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Happy hogmanay 2015

12/30/2014

Let’s sing, dance and share a wee dram of whisky to toast the New Year ~ Lang May Yer Lum Reek!

In Scotland, the New Year festivities around January 1st are commonly referred to as Hogmanay. The word itself is Scottish for the last day of the year, and Hogmanay celebrations can last all night, through the day on January 1, and even into January 2nd. Customs and traditions vary from town to town in Scotland, but always involve merrymaking and good times, especially in Edinburgh, which holds the largest Hogmanay festivities.

“Lang may yer lum reek” is Scottish slang for “long may your chimney smoke“, and is a common salutation used to wish someone health, wealth and prosperity in the New Year.

on tap this week

12/24/2014

Plank - Red Lion IPA limited edition 6.2 % - yes that's right it's a German IPA something you do not normally see, maybe it should be called GIPA - German Indian Pale Ale . It is very different from any IPA that I have ever drunk before , come along and try one !

xmas pudding

12/20/2014

Tamaki recently made 6 dried fruit traditional Xmas puddings, a few as presents and the rest for the bar. Pictured below is a Xmas pudding that a customer ordered last night.

aran jumper

12/19/2014

Tamaki is busy at the moment knitting a fantastic Aran jumper that a customer ordered for a Xmas present

keeping warm

12/19/2014

This is how I keep warm on a cold Niigata night, I wear my plaid which is also called a great kilt. It can also be worn as a wrap / shawl to keep you warm in extreme weather such as pictured in the photo below.

cafe hocca

12/14/2014

Now it's end of year party season in Japan and yesterday we took a day off to attend two end of year parties. The first one was a Cafe Hocca located in Mitsuke which is a 1 hr train ride from Niigata station, Hocca is a fantastic single malt and craft beer bar in the owners house and they have a 3 tap kegerator which yesterday was serving an IPA, Pale Ale & a Pilsner which were all fantastic so was the food. On returning to Niigata we also attended a pot luck dinner party at Chillin Mama's craft cafe , where we made our felt bonnets a few months ago. The pot luck dinner party was a lot of fun with many local artists and craftspeople in attendance , the selection of dishes for dinner was great and it's nice that we had the chance to join both of these events. Pictured below are some of the photos that were taken yesterday !

on tap this week - Red kite ale

12/12/2014

Just arrived this evening and now on tap - Black Isle Red kite Ale , this is a fantastic amber ale with British holps and a malty backbone . A perfect all season beer at 4.2 % !

belted plaid / great kilt

12/10/2014

For a long time now I have wanted a plaid / great kilt which is really just 4.5mtr of double width tartan and because it's gets pretty cold here in Niigata over the winter I chose a heavy wool tartan for the plaid. First task was hand sewing on 17 belt loops into the inside of the plaid to save pleating each time you put it on. Today was my first outing up the street wearing it and it's very warm and with the extra fabric I can pull it up over my shoulders if it gets really cold.

Todays lunch

12/8/2014

Today's lunch at Albannach was a Scottish tart set and the other photo is all the baking Tamaki did this morning , fantastic selection of pies, Shepard's pie and a Scotch tart come along for a great lunch or dinner !