingorganised by ProChile an arm ofthe Chilean Embassy at Tote on the Turf, Race course.

To begin with,Chile is known as a “Vintner’s Paradise”because of the geographical conditions it enjoys making it easy for wineries toproduce quality fruit. They have the Atacama desert flanks the North, Pacificand Antartica to the west and south have their cooling effect and the snowcapped Andes to the east ensures that there is enough water for irrigation.Another most important factor is that Chile is Phylloxera –free ( Phylloxera isa louse responsible for devastating vines on a grand scale in Europe andoverseas) and only few pockets inthe world are such. Chile also has a very long ripening season as they have warmmornings and cool nights ensuring fruit which is rich in sugar and phenolicripeness. Grape varietals viz: Sauvignon Blanc ,Chardonnay,Pinot Noir ,Merlot,Cabernet Sauvignon and Chile’s very own Carmenere thrive well.

Ameya mycolleague (a mixologist dabbling in wines) and me reached the venue winethirsty! It turned out as expected, was a pleasant evening with a very slight nip in the air soft music, wine thirsty people andgood wines to taste. Theparticipating importers viz: Aspri spirits, Sula, Mohan brothers,Dhall foodsand Sonarys had their stall set-up with their wine selections, bread ,SchottZwiesel glasses and thank god forthe spittoons. We started going around savoring and spiting ( a wise thing todo when you are a tasting, allows you to taste all the wines!) wines fromdifferent stables,no pun intended. Rounds of Goat’s cheese balls, succulentGalouti kababs, piquant sundried tomato bruschettas, smoky ham ones reallyhelped to keep our “spirits” down . We were really having a good time!

Had made my choices as below before they got better off me!

Cono Sur (House ofConcha Y Toro ): A company believes in organic farming and also awarded the “Green company of theyear 201” by Drinks Business.

Bicycle collection Chardonnay: An unoaked styles,freshwith fair acidity.

Bicyle collection Pinot noir: A best bet,fruity,complex with a great finish. Also the first Pinot to be exported fromChile.

Las Vascos{From thehouse of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (lafite)}

Sauvignon Blanc: Fruity with refreshing acidity with underlying vegetalnotes.

Louise Felipe Edwards

Pupilla ,Carmenere: Fruity, medium bodied with round tannins and a hint ofspice.

Montes Alpha:

Cabernet Sauvignon: A year in French oak, full, meatywith a dark fruit and nut chocolate nuance.

Time just passed as we acquainted ourselves with fellowoenophiles. We realized it was time to go as the kebabs made way for cheesecakes. I indulged J Before I could leave I had made onething wait for me, a luscious pink sparkling wine. It was a strawberry infusedchardonnay/sauvignon blanc winein a demi-sec style called Fresita.It was sublime and brilliant! Myevening had some more excitement left, I realized that I should not havesuggested it to “oenophiles” the pure breed: P as it was shot down instantly. “Youare suggesting us a cold drink!!! “ they said. I managed not to bother aseverybody can have their own opinions but sadly most opinions are influenced bystereotypes and prices.

My answer to that

“If you like a wine,you like a wine,be it worth adiamond or be it worth a dime”.

- Ajit Balgi

The Twisted Tiramisu

2011-09-21T14:15:00.002+05:30

L'Aperitivo Italiano, hosted by Artic Vodka @ The Grey Garden, Hauz Khas Village
September, 16th 2011

My mama never told me, never mix cocktails son. It was always the deadly duo of beer and whisky she warned me about. "Cocktails son, it's all good". Well, Mama lied.

Back in the days of prohibition in the USA, there arose "speakeasies", where you had to know where the bar was, to get there, and quite often, you needed to know the secret word also. Speakeasies are back in fashion nowadays, with possibly the most famous being PDT in New York (Please don't tell), where the access is via a phone booth situated in a hot dog place. You use the phone booth to dial a number and the hostess verifies your antecedents before assigning you a time wherein you can enter PDT, which happens I understand by the Bondish mechanism of the phone booth swiveling open.

Grey Garden

Grey Garden is not that difficult to find, cause after wandering in the direction of their sign, you come to a choice between a flight of stairs leading down, and one going up. The stairs going down, being covered with what appear to be billowing grey sheets, and having been warned before hand of the avant garde design I chose to descend, and am rewarded by the sight of a small bar set up to receive me, and a small narrow room, with more of these billowing sheets, but this time white, covering the ceiling, and which I was to discover, served a more binding purpose, later on in the evening (Spoiler Alert!).

More Grey Garden

Mein host, Paritosh was there to receive me, and get L'Aperitivo Italiano started for me with an Artic Fizz (Orange Vodka, Lime Juice, Ginger Syrup, Tonic Water, Angostura Bitters), a tall drink to get the evening started.

The Artic Bar

It was a small gathering, so you could actually speak to each of the other guests, who were in turn, Kishi Arora, a pastry chef, and founder of Foodaholics, Rajesh Lalwani, social media expert and founder of Blogworks, Vishal, with CNBC, a pair of food bloggers (cum architects) who run a Food Blog called Mad Tea Party and Vikas from Spiritz magazine, and of course Paritosh, from Artic Vodka. Not to forget a fraulein from Austria, a vegan, who wandered upon GG, and was invited by our host to join us.

A Vegan Austrian Fraulein

Grey Garden, every fortnight hosts a Supper Club, and a Supper Club, I understand in contemporary terms, acts as a mostly underground club, where guests eat from a set menu, and are expected to mingle with other guests, whom they might not know, which worked pretty well, cause of the assembled guests, the only one I had nodding acquaintance with, was Rajesh, who attended a Martini workshop, we did several years ago, for another club (the Tuesday Club).

What shall we eat ?

As I sipped my Fizz, I duly mingled, and in due course of time, we were whisked into the aforementioned narrow room, where we were seated at one long table. A small open kitchen bounds one end of the room, and the other is a glass window, which overlooks the garden, and then on to the Hauz Khas lake. I carried into dinner, an Artic Deep Purple (vodka, with fresh grapes, ginger juliennes, chunks of lime and cranberry juice), but I need not have bothered, as my mothers other dictum (which she never told me), was don't mix alcohol and food, and we were sitting down to a largely alcoholic dinner.

A martini for the lady

As we donned our bibs, Gautam Arora, the founder of TLR Cafe and Kitchen, sat down to the table with us. I believe he's also connected with the Grey Garden, via his wife, who's a partner in the venture. Let me verify this.

Razberry Gazpacho

The raspberry Gazpacho was quickly followed by a mix of fritters, which had vodka in the batter (Prawn, Corn, Broccoli) with a Bloody mary dip, which we dug into as I drank my cocktail. A selection of excellent pizzas quickly followed (Salmon and Caviar, Salame Piccante, and one with Pumpkin, Sage and Caramelized Onions), we hadn't even reached the main course and I was stuffed.

Choices choices

2 fairly strong cocktails down, I released myself from my bib, because, that was the other purpose served by the sheets on the ceiling, they descended, to slip around you, and you put your arms through them, so they formed a apron cum smock. And off I was to the loo, situated within the store and studio of Cell Dsgn, out of whose innards, was born The Grey Garden. Having to cross the bar, I asked the bartender to whip me up an Artic Chaska (Green Apple vodka, with coriander leaves, rock salt, lime juice, ginger syrup, tonic water and angostura bitters). It was duly sent in to me, where I used it to wash down my main course of Mince meat Ravioli with Lemon vodka and asparagus sauce).

The Ravioli - ooh la la

Pizza Chef

3 cocktails down, with god alone knows how much vodka in the food, was I glad, I had eschewed the pleasures of the Italian Job, a vicious looking shooter, which was doing the rounds. But the twist was in the Tiramisu, which innocuously enough had been passed off, as flavoured with orange vodka in the menu. It was hard to figure where the vodka ended and the dessert started, but I struggled through it manfully, and to my surprise, found that I was first to polish it off. As we staggered off into the night, I'd learnt my lessons well.

What did you think of the Risotto ?

Black Dog Comedy Evening - with Wayne Brady

2011-07-18T16:02:00.003+05:30

Preface - Tulleeho asked Raghav Mandava, a Delhi based stand up comic to take on the onerous task of reporting for us live, from the Black Dog Comedy Evenings, which he did with pleasure.

Wayne Brady

As a comedian in a city which has very little to offer to a standup comedy, I must say it was nice to see a full house at the Black Dog – Wayne Brady, Evening but then again I guess the free invites and the free booze had something to do with it. A Famous comedian friend of mine once mentioned that an international comic will be performing at 50% of his best when he performs in India for the first time, because he will have trouble adapting to all out quirks, diversity and of course language and culture.

Wayne Brady, I think given the circumstances, did an excellent job; once again I’m trying to remain very objective because he is a childhood hero. The first part of his act was a rap in which he had to use the words given by the audience, two of the phrases he had to work with were “Baba Ramdev” and “ulu Da patha”. Even where he went wrong with our lingo and street talk, he acknowledged his mistakes and made them funny too.

However, as a comedian, or even a performer, I feel the audience did not entirely do its part. We sometimes get so caught up in being Indian that we forget that there is a man who has flown down from the United States and even though we may know a lot about his country and culture, he will know very little… and no amount of time spent on Wikipedia, Google or Lonely Planet can make up for actually living here.

Improv comedy is very different from regular stand up comedy, if you are a famous stand up comic, then the audience knows who you are, what kind of jokes you do, and has good idea of what to expect from the artist. An improv comedian has to play off his audience, and the better the audience, the better the performance. I’m not saying it was a bad show, in fact, it was a brilliant show. But I wish we were not so “Delhi” when he came down to entertain us.

Wayne with special guest Jonathan Mangum

However, the show stopper was well and truly when Wayne did the one thing that made him a hit even in “Whose Line is It Anyway?”, sing. Every comedian no matter how funny will know that is hard enough to come up with a joke when put under the gun, but when Wayne did songs about the topics that we handed over to him, we could not help but admire, groove and laugh. As his brother from How I Met Your Brother says, it was truly “Legendary”

- by Raghav Mandava

Drinking in Ladakh

2011-07-12T13:32:00.005+05:30

Next stop Siachen

In keeping with the landscape, getting a drink in Ladakh is a forbidding task.

Beer in a China Cup

In Leh, 100 Oceans, near a parking lot doesn't look appealing, especially as our group has a bunch of kids. We ask along the way, and finally the friendly folk at Metokling (recommended by Lonely Planet, as it says outside), tell us that if we bring in our own booze, we can drink it discreetly. We hop across to a retail outlet near the Post Office, and pick up 4 bottles of Kingfisher. Back again to Metokling, where we are given 3 china cups of differing shapes, and sizes, one of them with a grateful Winnie the Pooh, with his arms wrapped around a pot of honey. The cups are small, and necessitate frequent refilling from the bottles placed below our feet. We appear to be the only people drinking alcohol here, as the rest of the crowd, largely foreign tourists, are content with their food and conversation, and besides a screening of the Hangover is about to start.

Winnie the Pooh & Me

The day before in the Nubra valley, my pal and I had walked for half an hour, from our hotel (Yereb Tso) in the town of Tiger, to a larger adjacent town, called Sumur, in search of a drink. It was an amazing walk in the moonlight, with the high mountains of the Karakoram range around us, and the road frequently interrupted with streams flowing across. Hardly any traffic, except the stray biker, making his way onwards, possibly to Panamik, one of the last points before the Siachen Glacier starts. In Sumur, we climbed a bunch of stairs to a restaurant called Larjan, where Psering, the owner, set a couple of chairs for us on his roof top, and brought us a couple of Godfather Beers and some hot Maggi. The sky was amazingly clear, and as we finished our beer, a group of 4 men trudged across the roof top, past us, the last of them, carrying a bow, and on chatting with him, we found that he had gone for an archery tournament earlier in the day.

Bring your own booze is my recommendation. Camping on the banks of Pangong Tso, we rued that we had not brought some Single Malt with us. Would have been perfect to combat the biting wind, and the rain.

On the banks of Pangong Tso

When Tuscany came calling!

2011-06-01T16:00:00.009+05:30

The World now would get a chance to savour an Indian Sangiovese, a red grape variety which comes most from Central Italy. Vintage wines known for its brand “Reveilo” have clearly shown their affinity for everything Italian, their winemaker and three Italian varietals on a trot, Grillo, Nero d’Avola and now the Sangiovese. The formal unveiling of the 2010 vintage happened on 29th May Sunday 2011 amidst wine fraternity, press and a few glitterati at Escobar in Bandra. Kiran and Yatin Patil the owners and promoters of Vintage wine ensured that the crowd was Sangiovesed!

Sangiovese in this part of the world is lesser known as a varietal, but geographically labeled

wines such as the Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino & Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which use the grape as a major part of their blend are quite popular. It is also used in the blend of many “super Tuscans”, the likes of Tignanello and Brancaia. Sangiovese is versatile, rather a workhorse which can make anything from cooking to premium, ageworthy wines. Vin Santo a sweet wine adds to the portfolio.

“Reveilo, Sangiovese, 2010” really took me by surprise as it was extremely light and fruity, very unusual if compared to a classic. It had refreshing acidity, with red fruit, a hint of smoke (I say a mixed berry tart) and supple tannins which give it a velvety mouth feel! One mystery that hounded me was the element of toast when the wine had not seen oak. The winemaker Andrea Valentinuzzi put my child like curiosity to rest by attributing the smokiness to the hot climate; as our chat drifted on to barrel fermented Chardonnays and wine trends.

Good food finds its way to good wine and this was evident with the dinner spread for the night. The menu was specially compiled by Andrea I overheard. Would not call it Italian, was modern European with items likes Greek salad, herbed chicken, lamb stew/ mash and red wine soaked porcini risotto. For records the Sangiovese and risotto combo was perfect, although not as sublime as the chocolate truffle slice!

Last words, priced at Rs 695, perfect as an aperitif, best served lightly chilled, can go well with light Indian dishes, in layman terms it is a good pick for someone looking for a lively, fruity, easy-drinking, no fuss wine!

by Ajit Balgi

An Evening with David Pickerell - Delhi and Mumbai

2011-04-20T15:26:00.004+05:30

Mumbai, 24^th March 2011

Master Distiller David Pickerell

It was a tough call for an ardent cricket fan to miss the Indo-Oz encounter however the sheer exuberance of American whiskies was too hard to resist and did me in. I am glad I succumbed.

Mr. Frank Coleman,conducting Whiskey tasting

It was an American whisky seminar held at a sobo (South Bombay) restaurant by the Distilled spirits council of the United States (DISCUS) .The evening started with a round of refreshing Manhattans, some buttered prawnsJ and then a welcome note by Mr. Frank Coleman, Senior VP Communications at DISCUS. He commented” This event aims at continuing the momentum in educating the industry and consumers about the unique character of American whiskies.” Commenting on their growing popularity Mr. Tyler, acting US consul general said “India is the largest whisky market in the world and U.S whiskies have seen an exponential growth of about 300% in the last decade, despite this there is a lot of untapped potential which they are looking at.”

The highlight of the event was Mr. David Pickerell the Master distiller at the George Washington distillery and his very informative session on U.S whiskies. An old hand in the business; he was at the helm of operation at Makers Mark for 14 years before he took up the new role. He took the audience through a guided tasting of 6 starting with Jack Daniels the lightest to the heaviest being the Jim Beam black .My pick of the lot was Jack Daniel silver select, robust but opulent, bursting with aromas of caramel, vanilla and toast.

Soon he decided to blow us away with a 100% rye, which had travelled with him all the way. It was mellow and fruity (read apples) with underlying notes of caramel and honey.

Twisted whisky sour and Black Gold (Kahlua, Bourbon and Cola) were the potions for the remainder of the night.

The many tipples had started to cause ripples in my inside when the whiff of Balinese curry put me at ease. As I hurried towards the buffet I was happy to bump into Suneeta Kanga from Sommelier India who was accompanied by some friends. David joined us too and we discussed everything from designing sets to enzymes in the rye as we enjoyed the Rocket, fruit and feta salad. The evening ended with a night cap (with a mars bar inside) accompanied by Prune and Armagnac ice-cream and berry mascarpone in filo baskets. I hope I don’t have to make yet another decision for the Indo-Pak “friendly”!!! Well for now I am ok with some Woodford Reserve on the rocks.

Master Distiller Dave Pickerell, conducting Whiskey tasting

Ajit Balgi, Tulleeho, Mumbai

21^st March, Delhi

Dinner with Dave

It's been a fascinating evening, which I've been sorry to see the end of. A combination of many factors, one of the last of the balmy nights before summer takes over in Delhi, Michael Pelletier, the Minister-Councillor, Public Affairs, USA gorgeous house, some amazing American whisky cocktails, and last but not the least, the company of David Pickerell.

David is the ex-master distiller of Makers Mark, an American bourbon whisky, and is here on the invitation of the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, to take us through a tasting of different styles of American whisky, and to share with us some moments of American history, seen through a whisky bottle, cause whisky, has been an integral part of American history.

One of Dave's many assignments at the moment is in fact, to be a part of the resurrection of the George Washington Distillery. George Washington had a canny old Scotsman as his plantation manager, who persuaded him to start making whisky. Well George Washington's rye whisky is back on the American market, and the first 2 bottles sold for $ 100,000! each. GW rye is now a 65% rye whiskey.

There are 4 critical components of American whisky, quality grain, most often, either corn or rye, water, low in iron, American white oak, thin, but still water tight and the diurnal weather - the heat of the day, and the cool of the night. Some things however are pure serendipity, the Reverend Elijah Craig, a whisky distiller himself, had whisky pouring out of his stills, but nowhere to store them. Off he went to the barrel maker, who had none, except for a barrel, which smelt strongly of fish. The good Reverend in a stroke of inspiration burnt the barrel from the inside to get rid of the fish smell. The resulting charred barrels, gave the whisky, a remarkable colour and flavour! Amen to more such mistakes and to a great evening.

Vikram Achanta, Tulleeho, Delhi

Duvel and Liefmans Beer launch in Delhi.

2011-02-21T15:57:00.002+05:30

27th January, 2011... and there was an invite from the Belgium Embassy where I had to go for a Beer Launch..Obviously i was excited..And my excitement continued till i left the venue..

Duvel is one of the famous brands of Golden Ale beer from Belgium. One thing that I really liked about this beer is its froth. The white frothiness on the top and the golden yellow colour was tempting on a wintry evening. With 8.5% alcohol content, this one is a perfect drink when the weather is chill and you need a little throat warming. Duvel is Flemish for Devil, and with it's high alcohol content, you can be rest assured, this devil combines great taste with kick. Liefmans on the other hand is a fruit beer, with a low alcohol content.

The beers were launched by the Ambassador of Belgium to India HE Jean‐Marie Deboutte and his wife Madame Regy Evenepoel Deboutte.

This was my first visit to the Belgium Embassy so was trying to soak in the surroundings and the ambience.The event was in the lawns of the Embassy wherein 2 bars had been set up. And people could walk up and ask for whichever beer they wanted.

Sweta Mohanty, Tulleeho

Tulleeho Note

The first time I encountered Duvel, was in 2006, when, while in Sri Lanka for a bartender training project, we wondered into Odel for some shopping. The clothes were pricey, but the attractively located bar in the middle caught my eye, as did the just launched Duvel, in it's distinctive short brown bottle. It was one of the cheaper things to buy in Odel, and I knew where my tastes lay. 2 bottles later, I was wishing when it would launch in India. It's been a long wait.

Vikram Achanta

Australian Wine & Cheese Evening

2010-11-24T13:24:00.005+05:30

My second brush with the expat community at the Australian High Commission on 13th October.

I got a mail from Rohan Jelkie (friend & colleague) to confirm my attendance for the evening..I was more than happy to oblige more because this time boss was not around. I waited eagerly to savour some delectable Australian wines with Cheese under the open sky.

I was all game for a classy evening when I received a message from Rohan saying he was leaving without me. I could have killed him. Mercifully it was one of his practical jokes. He was lucky it was.

Unlike last time it was a more informal affair and definitely more interactive. People were freely mingling while sipping some amazing wines that had been laid out in front of us with their respective tasting plates.

Soon I found myself with a group of expats who were all into discussing their favourite wines. There was this girl in the group who introduced herself as Magda and we hit it off instantly. She introduced me to her husband, Mr. Marcus, who works for the Australian High Commission and they’ve been in India for the past one year. I enjoyed the company of this gracious couple from Down Under, and shared the nuances of some excellent White & Red Wines.

There were 6 wines to be tasted along with their accompaniments.

We started with Isheeta Gupta taking us through each of the wines and then giving us time to taste them. The first wine that we came across was the Jacobs Creek Reserve Chardonnay with Soft Cream cheese & pistou crepe roll. The influence of oak in this wine was giving it its complexity of aroma and flavour.

The second one was the Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon, which came with oven fresh leek and feta cheese quiche. This was a blend of the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. We all could get a strong guava smell in it and it was this wine that got a lot of compliments. Everyone seemed to like this for its great balance & poise!! Semillon Sauvignon is the proud owner of a Silver medal at the IWC too. My personal favourite of the evening. I loved it all the way.

The last one of the White wines was the Evans & Tate Gnangara Sauvignon Blanc. This one was a dry wine with an intense bouquet. It had the aromas of passion fruit, fig, lime, etc. - a typical Sauvignon Blanc. It had been paired with Lemon feta cheese and dry fig & pear chutney.

There were 3 Reds too.

The first one that came was a Shiraz from the Victoria region. This came with Seared Tuna and Wild mushroom muffin. We have all had the plain or nut muffins but I had never had Mushroom muffins and had it not been for Rohan, I would have missed this one. It was good.

While all this was happening, I took a break from my newly found expat friends and got some gyan from Rohan that he has collected over the years and loves sharing with everyone.

The second red was a Cabernet Sauvignon that came with lightly smoked eggplant & pomegranate seeds. Many people around me, like myself, seemed not to like this one as it came across as quite strong and full of tannins.

The third and the last one to be sniffed and swirled was the Clairault Estate Cabernet Sauvignon which had a hint of Merlot in it. This had the classic cabernet aromas. It was elegant, had loads of fruit and a great finish. It was paired with Sliced Parma ham, and soft beetroot with goat cheese & pear date chutney. Though I am not so fond of Red wines but i seemed to like this one. And mostly with the soft beetroot combination. The ham didn’t seem to go too well with it.  This one is the proud owner of Gold medals at IWC, 5 stars by James Halliday, and many more...Cheers!!!

After so much of wine drinking, she suggested we take a look at the food counters which had live stations.

There was not much choice at the live station : Wild Mushroom risotto and Pan fried halloumi cheese with pomegranate syrup, rucola & sliced onions were the two options. While Rohan settled for risotto, that being his favourite, I settled for the Pan fried cheese with some risotto to taste (highly recommended by dear friend). Didn’t like either. The pomegranate syrup in the pan fried cheese was sour to me and I not being a risotto fan didn’t enjoy it. But looking at Rohan’s face, I could make out that he was enjoying it.

Nevertheless, i was full with the wine and the accompaniments that came with it.

Then, it was time to say goodbye. Have promised Mrs. Marcus to meet her over lunch and take her for shopping. Shall keep you people updated whether we have any more wines or not... :)

Sweta Mohanty

Manager, Tulleeho

Not an ordinary evening : Wolf Blass Launch, New Delhi

2010-10-21T12:50:00.005+05:30

Imagine you reach your office in the morning with plans to wind up your work as soon as possible and leave a little early for that 10 pints beer bet your friend challenged you for last week. You enter and the boss calls you in the cabin and says, “Hey there is this Australian wine launch in the evening, we are all going.”

Godddd...why, why did it have to happen today ???

Anyhow I collected my depressed soul, and along with the rest of the Tulleeho team reached the Australian High Commission, and was wondering where I had landed, and at that very moment, I heard a voice say, “Some sparkling wine sir?” A lady with a gorgeous smile was standing in front of me with four flutes full of sparkle.

Beautiful people all around & plenty of wine. Was I at the right place? Was this the ordinary launch party I was expecting?

I will not say that the evening started with, because these kinds of evenings never start, never end, they just flow. After an impressive speech by Mr. Peter Varghese, Australian High Commissioner to India, where he humorously cited how the Wolf Blass range of wines are going to make week men strong (finally something for my friends!), Mr. Anthony Davie, MD Asia, Foster’s Group ushered in Wolf Blass wines to all. The perpetually flowing Wolf Blass Eagle Hawk Sparkling Brut, which had a zesty citrus aroma and delicate flavours of apple and melon set the stage for the entrée to be served.

The Oak smoked salmon with fennel and apple salad not only complimented the creamy soft texture of the Wolf Blass Chardonnay, but also brought out the peach & melon characters of the wine really well. In the mains, the spit roast chicken with red wine sauce & the Wolf Blass Cabernet Shiraz seemed to be made for each other, where the subtle spiciness of the red wine sauce and black olives escorted the underlying note of coffee, dark chocolate, mint and eucalypt to the palate.

On my accompanying seat my colleague was lost enjoying the symphonic orchestra between the baked provincial vegetable crespelle with tomato basil chutney and the Wolf Blass Cabernet Shiraz, which was the perfect elevation after the camaraderie between Mesclun lettuce, poached beet root with chive hazelnut dressing and the nutty creamy texture of the Wolf Blass Chardonnay.

By the time we reached the end of two interesting courses and had around three- four refills of my personal favourite, the Eagle Hawk Sparkling Brut, the Tulleeho team had decided who all are going to run the full stretch of the forthcoming Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and who is going to run only the seven kilometer stretch, obviously I opted for the seven kilometer stretch, and that also unwillingly.

For dessert though the Oats banana Pavlova with passion fruit sauce was a little too sour for the palate, but soon the flutes were refilled by the Eagle Hawk Sparkling Brut and we were back, appreciating the mesmerizing stories knit by Wolf Blass Wines, Australia.

- by Shivendu Chatterjee

Mario Molinari

2010-02-08T15:01:00.001+05:30

There are lemons and there are lemons, and the ones which go into Limoncello di Capri (LdC) are only from Sorrento, which gives LdC the right to state “Limoni di Sorrento I.G.P.” on their labels. It does come as a surprise to hear Mario Molinari tell us that 80% of Limoncello’s made in Italy are not made from lemons. No wonder we take to all things Italian! Anyway I’m not sitting with the owner of the world’s biggest Sambuca brand to talk about a company in which Molinari Sambuca has a stake, I’m more interested in the Anise flavoured liqueur, eponymously named which is all the rage, especially in the night clubs, where it’s customary to see a shot of Sambuca served with 3 coffee beans (called Sambuca con la mosca - Sambuca with the fly).

“My grandfather used to say that the 3 coffee beans symbolize good luck, but I personally think that it was a bartender in Rome who began serving the beans with the Sambuca, because when you chew the beans while drinking the Sambuca, the bitterness of the bean, complements the sweetness of the Anise”, says Mario. Whatever the origin, the ritual of the coffee beans has helped Sambuca make a mark on the world stage. In Italy, they still drink it mostly traditionally, that is a shot of Sambuca with coffee, or what is known as Café Corretto (the coffee is supposed to have been corrected by the addition of the alcohol!).

It all began in a bar. Mario’s grandfather, Angelo Molinari was in the spirits business in the 1920’s, and his work took him to Addis Ababa, where along with supplying ingredients to bar owners, he also opened his own bar. Coming back to Italy, he began making Sambuca Molinari in 1945. His masterstroke however was in the 50’ and 60’s, when he began advertising on television. At that time in Italy, TV was not commercial and was mostly being used as an educational medium, so apparently people believed what they saw and as a result Molinari is now the number one Sambuca in Italy with 85% share in the On Trade (as per Nielsen data, says Mario) and has gone on to sell in 75 countries over the world, selling 10 million bottles annually.

Mario’s latest innovation is Sambuca Café, which is a liqueur, based on Sambuca and Coffee. As per European law, to be called Sambuca, a product has to be clear and with no other flavour, other than Anise therefore the flavoured Sambuca’s you may see in the market are not technically Sambuca.

Mario likes to drink his Sambuca, ice cold, and served from the freezer. He’s confident that his product will do well with India, due to the experience of Aspri, his distributor and due to the fact that Indian’s are used to the flavour of Anise. Tulleeho! To that.

Canadian Ice Wine Tasting

2010-01-08T16:08:00.001+05:30

Picture this - A cold winter evening…a nearly deserted road leading to an equally deserted driveway…the rustle of leaves as the cold wind blows…distant chatter of voices…a hurried pair of footsteps… Sounds like a scene straight out of the new “Sherlock Holmes” movie? Well not quite.

Apologies if I made this sound like a movie review…and anyways what is a movie review doing on this entirely Indian beverage website? The occasion of the eerie lines above was actually a private tasting of some of the finest Canadian ice wines from Ontario at the Canadian High Commission held recently. When we landed up at the Club Canada there were already a few gold diggers (the Canadians love to call their ice wines, “liquid gold” and hence the name!) clutching firmly onto their glasses of Rieslings and merlots. We were welcomed by Sudha Kshatriya, the Counsellor for Agriculture and Agri Food & Trade Commissioner at the High Commission and introduced to the agenda for the evening. I quickly grabbed a glass of the white that was being served around. A close inspection of the label read “Chateau des Charmes” Riesling. Well for one it was a young wine but had this delightful off dry appeal on the palate with a fair amount of fruit on the nose. I am not much of a white wine drinker but I couldn’t give this one up! I have to admit here that I have a soft corner for Rieslings and this one had me glued to it and it paired perfectly to the Thai Chicken Satay that was being served as pass around snacks the sweet fruit tackling the spiciness of the dish.

Grapes for Ice wines being grown at the Inniskilin Vineyards in Ontario.

I was quite in the mood for the red being served, a merlot – described as pleasantly fruity by a certain someone who looked quite content with his glass in hand – when we were ushered into the tasting room and the agenda for the evening – tasting! The room was quite warm and welcoming from the chill outside and was arranged with neatly laid tables with rows of wine glasses and an assortment of nibbles laid by the side. And placed along all the tables were small stands holding the Indian Tricolour and the Canadian Maple Leaf – two giants – geographically and economically but quite nascent when it comes to their wines!

Taking us through the guided tasting of the wines for the evening was Ramesh Srinivasan, Professor of Hotel & Restaurant Management at Humber College, Canada and member of the Society of Wine Educators.

Ramesh Srinivasan

Ramesh also is a member of the elite 11 member panel of directors of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. His credentials could actually take up this whole paragraph but that wouldn’t be necessary here, would it? Satisfied that we were at the hands of an expert, Ramesh had a small movie on Canada’s famed Ice wines and the region that it comes from – Ontario. The first wine being tasted was a late harvest Riesling. I think that started it all! Ramesh’s point of selecting this wine as the first wine for the evening was to demonstrate the fact that Late harvests are intrinsically different from Ice wines. A late harvest is usually plucked later than the usual harvest time – towards the end of October. Grapes for ice wines, on the other hand, are plucked when temperatures fall to -8˚C there by freezing the water content of the grape and concentrating the sugar and acid.
ldo

The second wine on the list, and the first of the Ice wines, was a Vidal. A hybrid grape variety, Vidal produces high quality ice wines with high sugar levels and with tropical fruit aromas. This was paired with some hard Cheddar and was quite nice in fact. What followed next was my personal favourite for the evening – a Ziraldo Estate Riesling, 2007 (which in fact was one of the best vintages ever in Ontario!).

Legendary Canadian Winemaker Donald Ziraldo

The most striking thing about this one was the super balance of acidity versus the sweetness in the wine (the others were no less though, but this one was brilliant!). I guess this one hit the right note with everyone in the room, the next thing you knew all the extra glasses with this particular wine vanished of the covers of unoccupied seats! Am sure Ramesh must have had a very contended smile over this animated scene!

The fourth and the fifth wines were reds. The first was a “Stratus” – blend of the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and the Syrah and the second one was called “Foreign Affair” which was a hundred percent Cabernet Sauvignon. Immediately following this was a 100% Cabernet Franc wine (I didnt quite get the name of this one, I apologise…must have been the wine!). Distinct as each one of them were, there was a certain fruity jammy aroma common to all, sweet yes, and I thought that the “Foreign Affair” was slightly spicy towards the finish. And oh yes, accompanying these lovely wines were servings of an equally super chocolate brownie. Pure delight!

The session was supposed not to have taken more than 45 odd minutes or so, but by now we were well over an hour into the tasting…but what the hell, no one was complaining! Ramesh was slightly apologetic though, but am sure none of the people in the room had any reason to complain – an engaging evening with some delightful wines paired with the right foods and a very well informed speaker – all for free, no complaints at all! I thought we were quite done with the tasting when Ramesh bought out what he had saved for the last – A Daniel Lenko Vidal, 2002. A luscious, floral and fruity wine, this wine delighted the senses with aromas of flowers and honey, zesty citrus and sweet orange marmalade. And paired with the Roquefort, Oh I could tell you, that was one happy lot in that room! Though I still felt that the cheese was a bit overpowering for this wine but then hey, its just a personal opinion! I savoured the rest of this minus the cheese! Surely, this was the best saved for the last!

There wasn’t much of the wines that was left back after the tasting and Ramesh and Sudha very courteously invited the group to pour out a portion for each one of themselves. Sheesh! I have never been lucky in availing of such impromptu invitations and before you knew it the tasting table disappeared behind the “gold diggers” (no pun intended!).

The one thing that crossed my mind as we walked out of the high commission’s grounds was, when is it that we would produce wines of consistent quality that would have such bespoke tastings abuzz with excitement – yes we do produce a few that captured a few rungs in the climb up the ladder to the higher echelons of the wine world – but I guess we would have to wait. And why blame our enterprising winemakers only? Its high time that we (read the average Indian consumer!) gave up that night cap of a scotch and reached out for a glass of wine – dessert, Canadian, Indian – whatever!

Rohan Jelkie

An evening with Toby Cecchini

2009-11-02T13:34:00.005+05:30

Rohan Jelkie wth Toby Cecchini

Working in the beverage industry sure has its own perks (and specially when in a city like Delhi). The endless invitations to seminars, workshops, wine & dinner evenings, cocktail dinners, product launches and the likes! (Though we don’t mind them!) And it’s a closed group that you see every time. The same faces, the same conversations on the exorbitantly high taxes or the some amazing plonk they had a fancy restaurant last week AND all of this over the same pass around snacks on the oft gaudily done food platters!

Last Wednesday, 29th October, was quite different though. The venue was at the Allure Hall at the imposing Le Meridien, Delhi (which has just come out of a long renovation work and is looking super!). The invitation read DISCUS when we first saw it. No I didn’t spell it wrong. DISCUS stands for the Distilled Spirits Council of United States (Of America…in case you didn’t know) which is the body that regulates the spirits industry in the US and as a part of their activities engages in promoting the fantastic whiskies they produce. My first reaction to the evening when I was asked to fill in for a certain somebody’s absence - “Yeah …yeah…it’s the same thing…what’s new…do a few tastings…grab a bite”…and the rest you know!

Well the evening turned out to be quite different in fact.

My colleague, Aneesh and I walked into a room almost full that evening. Well for one it was done up tastefully and the buzz around the room was quite reflective of the anticipative mood. Oh! I forgot! Did I tell you that we were to be treated to the skills of one of the world’s greatest mixologists? I should have! Cutting back a few days ago, when I was told by a certain somebody that, Toby Cecchini would be in town, I clarified twice before an emphatic confirmation signaling my availability for the evening (so you see I was lying when I wrote the lines above!). For the ones in the bar circuit, Toby is a well known name. As the guy who’s made the Cosmopolitan one of the most loved cocktails in the world and has penned his experience into a series of highly successful diaries in Slate that later on was published as an equally successful book: “Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life” , Toby Cecchini is regarded as one of the best in the business, the world over. He’s a regular contributor to GQ, Food and Wine and The New York Times and if you ever happen to be in New York city you’d realize his immense reputation if you happen to be at Odeon, where it all began!

Now, just wait! I have been harping about someone whom I haven’t even met! Getting back to “the evening” , it didn’t take us much time finding our “Reserved for the Media” seats at the hall (I guess you have “arrived” when you are seen at such do’s more than once a week!) The tables were neatly laid with samples of six different American whiskies all laid on a tasting mat with some salted nuts and crackers by the side. Taking us through the first half the evening was Frank Coleman, the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs & Communications at DISCUS. Frank took us through a brief and interesting presentation on America and its whiskies and how almost all of the major historical events that have taken place in America over the past century or so was closely linked to the country’s distilling traditions! For the ones who don’t know, (and I quote this was NOT stated by Frank !) the city of Chicago which was home to America’s biggest gangster, Al Capone, held his most prized business – illegal distilling - during the prohibition which at its height earned him US$ 105 Million per year in the early part of last century!

Getting to the better half of the evening, Frank took us through a guided tasting of the 6 different whiskies placed neatly in front of us in small tasting cups – Jack Daniels Old no.7, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam Black and Jack Daniel’s Silver Select. He explained how to judge the whiskies for their colour, appearance and taste. Without doubt the whiskies were excellent and my personal favourite was the Woodford Reserve, a small batch whiskey that is made at the heart of Bourbon County in Kentucky, with its creamy vanilla, sweet caramel and buttery notes and with a faint underlying fruitiness that was suggestive of oranges. Once done, Frank very quickly handed the evening over to the star behind the bar – Toby.

Now sitting on that table, Aneesh and I had our hopes running high! We were eagerly anticipating some flamboyant cocktails using these fine whiskies and after all you had the right person behind the bar, didn’t you? Well the cocktail list was not quite what we had expected – Manhattan, Ginger & Mint Cooler and Tamarind Sour. The first one, The Manhattan, turned out to be quite unexpected – I mean we have had Manhattan’s or so we thought – It was brilliantly balanced and the flavor of the red vermouth and the bitters with a slight zesty zing from the citrus peel did us in completely! It was by far the best Manhattan that I had had till date. The Ginger & Lime Cooler followed and was gulped down with equal pleasure while the Tamarind sour was Ok. What mesmerized us about the drinks were the way they were balanced – all the ingredients came right through, none of them dominating the others.

That over, the session closed and evening was open for a round of discussions while the people debated over some super drinks and food. We did what was most obvious – headed straight to the bar. There we caught up with Toby and over the next half an hour “held him at knife point” (as he would like to point out!) talking to him about what he did best. In the course of our conversation Toby prepared an Old fashioned – arguably the oldest cocktail around ever since the days of the prohibition - a la Cecchini style. What followed was a simple lesson in mixology focusing on what it mattered most – flavours! Fresh oranges muddled together with some whiskey and simple syrup and orange bitters and garnished with sour American cherries soaked in Maraschino Cherry liqueur for a year – that drink was a delight! As we sipped appreciatively on the old fashioned, Toby went to describe how mixology trends in NY and the world over were becoming complicated with the advent of molecular mixology, infusions, use of several flavours so on…but to the soft spoken guru nothing was more important than adhering to basics, no matter what the mix was. And it was quite evident in the drinks that he had created – simple yet so defined, a few flavours yet so complex. No wonder people, the world over, pay to hear him speak.

We realized that sticking around too much would reduce us to being “a pain in …you know where” so we got on to meeting other known faces in the gathering while proudly displaying our drink for the evening and inadvertently we landed up sending scores of people to the bar who kept the master mixologist from NYC busy for the next half an hour. And seeing the people lining up and getting all their drinks from that one person, we realized that we not only had a master at work but probably one of the most humble “stars of the bars” at work – and we wonder how many people, gathered that evening, actually realized who he was…

Later on as we were leaving, we held Toby at “knife point” again and clicked a few snaps with him (We weren’t letting such a fantastic photo op pass by!) and he happily obliged. As Aneesh & I walked out of the Le Meridien into the night outside that was beginning to get cold, tingling with Delhi’s trademark autumnal chillness - we actually felt quite warm – thanks to the food and booze and the experience of meeting a humble luminary who’s greatest claim to fame was a trade mark style of sticking to basics while creating the most amazing of concoctions loved the world over and a fine sense of humor sprinkled with utmost professionalism. For the past 23 years. That was Toby Cecchini.

From l-r : Aneesh, Toby, Rohan

Tulleeho!

- by Rohan Jelkie

With Susanne, a Beer Sommelier

2009-10-16T17:37:00.003+05:30

If Susanne Hecht’s husband hadn’t pushed her, she may never have taken the course which certified her as a beer sommelier, and got us to meet her on a balmy Saturday evening @ the Shangri La, New Delhi. We’re glad he did. Passionate about beer and cooking he is, he took a beer sommelier course, and then got Susanne into it also! Susanne of course was already working in the beer industry, with Schneider Weisse of Bavaria, and the course came in quite handy professionally also.

As we waited for other guests to gather, a Jenlain was served. Jenlain Blonde, a classic French farmhouse style ale, so called, because these beers were originally brewed on farmhouses and meant to be served fresh to the farmers and the workers in the fields. While we drank the Jenlain, I spoke to Susanne about beer culture in Germany, and whether people were actually pairing beer with food, as a Sommelier would advise. Not yet, was her reply. The Reinheitsgebot, or the German purity law of 1516 (try saying that thrice quickly!), stipulates that beer can only be made from Malt, Hops and water. Until recently, only Barley Malt was allowed, but the law was relaxed to also allow wheat malt, which is how Schneider Weisse came into being, as they do a very palatable wheat beer.Until recently, even beers imported into Germany had to be produced according to the purity law, but that’s been relaxed.

As a result of the law, there are not too many styles of beer prevalent in Germany, as opposed to neighbouring Belgium, where there has been an explosion of beers and beer styles, and as Jean Deboutte, the Belgian ambassador told me, “We are the beer country”! As a result, Germans are fairly traditional in their beer drinking ways.

We moved on to the Schneider Weisse, the wheat beer, which some believe saved the wheat beer category from extinction when it was developed in 1872.

“It’s got banana in the nose”, said Ankur Jain, the owner of Cerana Imports, whose passion for beer got him to import beers from all over Europe (aspis Cerana is the Latin name for the Asiatic Honey Bee, so I’m not quite sure of the connection between bees and beer).

And right he was, it did have banana in the nose. It’s also not bitter, and I can quite imagine women taking to it. Saison dupont, another farmhouse ale followed, “Best Beer in the world” as per Mens Journal magazine, and it was nice, although I’m not sure about the best beer part!There are only 7 Trappist Beers in the world, 6 in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands. So-called, cause they’re brewed in a Trappist monastery. Chimay is one of the 6 from Belgium and we were drinking the Chimay Red that evening. At 7% alcohol, it’s still lighter than it’s siblings, the Chimay Blue and White (at 9 and 8% alcohol respectively). That’s the thing with all the beers we were drinking, they’re most definitely, the anti-lager. You can have one or two of them. They need contemplation.The evening ended with a tasting of the Winterkoninkse, a beer perfect for a chilly Delhi evening, and very reminiscent of a London porter, with notes of coffee and chocolate.

What We're Drinking

2009-10-06T17:03:00.001+05:30

St. Peter's Golden Ale - From St. Peter's Brewery in Suffolk, UK, great combination of English Pale malts coupled with Challenger and Goldings hops. Nutty taste and definitely hoppy! Also getting a taste of coffee. The flask shaped bottle is unmistakable and is a good example of an 18th century oval English beer bottle. St. Peter’s produces bottled and cask beer. Looking forward to sample their Cream Stout and India Pale Ale now.

Tulleeho at Wine For Asia, Singapore

2008-11-13T14:11:00.004+05:30

Wine for Asia: Day 1

Tulleeho is flying a lonely flag here, as the sole Indian stall and visitors to our stall are disappointed to find no Indian Wine, for quite a few have heard of Sula and Grover's. There are equally as many people who are quite amazed to hear of wine from India. Bollywood however is known by everybody and we're requested by some visitors to bring in some Bollywood stars. "Which ones?", I ask and he declines to reply, although our taxi driver informs us that Shahrukh Khan was in Suntec City yesterday.

We're visited through the day by a flurry of visitors, everyone from Gavin, the Global Sales Director of a Wine Investment fund, who's interested in getting high net worth individuals in India to invest in a wine portfolio, as they do in art and other "alternate investments" as the term goes to Chris from the intriguingly named Pengwine. Pengwine's premise is simple, they have a range of wines from Chile, each named after different varieties of penguins. People can't be bothered he said to remember names of varietals or clever wine names, but Penguins on the other hand are different, so people will remember that they preferred the King over the Chin Strap!

Chris is setting a Pan Asia hub for wine logistics in Singapore and is interested in getting Chilean producers over to India, hopefully using Tulleeho as a conduit.

Suntec, has 350 exhibitors spread across 3 halls and there's a wide variety of stalls at hand. Our neighbours are the Goygol Wine plant from Azerbaijan, for Baku has more than oil to offer the world. Goygol makes a range of wines, still and sparkling as well as Xan vodka, which uses wheat spirit as a base. Their sparkling wine called Kolleksion is made using the Methode Champenoise, and is a blend of the "Pkatitselli" and "Bayanshire" varieties of wine. They also have Araz, a white table wine, Chinar, a rose and Madrasa, a red wine.

I take the opportunity of a break to head across to an intriguingly named stall named Corporate Grape. Corporate Grape run by Erica Babbage promotes boutique wines from Australia's Barossa Valley. I tasted 2 of the wines on offer, the 2008 Yanyarrie Riesling and the 2006 Catharina Shiraz, both from Hahn Barossa Vineyards. Indian audiences can also hope to taste them both when Erica is down for IFOWS in Delhi in January. She drops in to our stall later in the day to grab a wine bag, as we've got some nicely designed wine gift bags as gifts. She promises a bottle of wine in exchange!

Bump into Yatin Patil from Reveilo and we discuss his upcoming tasting room at his vineyards in Nashik and our plans to get wine tourists from Mumbai down there. Subhash Arora from the Delhi Wine Club is also around as is Pramod Krishna, the Secretary General of CIABC. There's also Sandeep Dass, a former petroleum trader, who when posted in Paris with Shell, had a boss who taught him more about wine than petroleum, and Sandeep switched over to investing on behalf of individuals in wine. Sure seems like a growing business.

Another break leads me to the Portugal pavilion where I try Wines from Pocas Junior, from the Douro region. I try the white, the red and the Reserve, and they're all very good and I top this up with a few sips of the Tawny Port, which is excellent.

Wine for Asia: Days 2 and 3

MP Asia, the Organisers of Wine for Asia have put together a lunch for some of their partners to thank them and discuss their plans for 2009. I gather that the current ogranisers jumped into the picture for the 2008 show fairly late and hope now to have enough lead time to make a grand success of the 2009 show which is expected to be far bigger.

At lunch I exchange notes with Tommy Lam, the President of the Sommelier Association of Singapore. Apparently it's the turn of an Asian this year to head up the World Sommelier Association, so things look bright this year for bringing Sommeliers in Asia closer together. Christian Dworam who looks after Wines from Austria is also there. Christian says that India is still some way away on Austria's radar, but he's keen on hosting Indian journalists for a Austrian wine summit to be held in 2009. Applications invited here! Also at my table are a trio of photo clicking Argentinians, a mix of wine makers and representatives from economic Ministries.

Luigi Bazzani, the owner and wine maker from Warrenmang Vineyards in Victoria is across from us, notices that I'm looking thirsty and heads over with a glass of his Cabernet Shiraz. He's keen on entering India also. He runs two restaurants in addition to his vineyards and thus claims more intimate knowledge about wine and food pairing. Well, I am grateful for his neighbourly gesture and reciprocate with a few of our Wine Bags.

One of the more interesting stalls at WFA is the enticingly named Marilyn wines from Napa Valley - www.marilynwines.com. Their Marilyn Merlot is a homage to Marilyn Monroe as the vintage is released each year on June 1st, her birthday. Hate Merlot, but love Marilyn? They also have a Marilyn Cabernet! Added attraction, the labels have photos of MM. Now that's a wine label I'd like to keep!

The Magma Bistro stall is a big hit, as they have ovens turning out fresh pizza - accompanied with a glass of German white, this is the must visit stall of the Expo, as is the Amici stall, where through the day select canapes are served up with a glass of wine.

Nancy Gontier is from the Vaucluse, the region Peter Mayles made famous in a Year in Provence and it's sequels. I met her at a networking exhibition for French wine producers being held at Raffles Hotel. Sopexa Singapore had organised the same and Gregoire, the Project Manager had extended an invite to me. Nancy hates Paris and she can't wait as she says to get back to her vineyard in the Vaucluse. As she explains a wine maker needs to be close to the soil and there's no place better than the Vaucluse and her Domaine de la Camarette vineyards! There are a host of other producers including several from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, who are also represented by Sud de France, their marketing arm. You have to admire the French. Not only do they have Sopexa as an apex governmental organisation to relentlessly promote French agricultural produce, but individual wine regions also have their own marketing arms!

Heard of Wines from Brazil? I hadn't, and had the pleasure of interacting with Gopi, Trevor and Andy from Nathan and Peridot, who represent a host of Brazilian wine producers and the State marketing arm, Wines from Brazil in South East Asia. As Gopi explained, they're a bit reluctant to enter India at the moment. He felt that Indians were looking for cheap wine and that Brazil was consciously taking the high road as far as wine quality goes. I did my best to reassure him in re the limited sensitivity in an Indian 5 star hotel to the right side of the menu! Hopefully, we'll see some of their excellent wines in India soon. The Sauvignon Blanc I tasted was excellent.

Exhibitors are allowed to sell wine after 12 pm on Day 3 and signs quickly go up across the fair - most wines ranging between 30 and 50 Singapore dollars and representing a great bargain especially as import duties in Singapore are high leading to high prices for wine in retail. Day 3 also allows consumers to visit, after paying an entry fee and at the end of the day, you witness swarms of people heading back with cases of wine. For wine lovers in Singapore, the fair must be a high point for the ability to taste some excellent wines from around the world, interact with the producers and purchase some fine wine.

Looking forward for a bigger and better WFA 2009 including some more Indian participation!

Tulleeho!

Vikram Achanta

Interview with Miguel Torres

2008-10-17T17:11:00.005+05:30

We’re talking today to Miguel Torres, the patriarch of the Torres family of Spain, and one of the legendary men and wine makers of the world’s Wine industry. Torres is an independent 200 Million-Euro company and is one of the strongest global labels in the world of wine. The word, Torres means tower in English and that’s what was chosen as the family symbol with the wines representing security. Read on for Miguel’s views on friendship, wine, marriage and family, in no particular order!

Q. Part of your mission statement is the line that “you want to be a friend of the customer”. Can you please elaborate.

A. This is something my father used to say. When we walk into a restaurant or supermarket to sell our wines, we want to make a friend. We are there to supply a service. We are there to prove that we can help whenever it is possible. If a customer wants wine delivered on Sunday we will do that. If we can help in spreading the wine culture or support wine education events, then we will be pleased to do that. Being a family business it helps us establish these links. And when these people come to Spain and they visit our vineyards they realize we are friends and little by little this relationship builds up.

Q. As you mentioned, you are currently a family run company, do you ever foresee a situation where you will no longer be a family run business. Do you see any consolidation happening in the wine industry with the multinationals acquiring the independent producers?

A. No. We will always be a family run company. I definitely hope so. No, No, we have to stay independent. Of course there are multinationals in wine, but wine is not such an exciting business for them, because the profits are not so high and you have to look long term. You have to make investments for the long term, 10 years, 15 years. It’s not something, which can attract companies that are in the stock market. They have to look for the short term.

Q. Could you please tell us something about your presence in India? How would you compare it with other markets in Asia?

A. We began selling wine in India in the mid 90’s and we set up a joint venture company called Torres, Thapar and Grant (TT&G) in 2001 with the Gautam Thapar group and the Grant family from Scotland (makers of Glenfarclas Single Malt). Last year we sold about 5000 cases in India with a value of maybe around 200,000 Euro (around 2.5 % of the estimated 200,000 cases of foreign wine sold in India). We sell around 30,000 cases in China and around 100,000 cases in Japan. India is small, but growing and is a market for the future. We plan to invest around 1 million Euro in growing our presence in India. There are 3 giants for the future, China, India and Brazil.

Q. What does Torres mean by Single Vineyards? Is the yield less here than your normal vineyards. Do you practice any organic wine making?

A. Single Vineyards is the perfect combination of the vine (what we call the vinifer), the soil and the climate. The yield here is less than half the normal vineyard’s yield. We practice some organic wine making in Chile and in the future in Spain. We believe in sustainable cultivation and the use of natural ingredients.

Q. Have you tasted Indian wine? Your opinion. Like you’ve expanded your company by setting up vineyards in Chile and California, might you expand into India at some point in time?

A. I’ve tasted wine from India. From Bangalore and from Nashik. They are good wines and they are getting better. They will get even better if the import duties are reduced. India has tremendous protectionism. Here you have the highest duties for wine in the world. And this is not to the benefit of the local production. It may be protectionism for today, but in the long term, it is not helping the quality.

I haven’t visited the vineyards in India, so I can’t comment on the climatic and soil conditions. We may enter India at some point. Not now, but may be in the near future. It’s not something we are considering now.

Q. You’ve visited many countries across Asia and you’ve seen the growth in wine consumption. What do you think are the factors, which will help the same in India?

A. Well I think, firstly wine has to be made available; the price has to be reasonable. And today, the price of wine in India is far too high. You have the highest duties in the world. You pay 8 Euros in India for a bottle of Grover’s. That’s far too much and it’s because of the heavy duties. It was the same in China in the 90’s. We had high import duties of around 75% and today the duty rate is 15%. And today Chinese wine is booming. It’s getting better and better. Because they are competing. I think Indian wine should not be afraid of competition.

Q. There’s a lot of talk nowadays about new ways to close wine bottles like the screw cap. What methods do you use?

A. We use cork. In some export markets, we use the screw cap. For white wines, mostly. It depends on the culture of the market. In Spain or in France, people don’t like the screw cap. There are strong traditions, so we don’t dare to touch!

I think the screw cap is ok for white wines, for rose wines, which are to be drunk in one year or so, but I don’t think we’ll use the screw cap for red wines, which we are planning to age for 5 years or more like the Mas La Plana (Torres Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and winner of the Paris Wine Olympiad, 1979). I think there is a limit.

Q. What would your choice of one wine be, if you were on a desert island?

A. (Laughs).. Well I’ll give you an answer. My father used to say, “In life, you must have only one woman, but you can have many, many wines”, so this is my answer, and my father also used to add, “And it’s going to cost you much less”.

Strange Brew - Beer tasting in Mumbai

2008-06-04T17:38:00.004+05:30

There's a warning next to the lift, stating that the Sargent House is not responsible if bad things happen to those who travel in the lift, owing to its age. That's not a particularly heartening note on which to start drinking beer, and it made me wonder whether I might plummet to my doom or worse still, if the lift was a gateway to a secret hell, and that I'd get trapped in a Japanese horror flick. I scattered these thoughts aside as I entered Alex's flat, or rather, technically Dom Moraes' flat, which is still occupied by Leela Naidu and which has been let out to Alex and his girlfriend. Leela's proximity ensures that we didn't get to hear the story about Dom and the cigarettes, which one of our motley crew of beer tasters was about to tell us.

We began with the Hoegaarden (who-gar-den), a iconic Belgian White beer,made from a mixture of unmalted wheat and malted barley (Beer Demystified - for those wishing to dive deeper into beer).

Hoegaarden is served in a hexagonal glass, with rumour having it that it's shaped thus as it requires a spanner to prise the glass away from the addict's hand. The mystery ingredient in the beer is dried orange peel and coriander, which gives it a distinct citrusy note and a taste like nothing else. Hoegaarden is what is known as a bottle conditioned beer and undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Alex was quite confident that it would go very well with Indian food, I don't mind trying that, nor munching on a slice of orange while drinking my beer.

Alex's living room is a strange mixture of poetry and beer. The life of WH Auden mingles with Micro Brewing Technology. 6 packs of half opened never heard of beers are scattered around the room. There's even one called Flying Dog Ale, with a picture of a rabid dog on the carton and a Hunter S. Thompson quote -"good people drink good beer". I'm sure.

Alex and his girlfriend Molly are probably poster children for the great India story which we all hear, but which also seems to have attracted a lot of talented expats to our shores also. Molly is an American of German-Irish descent, who now teaches English essay writing skills to students in Japan from Navi Mumbai. She was back early, and had escaped peak traffic, and was rewarding herself with a pint of Hoegaarden, her favourite beer, which she was now delighted to see, was available in India. Alex is a little stranger. He's a Political Science graduate from UCLA and a Fulbright Scholar with a research scholarship devoted to developing markets in India. Alex followed up his interest in beer with a spate of professional qualifications in the field including a diploma in brewing technology.

We moved on to another Belgian beer, the Leffe Blond, a murky or dumb blonde! beer as Alex put it. Leffe has also been just introduced in India, and is a perfectly quaffable beer, with a distinct taste and a 800 year old heritage from the time it was first brewed in the Leffe Abbey.
Its distinct taste, combined with a 6.6% ABV will probably help win it a lot of friends in India.

We moved on from the Leffe to a beer inspired by a cycle trip through Belgium by Jeff Lebesch. He came back with some interesting recipes, which he worked on with a home brewing kit which he then grew into New Belgium Brewing Company, making some fine Belgian style ales, including what we were just drinking, the Fat Tire Amber Ale. Fortunately, Fat Tire, tasted better than it smelt (manure!), with the smell leading us to believe that Jeff had missed some crucial parts of the recipe! Somehow I don't think Fat Tire's going to go down well in India.

We had as company @ the table, Brent from the American Consulate, who introduced the next beer we were about to drink, as it was from his home state of Oregon, and named after the famous Rogue River, which flows through it (remember the movie, the River Wild?, it was filmed on the Rogue).

The first of the Rogue River Ales we turned our lips to was the Hazelnut Brown nectar, which as one of our crew pointed out tasted like bread crumbs which had been left in the bottom of the toaster for too long.

The next beer we drank was even more distinctive, a Porter, (a style of stout beer, named after porters in London who were the biggest consumers!) from Meantime Brewing Company in America.

What was amazing about all the beers which we had drunk (and were about to), was the vivid aromas and tastes, which conjured up a world millions of miles away from the everyday lagers we drink in India. The Meantime Porter smelt more like Coffee than most Starbucks stores I've entered, and backed it up with a coffee taste also! To add to its curiousity value was the wire cork enclosure for the bottle. The Meantime was quickly followed with a Chocolate Stout from Rogue Ales, which we accompanied with a couple of cubes of nutty chocolate, and it's a great pairing, if you ever get your hands on the Chocolate Stout, which was another winner for me, with a chocolatey aroma and taste.

We ended the tasting, with what was one of my favourites of the evening (along with the Porter and the Chocolate Stout and the Leffe and...), the Framboise, a raspberry flavoured beer, which tasted like alcoholic raspberry cream soda, and which had a genuine to god, champagne cork (and a champagne bottle). Molly served up generous slices of chocolate cake from Colaba;s Theobroma bakery, and we munched and quaffed, as we toasted the end of what had been a memorable evening. Now all that was left, was the cigarette story, but perhaps we'll leave that for another day (and beer!)

Tulleeho!

Vikram Achanta

Drinking in Darjeeling

2008-05-19T14:56:00.003+05:30

Yangdup's wedding drew us to Gayabari, just south of Kurseong, and a 2 hour hop from Darjeeling. Having never been, we had to tick Darjeeling off our list, and especially the "drinking in" part. Darjeeling on arrival seemed no different than any other Indian hill station of its ilk, or perhaps since the only part we saw was the crowded mall area, our perception may have been biased. Once you've taken a photo in front of the world's highest railway station (Ghoom @ 8000 feet) and taken in the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, it's museum and the Wildlife Sanctuary, there's not much more which appears doable in Darjeeling, which is no doubt why people drink so much rum in the hills. When in Rome!

There appear to be quite a few bar options in Darjeeling, from the seedy to the tourist friendly. Having whetted our initial appetite with a steaming bowl of Thukpa, and having dutifully shopped for curios for kith and kin (the Newar family doll set, purchased for daughter, now languishes in a drawer), we ploughed on to Glenary's, one of the landmarks of the Mall road, and a veritable tourist ghetto. It's a shame that you can't have a drink on the ground floor, with its amazing now you see them, now you don't view of the Himalayas. The live music @ Buzz, which is the pub downstairs @ Glenary was only slated to come on at 7 pm, and we had to be back at Yangdup's to witness some more riotous singing and dancing, so we sated ourselves with a slice of apple pie and a Coffee.

A Guinness Stretch Rugby figure and assorted Guinness and Murphy's collateral were the last things we expected to find in Joey's Pub as was the bottle of Munro's King of King's Scotch whisky, which now doubled up as an ugly lamp shade.

If you want the local flavour in Darj, then drop in to Joey's, sit at the bar, and chat with Sans, the manager, who stands in for Puran Gongba, the owner, affectionately known as Joey by guests. Old Monk and Coke hit the spot, although the plate of sausages going to a table looked good, we abstained with thoughts of impending dinner on our mind. Joey's is situated right opposite the Big Bazaar and from the outside gives the appearance of Ye Olde English Tea Tavern. Visit, you won't be disappointed.

Tulleeho!

Vikram Achanta

The Tulleeho Picnic

2007-01-04T15:57:00.000+05:30

It all started with a case of Corona and Heineken each...

The question was how to consume it (well not too difficult I say!) in a pleasurable way, and what better way than a picnic with an al fresco setting! And thus some industrious employees of our company came to the conclusion of a “tulleeho day out”….

And the buzz was on : for 2 days, we had about 7 round table conferences….inside office and in our park-view smoking gallery!

The arrangement of venue was put on me, the menu (food and beverages) was taken care of by Aneesh ( pssst..one of the above-mentioned industrious employees) . We made the list of people and confirmed their availability in less than 5 minutes (strange thing…as the same people buy time for any confirmation regarding serious office work…which is rarely)

Gopiji (Our office chef/ events supervisor/ garnish coordinator/SPG (smiling person greeter in TGIF terminology!)) was on hand so the food equipment was not a worry (Although me and Aneesh had the brilliant idea of cooking ourselves, which was shelved without any further discussions!)

Now, the other part was entertainment…and therefore our programmer/Mr FTP –Shouvik, and our Accountant /travel agent/ ATM machine Rakesh, went off to Munirka, to purchase Cricket accessories.....and yes, music “THE” biggest concern of Aneesh, was finally resolved by Mr Yangdup Lama, ( celeb bartender, he likes to call himself), who promised us his precious Sony will accompany us….and the CDs and tapes were of course, the only creative contribution our CEO was specified…well he was out of station, when everything was schemed. In fact he was the last one to know about the ‘trip”!

Day of the trip:

We left office at quarter past 10….and reached our destination at 12.30! Ask CEO why and he will give you some gyan on the importance of pre planning, xl sheets, and maps!

Well, I did not take directions in advance…..and therefore we ended up spending an extra thirsty hour on the road…ask our London based greek flair bartender Illi, and he will give you a graphic description of the trucks on the road, and how they were all out to kill him! In fact he compared it to Lebanon, where the civil war is on! (which I felt was a bit unfair, since civilians are well protected there!)

We pitched, set up the bar, and started our game in 10 minutes flat! I was amazed at the tempo at which everyone got to their own business. Broadly categorized as:

1-The workers (Ashutosh, Gopiji, Nischal, Lama, Sanjay)

2-The players (Rakesh, Shouvik, Suprio, Pranav)

3-The Drinkers ( Vikram , a.k.a. CEO, Minakshi)

4-The Flair bartender (Illias)

After numerous games of cricket, badminton, and TT ( on a wooden table) and countless Coronas, Heinekens, Fosters, Spanish rose wine, ( lots of it was saved because Aneesh joined us late!), momos ( courtesy celeb bartender) it was time for Lunch…and yes by consensus it was by far the best Biryani we all had ever had! Long live Gopiji.

Post which we also added some sparkle to the occasion with a Formula One style opening of the sparkling wine..and another game of cricket…alas, which my team lost after winning the toss , batting first and frauding 3 runs! (Our team secret). In fact we ( Suprio gave some dada tips) tutored Illi on cricket quite successfully, though I bet he still can’t tell where to throw the ball when he has fielded it!

Post a photo session, chai and some interesting dance with the dogs ( Shouvik) we were ready to head back…though am sure, most of us were wondering how the day passed so soon! Infact quoting Illi, “it was the best day in his life”! ( naah…best day in India, so far…considering he has only been here 3 days..)

To sum it up, it did turn out to be a memorable day for all of us, not because most of the ‘players’ have body ache, but because it was a well spent day and very close to our brand essence…. That is, Tulleeho!

Minakshi

Drinking in Colombo

2006-12-01T17:19:00.000+05:30

We had a thirsty flight over from Chennai as IC has stopped serving alcoholic beverages! My colleague who came over from Bangalore on Jet had a better time as he at least got a beer. We landed in Colombo and made amends for Indian Airlines' lapses by tarrying @ Orient Lanka's brilliant duty free, where Lama picked up a bottle of Woodford Reserve and we picked up some cans of Boddingtons Bitters and Tetley's Bitter (official beer of the English rugby team) for later consumption in our hotel.

Reach hotel, freshen up and off to Odel, where the Elephant House Dawg station enticed us into buying a hot dog and a can of Elephant House Ginger Beer. Odel's prices were daunting to begin with, but a short stint @ Labels, the Wine Bar, soon settled that. Dhanushkar the friendly bartender @ Labels served us a couple of the recently launched Duvel beer (a top fermented ale from Belgium @ 8.5% alcohol and served in an eye catching Duvel glass). Without doubt, one of the best beers I’ve tasted. Duvel is the Flemish word for devil.

Lama & Vikram try saying Saudia Puram

Dhanushkar, also told us that the Sinhalese word for Cheers (or rather Tulleeho!) was Saudia Puram - hope that means what he says it means or we're in for a rude shock in front of 35 bartenders the next day when we say Saudia Puram - for all we know we may be insulting their forefathers! For that’s what we’re here for, no, not to insult their forefathers, but to train 200 bartenders in 5 workshops in Colombo and Negombo on behalf of Smirnoff and Orient Lanka.

Anyway I don’t know what Paco Underhill would say, but a glass of Duvel is definitely an inhibition buster when it comes to shopping and I would recommend that all shopping malls have a bar in the middle to lower inhibitions. Now that's what they mean by best practices. Forgive the break in theme, but I have to remark upon the pretentiousness of one of the product displays in Odel, which had the following sign - "This display unit was produced using wood from a fallen tree"

On from Odel to a drive through Colombo on a Sunday evening. The streets were comparatively deserted and boring, with roadblocks sprouting every 500 metres. There’s something unnerving about the site of seeing sandbags with machine gun sprouting soldiers behind them. Our nerves being what they were, we had no choice, but to duck into the Cricket Club, which is the go to place for Cricket teams when they're touring Lanka - filled with memorabilia and a menu with Cricketers names - we ordered some of the local Lions lager and Lions Stout - which was really excellent! I think one of the hallmarks of a civilized country is their ability to make good beer as also ensure that a wide variety of beer is imported. On those counts Sri Lanka, is easily in my list of top 5 countries. Alpha Orient the operator of the duty free has tied up with India’s The Future group (the company formerly known as Pantaloon) and has got the contract for duty free @ Delhi airport. Cross those fingers!

What really caught the eye @ the Cricket Club, however were the brilliant Carlsberg ash trays, made out of stainless steel and with the Carlsberg C, with the word "Probably" under it. Subtle. I was inspired to flick the ashtray as I remembered one of my office colleagues’ tales of the ashtrays she had flicked. Minakshi and her friends were such a menace to bars, that whenever they entered a bar, the ashtrays were all promptly withdrawn. Some countries have gone as far to ban smoking in pubs! Anyway I egged on my colleague, Biswanath, who sneaked the ashtray into a plastic bag and we zoomed off.

The gleaming ashtray that now graces the Tulleeho smoking gallery

Our next stop was a popular tourist haunt called, Beach wadiya, apparently a favourite haunt of Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar. You have to cross a set of decrepit railway tracks to reach Beach wadiya, which as the name suggests is on the beach. The waiter promptly landed up and plonked a plate on our table, which had a fish, a crab and a couple of prawns as garnish. We were perplexed as we were wondering whether we had to cook the fish ourselves or eat it raw washed down with arrack. The waiter set our doubts to rest and told us that we could have the fish, anyway we liked it, with greens and rice on the side. We promptly ordered one of each and a bottle of 3 Coins lager (again a local beer) on the side. The food was excellent. We had a hard time convincing Biswanath not to whack the large Heineken clock though, which was above a door, which had a sign on it stating that the Tsunami had reached this level in 2004!

Everybody here apparently drinks "gul", which is the local arrack. There's no pretense here and the bartenders we quizzed the next morning on their favourite drink, prior to the commencement of the training, don't pretend to have been weaned on Single Malts or wine, but uniformly admitted to the fact that arrack was it.

We shared a couple of cans of Tetley in the room before heading off for dinner @ Spice Island @ the Hilton, where we were guests of Chris Doyle, the Business development manager @ the Hilton and his wife Sharmila. We decided to start with a Watermelon martini and a Margarita, which were both disappointing and were glad that we had tanked up with Tetley. We then moved on to the locally brewed Carslberg, which hit the spot with some fiery and excellent Thai food. Carlsberg is apparently setting up shop here in India and we certainly hope that along with the beer they also bring the ashtrays!

We were invited to a Glenfiddich and Balvenie tasting @ the Hilton, the next day, which we had to regrettably decline, as we had shopping to do. There would be blood spilt @ home if we returned without the amazing selection of clothes Sri Lanka has to offer at prices which seemed ridiculous to us. There are not that many countries where the Indian rupee weighs supreme!

26th November is Prabhakaran's birthday so there’s a high alert that week in Colombo, and on the short walk over from our hotel to the Hilton, Biswanath, was snapping away pictures, which caught the eye of the patrol on the traffic island who questioned him for 10 minutes and then made him erase all the pictures in his camera.

Sri Lanka bartenders are a happy lot and we had an enjoyable 3 days of training with them. People on the whole here are far more chilled out, with no apparent agendas or attitude. If you can strike the right note, it’s easy here to build a relationship and do business. Our next stop after a hard day’s training (and shopping) was Inn on the Green, adjacent to the famous Galle Face Hotel and opposite the German restaurant. A cheery pub, with rows of beams running through the top all plastered with currency notes from different countries.

We wondered whether these were tips gathered from guests, which had been stuck up there. We had to restrain Biswanath again, as we knew that the consequences of whacking a bartender’s tips would be grimmer! Anyway, we succumbed to the temptation of a tall can of Guinness and followed it up with a pint of 3 coins lager.

Lama, Biswanath and Chanty hard at work

The chap on the bar stool next to ours was polishing off what looked like a whisky and soda with a plate of French fries. Hearing a familiar language he quizzed on what brought us to India. Neeraj (I shall call him that as I’ve forgotten his name), was an exporter of fabric and this was his 2^nd visit. To bring some life to his profession, he also boasted that he also exported bra cups. Weaned as we were on drinking phrases, this threw a completely new spin on the once innocent drinking phrase, “in the cups”.

We drank in moderation as we were pub hopping and were slated to visit Cheers, the popular pub @ the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Pradeep, the vastly experienced bartender there, challenged us to name the cocktail. Impressed, we ordered a Manhattan and a Black Russian, which were both excellent, although it does take a really bad bartender to screw up a Black Russian. The Manhattan though was very good, and made with Canadian Club, as the original recipe demands.

We were going to top off the evening with a traditional Sri Lankan meal @ Raja Bhojun, and the buffet there demanded that we each finally ordered, the local brew, Arrack, which we did with a bottle of soda, and very nice it was. Disgusted as we often are with the inability of the Indian manufacturers of local spirits to refine their produce, arrack came as a welcome surprise, and I had no hesitation in spending a part of my duty free allowance on a bottle of Double Distilled arrack, which shall be opened @ the next Tulleeho party. Also in my shopping basket, were loads of beer, Stella, 3 Coins “all malt lager” and Boddingtons draught bitter!

Tulleeho! or as they say here, Saudiapuram!

Tulleeho Traveller Vol. 1 - Gangtok

2006-05-30T13:22:00.000+05:30

Day 1

It's a half an hour chopper ride from Bagdogra to Gangtok, and accompanying us on the flight was the MD of the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation, L B Chettri who was most dashing in his YSL jacket and his Ray Ban's. He told us that Chaang (the local Sikkimese spirit), was easily available and we should contact the travel desk at our hotel for assistance. For those of you who are Bollywood fans it may come as a surprise to know that Danny Denzongpa, the former bad boy of Hindi movies runs Yuksom Breweries at Malli, which produces two variants of Dansberg beer, one the normal one and the other a premium lager, distinguished by it's blue label ("made from Sikkim spring water, finest malt and imported hops") as well as Hit and the uniquely named He Man 900, both strong beers. It's a good choice of beer and goes down well accompanied by platefuls of steamed momos.

For such a small state, Sikkim has an amazing variety of alcohol and the Teesta White rum, looks like it's giving Bacardi a run for it's money. It was out of stock at the Hotel Tibet, so I ordered the Sikkimese special Whisky, which went down rather well with soda, and which was accompanied by Phing Sha rice (steamed rice, topped wiith 3 kaju's, with a steaming broth of chicken, shitake mushroms and potatos) on the side. Rather bland and I'm going to try the Special Gyathuk next time (noodle soup), but definitely not the Chetse Detse (Boiled noodle topped with Tofu). My brother was downing bottles of Hit ('aapko fit kar denga said the waiter!"). There was a cop at the table next to us, with 2 girls, more interested in their Razr's than the cop, or maybe that part was yet to come. Unfortunately there was no Cherry Brandy at the Hotel Tibet. Patience. 4 days to go and Cafe Tibet on main MG Marg with a fetching advertisement of good food, good beer and good music seemed like a "go-to" place.

Day 2

Out for a stroll the next morning, it was refreshing to see liquor shops open at 7 am (7 am - 8 pm). I resisted the temptation and picked up a packet of doughnuts from a surprised shopkeeper who was shocked to find out that I knew what they were and that people ate doughnuts in Delhi.

Raj, the manager @ The Oriental where we are staying was quizzed on Chaang. He was off to his native Kalimpong the next day and promised to get us back some home brewed Chaang, as he said the local one didn't pass muster. His sister made Chaang at home every day for his father to drink. If your'e a drinking man, you can drink 2 Thumbha's (the cylindrical wooden mug used to drink Chaang), if not, 1 would do you just fine. It's drunk through a straw called the Pipsing. Raj also promised to bring us back the "marcha", which from what we gathered, was the yeasty substance used to ferment the predominantly millets based brew which was what Chaang was. We also put in an order for 2 Thumbha's and 2 Pipsing's to take back to Delhi. Wouldn't be a bad idea to start a Tulleeho musuem of Indian spirits, considering the little which is known about this subject. We inquired in the local market about Thumbha purchases and were told that they were available in the price range from Rs. 100/- for the plain vanilla ones to Rs. 5,000/- for fancy ones made from silver, etc. I picked up 2 Thumbha's and 6 pipsings from Lal market.

For dinner, we tried some Newari cuisine @ The Square. Chicken Shevka (Grilled chicken in mustard oil) and a Sikkimese style Thai Red Curry. The Dansberg Blue made it all palatable. Lining the walls of the bar were the range of the Johnnie Walker collection from Red to Blue. We were suitably impressed and made enquiries about the price, to be told that the owner had just brought them in today and the price hadn't been set yet. Too bad, we could have done with some Glenfiddich.

Day 3

Out for my morning stroll, I picked up 3 bottles of Cherry Brandy for the folks back in office and a bottle of Pan Liqueur for me. I was also amazed to see a bottle of Southern Comfort in the shop window and picked up the same also. SoCo as it is popularly known was launched by Brown Forman in India in 1997 as 2 bastardised variants of the original - Amber and another whose name escapes me. They tried to position it as a whisky and it bombed. One of the finest whisky liqueurs in the world and one of the only beverages to be invented by a bartender (the legendary MW Heron @ Mcauley's bar in New Orleans), it didn't deserve this fate. I picked up the Amber variant @ Rs. 300/-.

Raj and his wife were both Cookery students from the Food Crafts Institute up at Darjeeling and he ran on the side a small homely restaurant on Tibet Road, called Tibet Kitchen. We were to go there for dinner and Chaang and duly wound our way up the steep slope. Hotel California was blaring out of the stereo, as 2 Thumbhas of Chaang were placed on our table. The mugs were brimming over with the millets and a few grains of rice on top (signifying welcome). A steaming mug of hot water was poured in and we were advised to wait for 5 minutes, before we dipped our Pipsings in. The Pipsing is a long narrow bamboo straw, which apart from the hole at the end which gets dipped in, also had 4 slits around that end, all of which ensured that the millets didn't get into your drink. The best momos in Gangtok were served on our table and we sipped our first draught of Chaang. And how does it taste? The closest comparison I can give is that it tastes like a warm wine. It's nice and definitely leagues ahead of the only other native spirit I have had so far, feni. It's very like the German Gluhwein.

Pema Changyal, the wife of a local friend, told us that her mother in law gave her a lot of Chaang after the birth of her child. Not only was it supposed to have medicinal properties, but also was instrumental in making sure that the baby slept a lot. It certainly didn't seem to have any deleterious effects as the baby in question is now studying art and design @ Washington State University. There have been a few attempts to bottle Chaang which we believe failed. It is sometimes available, we were told from shops which sold country liquor. Far better option - speak to Raj @ Tibet Kitchen on Tibet Road.

Sated with momos, Chaang and Beef curry and rice, we walked back to our hotel. Next morning was going to be yet another try to get a glimpse of the elusive Kanchenjunga, which although theoretically visible from our room window, seemed determined to stay hidden by the clouds. Come on Kanchen, give it up.

Day 4

Off to Changu Lake, Baba Mandir and Nathu La. Nathu La @ 14,000 odd feet is the pass where the Indian and Chinese borders meet. Indian and Tibetan borders meet, if you want to be politically correct (or is it incorrect?). On the way up @ Kyongnosla, we had a cup of tea and a shot of cherry brandy. I thought the cherry brandy would calm my vertigo, but it did only momentarily. The taste reminded me of alcoholic cough syrup and I resolved to go back and exchange the cherry brand I bought for Pan liqueur. In 1962, when the Chinese invaded India, they came all the way to Kyongnosla, some 20 km odd from Gangtok and 30 km in from the border. The driver informed us that one of the regiments, stationed here, the Black Cat Eagles, do not have a nose in their logo, as the Chinese still occupy the Indian border post (the one we spotted just across the border). Fact or fiction, we don't know, but the Black Cat in the picture is indeed sans nose.

Karma Kele, husband of Pema, told us that in 1962, with the Chinese on their doorstep, Gangtok was blacked out, with all the windows covered with plastic. The richer citizens headed for their bunkers and drank Chaang as their servants kept supplying them with hot water. Nathu la Pass is the route the old silk route took and is scheduled to reopen for trade between India and China later this year. This was to be our last day in Gangtok as we drove back to Bagdogra the next day. We celebrated with a traditional Sikkimese repast at Hotel Netuk house. Bamboo shoot curry, Nettle soup, Pork curry, Chicken curry, rice all washed down with Dansberg Blue. A fitting end to a great trip. Back to sweltering Delhi now.

Watering Hole of the Month : Saltwater Grill

2006-04-03T17:27:00.000+05:30

Location: On Marine Drive, right side next to the sea.

Budget for two: Rs 2500(includes food)

Open from: 1700 hrs to 0100 hrs

Waiting Scene: it’s the current hot spot in town, so reservation is called for, though the bar area is a free for all. There are 120 covers and there is still waiting, now what does that say about a place.

Music: Lounge

Owners: Riyaz Amlani, Varun Sahani, Kiran Salskar

Chef Viraf Patel & Naveen Kotyankar, Restaurant Manager

Tulleeho Besides the Fact that it’s next to the Bay, does the name SALT WATER GRLL have any other significance?

Chef Viraf: Proximity to the sea (salt water) did activate the nomenclature but also the facts that SALT and WATER are the two most essential ingredients in making food. The menu features a lot of grilled items and subject to availability we have a good variety of seafood to boast about (Norwegian Salmon, Australian mussels ...). The name is very intrinsic to what our place is all about.

Tulleeho What makes the Salt water Grill experience Unique?

Naveen: We have a very non-exaggerated menu. Expect precisely what is written on the menu. We have a daily special menu, which features the catch of the day.

It’s a chilled out natural ambience, in the open air overlooking the sea as well as the Queens necklace coupled with the soothing serenade of lounge music makes for the all round relaxing experience which is a rarity in our city. This all makes it a unique outing in Mumbai.

Tulleeho . What are the ‘Specials’ at SWG?

Naveen: The watermelon caipirojka is simply the best in Mumbai, not surpassing the Green Apple martini. We have the Plum infused vodka which is brilliant on the rocks and just as good is the Lemon Grass Vodka. Infusion of the plum and the lemongrass is done over 3 weeks and it is well worth the wait. Herb flavor vodkas, such as lavender and basil are must tries as well. Gewürztraminer (Californian) and chardonnay are the high selling wines from the list of 70 wines.

Tulleeho Ambience at SWG comprises of…

Naveen: Beauty in Simplicity is the key feature, Ambience is very natural, and there are sand sculptors, hammocks to lounge on, and straw umbrella shades, a small boat converted into a sofa!!! And all of it overlooking the beautiful Bay of Mumbai.

Tulleeho What’s the trend change in Mumbai where food and beverage is concerned? Are the ‘Burbians’ easy to convince in making the trip all the way to marine drive for a drink?

Naveen: Over the last six years Bombay people have realized that it is just as much prestigious to eat at stand-alone outlets as it is in 5 star hotels. People have become more open to trying out new foods and drinks. Wine culture has picked up. Eating and trying out cuisines has become an integral part of our lifestyle. In the bid to try and experiment with new cuisines, food styles, ambiance and experience consumers do not mind undertaking the journey from the suburbs town. Despite the fact that the majority of the clientele is from the town side, we have a fair share of people from the suburb.

Tulleeho. What makes SWG a wow experience for its patrons?

Naveen: We have happy hours all day, from opening to closing which does not really mean that we give the old ‘one free on one purchase’ but the fact that the experience no matter when you come in will be a happy one. A guest will always go home satisfied. Everything about us is wow.

Tulleeho What have you tried to inculcate in service team?

Naveen: It’s important that they provide pleasurable service to their customers and be comfortable while doing so; that they keep everything simple and yet are constantly attentive to guest needs. They have a sense of belonging to SWG and a feeling of pride in what they do and an understanding that there is a constant scope of improvement. We have told the guys to open all doors for the guest. Get into conversation with him, understand his needs and comply with demands. But suggest not what the guest wants to have but what he might want to have but just doesn’t know about it. Up sell doesn’t have to be selling something of higher value or pushing dead stock, up selling the experience rather than a single item is much more productive in both the long term and the short. It’s all about the attitude.

Tulleeho Open air, nice breeze: I loved it, but what do you do during the rainy season.

Naveen: Well making sure that the sea is visible from the lounges even when the total area is covered up was on the priority list right after keeping the area and people inside SWG dry during the torment of the rains. Therefore during the monsoons, tall poles are erected on the beach and plastic and straw sheds extend from the restaurant wall to the beach.

Worked wonders last year and we will rock this season as well. Like I said its wow all through. The rain will not dampen our experience.

Rolls Royce of Rose

2006-03-24T16:32:00.000+05:30

Sogrape Vinhos is a large Portugese wine maker, who make amongst other wine, Mateus Rose, often referred to as the Rolls Royce of Rose. Tulleeho interviewed the Area Manager, Goncalo Sousa Machado, recently @ Tonino in New Delhi.

The Wine

Mateus Rose is a light, fresh, young and slightly fizzy wine. Its quality, extreme versatility and consistent style make it the ideal wine to accompany life's fine moments.

Tasting Notes

A rose with a very appealing and bright hue. On the whole, it is a fresh and seductive wine with a fine and intense bouquet and all the joviality of young wines.

Interview:

When did you enter the Indian market?

Goncalo - It’s almost been 20 yrs now, and we are present in 130 markets worldwide.

The consumption and popularity of wine is growing by leaps and bounds in India. Are you undertaking or planning any activities which are Consumer focused?

Goncalo - We are concentrating on brand and product awareness primarily. We are also looking at more visibility in on and off premise outlets.

Do you think it should be positioned as an Aperitif or paired with food? What food do you think it will go with?

Goncalo - It can be enjoyed as an aperitif, and goes great with Italian, Indian, as well as continental food. Seafood and barbeque items go very well with this particular wine.

Do you think this wine would be paired well with Indian food? Your suggestions...

Goncalo - Yes of course, it’s great with tandoori and most of the Indian cuisine.

Are you facing any challenges or issues in the Indian market?

Goncalo - The biggest challenge for us is to make the consumers aware of this brand. Worldwide we are a very established brand, and would like to see that happening in India as well, and I must assure you we are achieving that steadily with our work towards visibility drives and great on trade support.

What other market according you comes close to the Indian scenario? What is the best tactic applicable?

Goncalo - Japan, and to some extent Australia can be compared. In fact in the 1990's, Japan's scenario was very much like India's present status. And it has gone up by leaps and bounds from then on.

How much is it priced at?

Goncalo - In the retail it is priced at Rs 810 in Delhi.

Have you tasted any Indian Rose's? Your opinion ?

Goncalo - Yes, I have tried the Sula Rose, and it’s good, but very different from what we make. But we don’t consider them as competition.

What is your desert island drink?

Goncalo - The Mateus rose of course! And I am saying so not because I market it but, it will match with the fish that I catch and the fruits that I pick in the island!

The 16 Men of Tain

2006-02-27T16:35:00.000+05:30

The 16 men of Tain still religiously make Glenmorangie Single Malt. A distiller friend of Dr. Bill Lumsden (the Glenmorangie Master Distiller) told him that it should take no more than a man and a dog to run a distillery : the man to feed the dog, and the dog to make sure the man didn't press the wrong button. Glenmorangie soldiers on though with their 16, in the name of tradition and with a few of the 16 even making it a hereditary activity!

Whatever they're doing in Tain, they're certainly doing a wonderful job as Dr. Lumsden tasted us through the Glenmorangie 10 and 15 year olds and the 4 special wood finishes - sherry, port, madeira and burgundy, with the latter each having their own individual flavour note contributed by the casks in which they are "finished". We also tasted Ardbeg, the Single Malt from Islay.

Glenmorangie boasts of many distinctions in the way they make their whisky, ranging from the tallest stills in Scotland to the special attention they pay to the wood used for the Bourbon casks they buy. The wood used in the casks is from the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Glenmorangie has done intense and fascinating (to some people!) research on the science of trees and how that contributes to aging their spirit. Well if you thought that only God could make a tree you'd be surprised at what they're getting upto @ Tain.

After the tasting, Tulleeho spent a fascinating half hour with Dr. Lumsden...

Q-You were here 3 years ago and are here again now. Have you had the chance to observe any changes in consumer perceptions about Single Malt as well as their drinking behaviour?

A - We have had two consumer events this time, and we have seen an increase in interest as well as knowledge levels. In the trade sessions we have conducted also, people have become far more aware, and knowledgeable.

Q-You're on the last stop of your Asia leg at the moment. What's the biggest market for Glenmorangie in Asia?

A- Yes, I am coming from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Singapore. About a year ago, Japan was our biggest market, but now Taiwan is no 1 for us. We sold 10,000 Cases of Glenmorangie there last year.

Q- What age group do you ideally target your Single Malts at? Is it different for different variants?

A- We target people above the age group of 35. Yes, Our 10 yr old is suitable for younger drinkers, whereas the wood finished ones are better for the older. In fact we had a very young mix of people coming in for the tastings in Taiwan, and their were quite a few questions, especially from the ladies who wanted to know what I wear under my Kilt! (Editors note: If you really want to know what Scotsmen wear under their kilts, watch the movie Braveheart, but not before you’ve numbed yourself with a not so wee dram).

Q- Whisky as a category has been affected in some parts of the world by new trendier spirits. Have Single Malt sales been affected in any way by the rise of new categories / spirits?

A- NO. For blended scotches that might be the case, but single malts are a very strong and robust category and usually people who enjoy single malts don’t shift.

Q- Which of your whiskies do you expect to do the best in India?

A - The 10 year old definitely. We also expect the wood finishes to do well.

Q - There's been some talk about Vijay Mallya of United Spirits, buying Invergordon Distilleries in Scotland. Are you in support of moves like this which involve people from outside Scotland acquiring distilleries there? Do you think this might lead to a change in traditions?

A- Considering, we’ve just been acquired by LVMH (a French group), I’m in a far better position to comment on this. I think it’s an excellent thing and much better than closing down the distillery altogether. As a company, Glenmorangie had come as far as we could on our own. A group like LMVH has added considerably to our strengths especially in the areas of marketing, and distribution. As far as changes in traditions are concerned there can’t be any, as the production process for Scotch whisky needs to be religiously adhered to.

Q-The passing of Glenmorangie from the Macdonald family into the hands of LVMH, represents one more independent distillery becoming part of a conglomerate. Pros? Cons?

A- The only downside to this maybe in the eyes of the consumer. As they might feel that the product is not the same anymore. I can assure them however that as far as the distillery goes, there has been no change in our operational freedom. (see above for other comments on the same)

Q- What do you feel about the belief of people like Jon, Mark and Robbo (of the Easy Drinking Whisky Company) and others of their ilk, that decent quality whisky should be enjoyed and not worshipped and that there's too much waffle surrounding whisky.

A- I think they are doing a good job. My only concern here is that Single Malt is a whisky with a long and glorious tradition and they might hamper the prestigious image of Single malt with their efforts and comments.

Having said that, there are other such companies like Compass Box, who are doing a very good job.

Q- Well we know about the 16 men of Tain, but how about the women? Are there any women master distillers? Why not?

A- Well we have no women, maybe because the job is challenging, but even if a lady joins, the 16 men of Tain will still remain! That’s part of our tradition.

Q- How do you like to enjoy your Malt? Which is your personal favourite from the range?

A- I like it with a splash of water, or depending on the climate, a cube of ice. My favourite is the Glenmorangie 10 yr old. I also enjoy the Highland Park-12 yr old.

Q- What activities are Glenmorangie planning on doing for consumer and trade activation in India?

A- We are not getting into any aggressive advertising or marketing. We will follow the education route, and make consumers more aware.

Q- Places visited and liked in India?

A- I have not been to many, but Delhi, from whatever I have seen, seems, very green and clean. I like Delhi and would definitely like to add on a few vacation days here on my next visit.

Q- What's your desert island drink?

A- The Glenmorangie Single cask -1981 (bottled in 1997). I have two bottles of those, and I hope they will be with me then also!

Slainte! (the Scottish alternative to Tulleeho)