A local man has launched premium spirits brand, House of Rum, after spending the last three decades immersed in Caribbean culture.
David Howarth’s time spent travelling and working around the Caribbean has been used to hone a collection of unique, limited-edition rums inspired by the regional blends found across the islands.
David says he first fell in love with the region when he was just 22 years old, when a trip to Antigua prompted him to change his career and move across the world.
The Manchester-born businessman was ‘forever moved’ by his first island experience, which he spent ‘enjoying a rum punch, listening to steel drums being played to the backdrop of Shirley Heights’.
House of Rum’s range of unique, limited-edition rums. Credit: Supplied
He’s spent the last three decades soaking up the islands’ culture and discovering the differences in rum blends, which are influenced by the land surrounding each distillery – whether that’s the shores of Jamaica or the coastal hillsides of Barbados.
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House of Rum was created to ‘celebrate these undiscovered, rare regional intricacies, provide a platform for them, through the creation of sought after, specially selected aged and blended rums’.
All of the rums in the collection are small-batch releases, with the Diablo series presented in luxurious Wibalin Buckram Black window boxes.
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House of Rum’s Spiced Millionaire cocktail. Credit: Supplied
Using some of the oldest distilleries in the Caribbean, the range includes the award-winning Diablo Aged White Rum (filtered through charcoal, with notes of liquorice, peppermint and banana) at £69 per 70cl bottle.
House of Rum also boasts the Diablo Spiced Rum (with flavours of golden syrup, ginger, cloves and nutmeg) and the Diablo Aged Rum (featuring notes of red fruits and a touch of burnt sugar).
Its most premium product is its XO Reserve Single Cask, an incredibly rare rum matured for 11 years before being shipped to the UK.
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It’s distilled from molasses in a continuous column and there are only 140 bottles in existence, priced at £750 per bottle.
Hemmingway Daiquiri
Black Cherry Cobbler
House of Rum cocktails – recipes below. Credit: Supplied
The XO Reserve, which won a Silver Award at the Rum and Cachaca Masters 2022 and the IWSC 2022, is served in a bottle embellished with a die-cast metal badge, and sold alongside two House of Rum and Cumbria Crystal hand-blown tumblers.
House of Rum has created some delicious cocktail recipes to complement its unique premium rum range.
There’s the Hemingway Daiquiri (40ml Diablo Aged White Rum, 15ml Maraschino liqueur, 25ml grapefruit juice, 15ml lime juice, shaken and double-strained into a coupe glass with a grapefruit twist) and the Black Cherry Cobbler (35ml Diablo Aged Rum, 20ml Amontillado Sherry, 20ml Black cherry syrup, 20ml lemon juice, served in a wine goblet with a lime wedge and cherry).
Spiced rum fans will also love the Spiced Millionaire, which sees 40ml Diablo Spiced Rum, 15ml Cointreau, 2.5ml Absinthe, 10ml pomegranate syrup and 20ml lime juice served in a rocks glass with lemon zest and a cherry.
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You can find out more and browse the House of Rum collection at www.house-of-rum.com.
Featured image: Supplied
Food & Drink
Bottomless curry deal returns to popular Manchester Indian restaurant Zouk
Danny Jones
One of the best-loved Indians in Manchester has relaunched its bottomless curry offering and is chucking in free rice and naans to boot.
Zouk over on Chester Street has brought back its endless curry, rice and naan deal to ease the last of those January blues.
Every night this week, you’ll be able to tuck into a full buffet of the tea bar and grill’s award-winning, authentic curries, showcasing dishes from all over the Indian subcontinent.
Costing just £20 a head, you can feast until your heart’s content on some of the very best curries in the city – no exaggeration.
What does ‘bottomless curry’ night at Zouk look like?
The bottomless curry deal at Zouk first ran this year back in January, but it’s now back for National Curry Week (6-12 October 2025), and we can’t wait to stuff ourselves silly yet again.
Every single day, there’ll be four different curries to choose from, always including two meat options, a vegetarian curry and a vegan dish.
What exactly can you get on Zouk’s bottomless offer?
As mentioned, each booking also includes unlimited rice and naan to go with your curry of choice.
Tables are for 90 minutes per booking, giving guests plenty of time to take on the increasingly popular bottomless curry challenge.
Question is, do you have the stomach for it?
With an ever-rotating selection of curries inspired by various distinct regions and speciality cuisines, you’re not short on variety either. You can see Zouk‘s current bottomless curry menu in full below:
Monday
Chicken Karahi – A speciality from the Northwest region of Pakistan. Tender pieces of chicken cooking in a sizzling wok over hot flames with tomatoes, crushed peppercorns, cumin, ginger and garlic.
Lamb and Potatoes – Tender chunks of lamb cooked with new potatoes, yoghurt, tomatoes and garlic.
Mutter Paneer (V) – Indian Paneer cheese with new potatoes, yoghurt, tomatoes and garlic.
Chole Masala (VG) – From Delhi to Punjab, this authentic channa masala is a tasty street food classic.
Tuesday
Tamater Kadei Murgh – A delicious chicken and tomato curry cooked with mild spices. Perfect with rice or bread
Lamb Do Pyaaza – Medium-spiced North Indian speciality: tender pieces of lamb slowly cooked with lavish amounts of caramelised onions in a spicy masala
Tarka Dall (V) – Channa and mung lentils cooked in a spicy sauce
Gobi Mutter (VG) – Spicy cauliflower sautéed in a rich tomato masala with peas
Wednesday
Chicken Do Payaza – Spiced North Indian chicken dish with tomatoes and caramelised onions
Lamb & Bindi – Tender pieces of lamb cooked in a spicy masala with ‘lady fingers’ (okra)
Chole Masala (V) – Authentic channa masala is a tasty street food classic
Mili Juli Sabzi (VG) – Fresh vegetables fused together with herbs and spices
Over the halfway hump, room for more? (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Thursday
Chicken Tikka Masala – A simple classic chicken tikka masala. Chicken pieces marinated in yoghurt tossed inside a balti of garlic and ginger.
Lamb Rogan Josh – A speciality from Jammu and Kashmir, with chillies and juicy tomatoes.
Dall Makhani (V) – Black lentils in a smooth and creamy sauce.
Palak Aloo (VG) – Spinach leaf and fenugreek cooked with new potatoes and coriander.
Friday
Chicken Handi – Punjabi-style chicken curry slowly cooked over burning flames with tomatoes, onions, garlic and Zouk’s special garam masala.
Lamb Jalfrezi – Lamb pieces cooked with capsicum, onions and tomatoes in a thick spicy sauce.
Bengan do Pyaza (V) – A medium-spiced North Indian dish of aubergine cooked with tomatoes, spices and lavish amounts of onions.
Bindi Do Pyaza (VG) – A medium-spiced North Indian dish of Okra cooked with tomatoes, spices and lavish amounts of onions.
And now we’re stuffed…
If you’re looking for somewhere to get bottomless curry in Manchester, this is the place for you. (Credit: The Manc)
Zouk has become one of Manchester’s leading restaurants since it opened in 2009, even drawing in famous fans like Rihanna, Drake, Manchester United stars and, of course, many a Mancs each and every day – because there’s never a bad time for a curry.
Available all throughout this week, you can make the most of this incredible bottomless curry deal like we do every year and trust us, Manchester: it genuinely NEVER disappoints.
You can find more information – including all terms and conditions – on the website and book your visit HERE, or over the phone on 0161 2331 090.
First vendors confirmed Glossop Market Hall, including two indie Manc traders
Danny Jones
The first vendors for the upcoming Glossop Market Hall have been announced, and the lineup includes two beloved Greater Manchester independent businesses.
Better still, the third is another noteworthy name from the North West.
Glossop Market Hall is scheduled to launch later this year, setting up shop in the historic town hall complex, where the High Peak Borough Council, a retail shopping arcade and various other municipal buildings have stood in various different iterations for nearly well over a century.
With the Derbyshire town set to celebrate the opening of the newly revamped market hall, those behind the new Glossop attraction have now revealed the first three names set to take up residence there.
As you can see, the biggest names already signed on to cook from one of the six kitchens is a Manchester favourite food hall in its own right: Hello Oriental.
The Pan-Asian paradise not only has a subterranean space below Circle Square, but also at The Trafford Centre, as well as a dessert spin-off in Freight Island.
Indie trader number two comes in the form of B&V Trading, who are based at Stanley Square in Sale and specialise in eco-friendly, UK-made treats, toys and essentials for four-legged friends.
After proving a hit with the locals, their small stall at nearby Altrincham Market has grown to see them open up not just a second site in the leafy Cheshire suburbs of Knutsford back in 2022, but now boast a third location in neighbouring Macclesfield.
Speaking of Macc, local gin and whisky makers, Forest Distillery – based up at the famous Cat and Fiddle Inn pub towards the Peaks – they round out the first wave of regional businesses set to pop up in Glossop Market Hall (GMH) when it finally arrives this winter.
And once again, as the update on social media reads: “This is just the beginning”.
Natives, day-trippers and tourists from all over are bound to visit this place when it opens sometime in November (exact date still TBC), and with space not only for a dedicated bar, dining space and a coffee shop, but a total of 17 retail spaces, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
GMH becomes just the latest among a growing trend of food and drink halls popping up all over our part of the country, with virtually every Greater Manchester borough now boasting at least one of their own – or, in the city centre’s case, what feels like a dozen now.
Exhibit number… not sure, we’ve lost track at this point.
Daisy Jackson -
6th April 2022 
