Pips X Attic Brew Co Fermented Hot Sauce [@NLi10]

 I love supporting local businesses, especially when it's food and drink.  We went to the 'Night Market' in Edgbaston (which is only about 20 stalls at this time of year) and it was mostly art - but thankfully Pips Hot Sauces had a stall and I was running low.

We also love Attic Brewery and frequently get their cans for home.  I had not seen this combo, but it seemed perfect - if not a little on the red side.

I'm a brave boy so I turned down the trial cracker and just got a bottle.  I'm more of a Nandos medium, and I'd say this is just a shade above a 'hot'.

I'm not sure where the X comes into it, but I suspect that she's using one of their vats to brew up some wickedness.  I wonder if the beer they put in there after has a kick to it.  Be fun to find out.

We had it initially with an all veggie meal - which really doesn't disperse the spiciness well.  That said - it gives you a good idea of the heat and the flavours and I like it!

I reckon I could blend it into some cream or butter and make a wicked Buffalo style dipping sauce, and I already have tried it as a spicy mayo and that's perfect.

Once I've got through this I'm sure there will be plenty more to replace it with even if this may only be a limited run.

pips website is here but if yr local then Red Brick Market and other similar places have them

Attic brew  is here, but again - if yr local just go over and drink in front of the tanks. Its more fun.

Birmingham Brewing - Pale Brummie [@NLi10] @BrumBrewery

 Before Christmas we went on a trip to Stirchley, taking in a few of the little local places including two breweries. We loaded up on presents so I only allowed myself the one can to try at home.

I chose Pale Brummie because I am one.

I don’t really have a developed palate for beers, I leave all that to Spectre, but when I do want a little beer with my dinner this is exactly what I’m looking for.

Apologies for the non-local half pint tumbler - if you want me to pop by and pick up a local themed one let me know!

It’s all very eco, and it’s a great place to visit. And I definitely should have picked up more of these (I’m in my usual situation at home of only having strong beers, or huge bottles left), so maybe this weekend I’ll hop back on the 11 and go get a few.

As a reminder I’ve Popped it with the pretty can collection on top of the fridge.

A lovely light refreshing beer, perfect for drinking with a meal while watching house of games.

Cocoature Handmade Choc - Raspberry (@bamburgh_castle) by @NLi10

So while we were at the castle picking up Raspberry Fentimans when I spotted this lovely looking bar of chocolate.  Bamburgh Castle is not that far from Berwick, so the fact that the family who own the castle have decided to stock up on local treats is fab.

Cocoature seem to mostly sell luxury boxes of chocolates on their website, but they luckily also supply these slabs of the real thing for people like me who just get odd cravings for mixed up flavours.

And as we see the ingredients to these kind of things are not that exciting - but it does confirm that it's a local, handmade, independent choc!

And how do you consume and share sucha  luxury chocolate? Why - while watching The Last Kingdom TV series which features that area and in theory the castle a lot!  I mean - really it's shot in Hungary but I didn't have any local Hungarian chocs.

And how is it?  It's fab.  It's fruitier than the Lidl Easter Egg we had with the raspberry half, and has a lot more bite to it.  It's got the right mix of bits and cocoa so you can tell it's still chocolate, but still get the tastes.  We've been keeping it in the fridge (due to the scorching weather and staying in a caravan) and it's worked out really well.  I'd say it's more of a sharing chocolate than most and it's great to have while watching movies or TV.

If I see more I'll be getting it. Or maybe I'll pop online and see what they can send out.

Birmingham Wildlife Festival - snacks rundown (@NLi10)

A whole two weeks ago (although due to festivals it feels like a lot longer) we popped down the road to Birmingham Wildlife Festival and in between all the badgers, squirrels and reptiles there were lots of great snacks!

First up we have a lovely little stall with a frankly dizzying array of different treats.  They had the full range of the chips that you can find some of in Holland & Barrett , they had lots of Montezuma chocolates, (as bought and eaten at Glastonbury) and an assortment of other things I'd not seen before.

Frankly most of the new stuff we got from here got eaten at Glastonbury and certain items (such as the Inspiral Caco Kale Chips) did not survive the trip there particularly well!  Im sure I make an order or find these around again for a proper review but it was lovely to see such a well stocked and friendly stall.

They can be found online at www.ethical-treats.co.uk  

Here we see the wares from the Purely Vegan Store - they had a decent amount of vegan alternatives but as it was a nice day I gravitated towards the Karma Cola.  This was as expected - more of a cola bottle taste than the synthetic high-street versions. My tastebuds have been spoilt by Fentimans and this was a nice but unspectacular offering. The bottle and branding of all three of these are top notch though and would be a welcome addition to many cafes.

The Pulsing stand was positively buzzing with people taking advantage of the bulk buy special offers - I only had four bars and was the smallest transaction I saw.  I've reviewed the first half of the haul here and will save the final bar of mine for the Latitude roving festival reviews.

I wasn't expecting that much in the way of stalls here, but it seemed that everyone had great snacks (and a few tempting t-shirts that I resisted but got business cards for) and the fresh food was similarly good but I forgot to take pictures of that.  Maybe next year!

One Earth Shop - Digbeth, Birmingham - Doves Farm Rice Bars [by @NLi10]

The other day I was exploring around by our favourite cyber cafe and remembered about the veggie cafe round the corner.  This appeared to have closed for the day, but next to it was a small shop I'd never really spotted before called the One Earth Shop.  This is my favourite kind of place as it sells small things that you don't tend to see on the high street.  

Naturally I took home a small haul, the highlights of which are below!  I also had a small, lovely muffin that I ate before I took a picture.  What a shame - have to go back to review those...

Couscous is couscous. The jar is Pesto which will be tried shortly.  The crisps may be eaten today.  What we did get around to was the Doves Farm Crispy Chocolate & Rice bars.

We took these to see Iron Man 3 at the IMAX.  They didn't make it to the end of the film, but they enjoyed the bits they saw.  They are like a super-deluxe version of the Rice-Crispy Squares that are frequently advertised in amusing ways.  These however are not sickly sweet and are really much nicer. I think that it's a more grown-up take on the whole idea.  As I got 5 in the box they may come out for a walk today too.  They are great for just sticking in a pocket as they can't melt and crushing them really doesn't matter.


I'm sure I'll make it back to the shop on the rare occasion I'm just around the corner and it's still open.  Maybe you have a little local shop you've never noticed (this one has been there since 1990!) that is full of treasures but you've never been in too.