Food & Drink

Manchester man creates award-winning rum business rooted in 30 years of Caribbean discovery

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 6th April 2022

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’.

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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.

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

A retro arcade gaming bar is opening in Stockport ready for Christmas

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Stockport is set to get its first retro gaming bar this winter as the former Mama Sanctuary spa on Princess Street is transformed into an arcade haven.

Spreading across two floors, it comes from partners Joseph Patten and Amy Fletcher and will.

Already established in the local hospitality scene. Joseph has already made a name for himself in Stockport with venues including Cracked Actor, The Glass Spider and Dr Feelgood.

Now, he and Amy are workig together on a new venture that will celebrate some iconic arcade games from their childhoo,d including Super Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong – all playable using tokens that can be collected from the bar.

Called Glitch, in an interview with the Manchester Evening News the pair described the new gaming bar as an “interactive museum for vintage arcade lovers”.

However, they also revealed that it won’t just be about retro games here.

The modern crowd of gamers will be equally well catered to, with 11 different high-tech gaming booths – all bookable by the hour – kitted out with 40 inch screens, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, SEGA Mega, and Nintendo 64.

Elsewhere, the team is working on creating an experiential Star Wars ‘duelling room’ with light sabers available to rent. Although it doesn’t sound like this will be ready before its pre-Christmas opening, it’s something we’re happy to wait for.

Drinks-wise, gamers can expect to find a wide array of themed cocktails that nod to Glitch’s playful theme alongside a selection of local beers from Siren Brewery.

The pair also said that they hope the bar will “change the lay of the land massively for more bars of this type to invest in Stockport Town centre.

Read more: A bar in Manchester is throwing a 2000s-themed Myspace party

They continued: “It’s certainly the first of its kind in Stockport but it’s where the bar world is heading.

“We believe it’s the next big push needed to bring immersive interactive bars to Stockport, in the same way they do in the cities. It’s a chance to provide more than just a sit down with a beer, people want more of an experience when they hit the town now. GLITCH provides that.

Read more: This Indian takeaway in Prestwich has just been named the best in the UK

“It’s a hit of nostalgia like a interactive museum for vintage arcade lovers, whilst also offering the look into the future with all the latest consoles for groups to book out. I think it’s the perfect time of year to be opening with Christmas around the corner.”

Feature image – Google maps / Slackers

Food & Drink

This Indian takeaway in Prestwich has just been named the best in the UK

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

An Indian takeaway in Prestwich has just beaten rivals up and down the country to be crowned the best in the whole of the UK.

Bombay Cuisine in Prestwich, Manchester won the accolade of National Takeaway of The Year 2022 at the annual Asian Restaurant and Takeaway awards, taking home the accolade at a celebrity red-carpet event.

Serving up a mixture of traditional dishes like jalfrezi and karahi alongside a wide selection of masala, pasanda, biryani and balti dishes, you’ll also find a long list of house and chef specialities on the menu at Bombay Cuisine.

From Indian cheese kofta to the popular Gujurati dish achari, plus shahi suria, chana walla and murgh musallam, the specials menu is packed with mouthwatering dishes.

Elsewhere you’ll find a special sizzling tandoori section with all dishes barbecued in a special clay oven, as well as a list of ‘Nice n Spicy’ specials for those who aren’t shy of a bit of heat.

Bombay Cuisine was not the only Greater Manchester restaurant to win big, either, with The Milnrow Balti in Rochdale also taking home the Regional Restaurant of the Year award for the North West of England – proving that we really are spoilt for choice in this part of the world.

Each year, the awards reveal the best of UK Asian cuisine selected from 2,400 nominations from South Asian restaurants, takeaways, chefs, and personalities across the country.

They celebrate the UK’s Curry industry, which contributes £5 billion to the economy annually and, as of 2015, has accounted for a fifth of the restaurants in the UK dating back to the 1800’s.

Image: Bombay Cuisine, Prestwich
Image: Bombay Cuisine, Prestwich

The Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred to Mr Muquim Ahmed, a renowned
British entrepreneur who was a successful restaurateur and has spent over 40 years in
building a rapidly growing business empire. He is also known as the King of London’s Brick Lane.

The winners were selected by an esteemed panel of expert ambassadors and judges, and restaurants were awarded based on three key factors: quality of food, quality of service, and value for money.

This was followed by the ARTA score, which includes food hygiene rating and reviews from websites like TripAdvisor and Google.

Restaurants that made it through the gruelling first phase were judged and invited to participate in a cook-off competition where they were scored once again on various factors including: flavour, appearance, texture, hygiene and aroma.

Speaking about the Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards 2022, Salik Mohammed Munim, Founder of the ARTA Awards, said: “The ARTA Awards 2022 are a celebration and recognition of Britain’s vibrant Asian restaurants, takeaways, and chefs.

“Since the inception of ARTA, we have clearly seen the phenomenal quality of entrants, and the bar set
by each, and every nominee has been increasing each year.

“I am truly blown away by the standards set by the competition and having been privy to exceptional quality and service extended by the nominees, I can confidently assert that Asian culinary industry in Britain is in safe hands.

“Every nominee and winner should be proud of their work.”

The awards also offered solidarity and morale for the industry which is currently facing headwinds including with the high cost of energy, inflation, and the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

Salik Mohammed added: “ARTA 2022 is extremely special for us, as it has returned after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The gathering was emotional and symbolic, as it brought together members of the Asian cuisine industry during an exceptionally difficult and testing time.

“The cost of energy crisis is a real threat to the sector, and many are faced with the prospect of closing doors after having served their local communities and patrons for decades.

“This has been a back-to-back assault on the sector, which was recently reeling and recovering from the pandemic, and staffing shortages post-Brexit.

“It was a poignant moment for us all, to be together and extend moral support and well-wishes. I truly wish us all the very best.”

Feature image – Bombay Cuisine

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