littleBIGBELL Out and about Archives -

26 Feb

I’ve just returned from Irish Whiskey maker METHOD AND MADNESS‘ Gin launch party in Cork, Ireland. It was a lovely diversion from my normal routine.

I’ve always wanted to see a distillery.

These buildings are part of Jameson’s distillery in Midleton. So here it is! METHOD AND MADNESS’ first Gin.

You may wonder where the name METHOD AND MADNESS came from.

It was actually inspired by the Shakespearean quote, ‘Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.’

The “METHOD” represented the tradition and expertise grounded in the generations at the Midleton Distillery and “MADNESS” reflected the curiosity and intrigue of the next generation. Meet Mickey’s Belly, Ireland’s oldest gin still, and where the gin was being made. The new bottle and label were designed by the talented duo Matthew Bolger and Emelie Lidström of M&E design in Sweden.

I had the pleasure of meeting and dining with them during this trip. I was told the stripes in the label represented METHOD and signified the continuity and consistency of the master distillers, whilst the marble art represented MADNESS, an analogy to the apprentice’s experimentation and innovation. We even got to do our own marble painting at the event.

Here’s my creation. What do you think? The yellow of the bottle label reflected the Irish gorse flower in the gin, whilst the black represented the black lemons.

The black lemons are in fact sun dried limes. ( as seen in the photo)

Emelie told me that the teal was a leafy, earthy tone, that has been amplified from nature.

There were raised patterns on the sides of the bottle too, giving it a fun texture to handle. I’m sure you’re wondering what the gin tasted like right?

Well, it’s an eclectic fusion of 16 botanicals led by black lemon and Irish gorse flower – imparting notes of citrus and spice with subtle earthy undertones.

It was absolutely delicious when paired with Poacher’s tonic water, large ice cubes and finished off with a twist of lemon rind. During this press trip, we stayed at the beautiful Castle Martyr resort.

Check out the beautiful grounds. Here’s what my bedroom looked like. I hear this hotel was once a boarding school. It must be wonderful to be surrounded by the countryside. METHOD AND MADNESS Gin should be available in Ireland now, and at most airport retail shops from July 2019.

Finally, If you have a chance, do give it a try. It’s absolutely delightful.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the post. Have a lovely day.

01 Feb

5 cool things to do, see and know in London February 2019.

I’ve decided to start a new series here on the blog called “5 cool things to do, see and know in London”.

As a London based lifestyle blogger, I get to see and experience many new things in the city. This could be a new restaurant opening, a new homewares or fashion collection launch, workshops and fun campaigns.

I thought it would be fun to share my curated selection with you. So here goes:

1. Pretty choux pastries and floral walls.

To start off, I’d like to announce that Maitre Choux, London’s most delectable choux pastry shop has now opened a new store in the King’s road.

On Wednesday evening, I attended their launch party and was greeted with a tempting tower of colourful pastries and champagne. I thought I’d show you my favourite, the Paris Brest eclair made of nougatine, praline, hazelnut and whipped cream.

This is the one of the bestsellers, so make sure you get there early. The new venue is very instagram worthy.

Not only are the pastries tasty and beautiful, but now, there are gorgeous floral walls for selfies.

2. ASOS’ new Homewares brand ASOS Supply. Hot off the press show last night, I’ve photographed a few of my favourite pieces from asos‘ new homewares collection, ASOS Supply.

Being such a popular and fashion forward brand, it was about time asos launched a homewares collection, and it did not disappoint.

The collection is perfect for university rooms and first time buyers / renters. However, despite me not being any of the latter, I’m still coveting it.

ASOS supply consist of 3 trends : Global traveller, Eclectic Luxe and Cool minimal.

Global Traveller ( image above) is inspired by natural materials and bright colour pops. Eclectic Luxe offer a mix of products and fabrics, such as recycled glassware, retro inspired statement pieces and animal prints, whilst Cool minimal uses clean lines and brushstroke patterns on products. Check out these pretty cushions with the Evil eyes.

I am a fan of the evil eye, and even blogged about it in my workspace not so long ago. The blue and pink evil eye print comes in a duvet cover too. There’s even a rattan evil eye mirror. How beautiful are these ceramics, part of the Eclectic Luxe trend. Animal print is still going strong, especially leopard print. These are throws and towels. ASOS’ new homewares collection will be available from February 4th 2019. I’m pretty sure the whole collection is going to be super popular, so grab it before it goes.

3. Candle Making with The London Refinery. There is always so much creativity in London. How about being surrounded by the scent of aromatherapy whilst being creative?

That’s what happened to me last weekend, as I was invited to one of The London Refinery‘s candle making workshops. It was so fun to disengage from the hustle and bustle of city life, and relax for 2 hours mixing essential oils to make candles.

Lucy, the founder of The London Refinery is an excellent teacher, and I came out feeling very inspired.

You can get your own scented candle making kits to make at home too.

4. Fun London ad campaign. Talking about creativity, I’m absolutely loving Marsh and Parson, one of London’s top estate agents’ current campaign on matching people to property.

I love the personas they have created to match properties.

Above, is a couple embracing the 1980s style. Here’s the Memphis style room that I created to match their 1980s persona. and what do you say to this Brexit reference? I think it’s so clever and it certainly grabs attention.

5. Nostalgic dining in London. I had a wonderful experience at one of London’s established dining institutions, that is Simpson’s in the Strand.

Under the culinary direction of Master Cook Adrian Martin, we got to try dishes reinterpreted from the restaurant’s archive dating back to 1913.

This is the reception area. Love the traditional English look, with its deep red leather sofa set against the blue pigmented panelled walls.

This is the dining room.

We had Baked Manx queen scallops for starters.

Beef carved from silver domed trolleys.

And delicious sticky toffee pudding.

The food and ambience was amazing. Definitely something to try if you are visiting London.

So, there you go, 5 cool things to do, see and know in London for February 2019. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. I’ll be back with more soon. Have a lovely weekend.

( AD: All experiences were invitations to review.)

20 Jan

Best portable Bluetooth speaker – Bang and Olufsen’s A1 speaker.

Can you spot my cool new A1 bluetooth portable speaker from Bang & Olufsen on my desk?

I love that it is portable, and the design is just so elegant. It comes with a strap, so I can carry it anywhere and hang it up too. Let’s zoom in a little shall we? See my portable bluetooth speaker now? I’ve been playing this all day today and the sound quality is amazing.

It really does pack that punch beyond its weight and size.

With true 360 degrees sound, the music really disperses to wherever you are in the room. How beautiful is this sleek Aluminium design? It’s a dome that is dust resistant, light, rigid and protective.

From what I’ve read about this model, it’s polymer base is able to withstand the great outdoors – think grass, sand and water splash. Another cool feature is that there is an inbuilt microphone for making calls.

Once charged up it has a battery life of 24 hours, so you can carry it with you on long car journeys too.

We will be doing some long road trips in Canada during the Summer, so this will come in handy. I love how it has blended in with all the things on my desk. All I can say, is that I’m so happy with this new portable bluetooth speaker. As I’m writing this post, it’s playing out my favourite music and it’s just such a wonderful feeling.

Shame Christmas is over, but I say you deserve a portable bluetooth speaker too, I’d highly recommend it. Good design and happy vibes is all we need for this new year right?

Whilst talking about happy design, did you spot that art print at the top right of my desk? It’s an illustration of my styled sofa space, created specially for me by Sabrina Brugmann of Elebea. So a big thank you to her too.

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. Wishing you a great week ahead.

( All photography and styling are by Geraldine Tan, editor of Little Big Bell. I was kindly gifted this speaker by Bang and Olufsen. All views in this post are my own).

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