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BARFLY Michael McDermott 1. 2. LITTLE & GREEN A s
parkling canned poitín cocktail is the latest addition to the Craft Cocktail drinks cabinet. Clearly making a localised pitch for the highly lucrative Selzer market, Little & Green is made with two of Ireland’s leading poitín brands, Mad March Hare and Bán and comes in two flavours so far - Sneaky Orchard is a refreshing Collins, a harvest festival of ripe pear, crisp apple, and elderflower flavours. Shady Bramble is inspired by Ireland’s deep, dense hedgerows and is bursting with flavours of wild juicy blackberry, raspberry, and violet. 12 packs, €42 with free shipping from littleandgreen.ie GO LOW WIth the low/no alcohol drinks trend predicted to increase by 31% by 2024, it’s time to start taking this category seriously as a disrupter. An industry chat is coming up for those who fancy gleaning further insights from the likes of Rob Fink, founder of the Big Drop Brewing Company who make awardwinning alcohol-free craft beer. Food Matters Live will host a panel discussion on Thursday October 20 in a land by then governed by Liz Truss. A Winston Churchill (£5) is the screen tax. foodmatterslive.com/event/a-taste-of-trends-low-noalcohol-in-2023 3. XIN FOR THE WIN Picking up a gold medal at The Gin Masters 2022, Galway’s Xin Gin which comes from Ahascragh Distillers’ in the West of Ireland. Meaning ‘heart’ or ‘feelings’ in Mandarin, this juniper-led dry gin carries fresh notes of orange zest and lemongrass, held by earthy, herbaceous undertones of dill and cinnamon spice. It also comes in a beautifully designed bottle which we expect to be pitched to the 100 Archive for ’22. Sweden’s Hernö Gin is still the global gin giant landing a number of coveted Master medals across categories. xingin.com available from the Celtic Whiskey Shop, €50 4. YOU’RE NOBODY THESE DAYS UNLESS… You are opening a wine bar. Entrepreneurs are raising a glass and chequebook to the concept, making the likes of Note and Loose Cannon feel almost grown-up at this stage, such is the spate of recent and forthcoming openings. Elsewhere, in the mag Bitesize toasts A Fianco in Stonybatter, the sister to the much loved Grano. And we are told Aperitivo is coming to Nassau Street soon as a home to “Cicchetti, Cocktail, Spritz & Wine Bar. With a €58m Henry J Lyons redevelopment of the axis of Nassau and Dawson Street set for completion the Street will be due a much needed uplift. In other openings, keep an eye out for the re-opening of former watering hole Copán in Rathmines as it re-emerges as Kodiak over the coming weeks too. aperitivo.ie @kodiak_rathmines 40