Drinking Above A Market | No. 28 Newcastle Review

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today I would talk to you all about one of my new favourite place to grab a drink from in Newcastle . 

No.28 is a little bar that is tucked away above the well known Grainger Market in Newcastle City Centre. It offers a range of drinks, tapas style food and offers to suit everyone’s needs and also offers an ambience that just makes you want to spend all night in there. 

I decided to check out the superb space with Alex. We decided to get a mixture of food and drinks. (If you want to know about the food then go on over to my Instagram). 

We decided to get a cocktail a piece and some shots. I have been enjoying the Honey Cazcabel Tequila recently and saw that they had a coffee version so it made sense to try it there and then. I also made Alex try both the Honey and Coffee varieties. They loved both and I quite liked the Coffee version but I still think that the Honey one is my favourite. 

We tried both the Burnt Crumble and the Banana and Walnut Espresso Martini which Alex mainly drank but I mean I had to try a little bit of it for content reasons. 

Burnt Crumble contained Goslings Black Seal Rum, dark crème de cacao, Teichenne Butterscotch Schnapps, Apple and Lemon Juices, caramel syrup and a spray of Laphroaig over the glass. I absolutely loved this drink. The mixture of both the schnapps and syrup gave this drink a sort of sweet yet baked caramel taste to the drink which was interesting as when I saw butterscotch and caramel I was expecting this drink to be sickly but it really wasn’t. The rum added a sort of deep smokiness to the drink which helped to further cut through the two elements just mentioned. I think the dark crème de cacao blended into the rum as it wasn’t that pronounced when I sipped this drink. Finally the apple and lemon added a touch of freshness to the drink which cut through the sweet and smoky to make this drink not only delectable but also one that I could not stop sipping. If you’re a fan of well desserts, apples, crumbles, anything with a slightly sweet kick to it then definitely get this drink as you will love it. 

The Banana and Walnut Espresso Martini contained Black Tears Spiced Rum, Crème Dr Banane, Noix de la st jean and Espresso. I’m not the biggest fan of Walnuts so this drink wasn’t fully for me but I could definitely respect it for what it is. I also think that the Espresso Martini came in general is quite saturated so it’s quite refreshing to see a new take on it. The Banana complimented the coffee notes in this drink beautifully as it gave a sort of creaminess in regards to the flavour of this drink which I really enjoyed. If you love Espresso Martinis I definitely say give this a try and see if you enjoy it! 

Overall, g the great drinks, amazing ambience and fantastic food made for a great experience for me. I’ll definitely be coming back to try some of their other amazing drinks. 

Check out No.28.

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x

The Chocolate Smiths 99 Ice Cream Bizarre Bar Review

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today I would talk to you all about some amazing chocolate that I tried recently. 

The Chocolate Smiths are a small business based in the heart of Newcastle who create innovative inventive Chocolate bars that no one could ever think of. I have followed them for years on Instagram and with my anxious indecisive mind I have always wanted to get some of their products so I decided that finally I would. The best short way to sum up The Chocolate Smiths is that they are an amazing team who are living the dream of having their own fabulous chocolate factory in Newcastle that you can view thanks to Instagram stories. 

The texture of this bar was amazing. When I took a bite of this bar, the first sort of textural component that made me excited to eat more of this bar was the snap of the chocolate. I'm one of those people who likes to have fridge cold snappable chocolate rather than room temperature Chocolate. However, I tried some of this as soon as the parcel arrived and even at room temperature, the Chocolate was snappable  which I adored. That sort of snap contrasted with the creaminess of the fillings that were inside this bar was amazing. I love a good bit of smooth and crisp against each other. Furthermore, this sort of crisp versus cream texture war carried on after due to the wafter pieces that are also in this product. The wafer provided a different sort of crisp which I loved. A sort of more crunchy crisp if that makes any form of sense. I always look for different types of textures in my Chocolate products and boy this didn't disappoint me at all. Not only did this bar provide all of the textures but also provided all of the aesthetics that you could ever want in a Chocolate Bar. 

The taste of this bar was beautiful. The first flavour profile that jumped onto my tongue was the Chocolate itself. Slightly creamy but not rich. I realised that creamy but rich sounds simplistic but what I mean by that is that this bar has a sort of creamy note to it without being sickly which I loved due to having some mass produced bars that are so creamy that I can only have a couple of squares before I don't want to touch it for a fair while. Once the chocolate flavour calmed down, next on the flavour train was the filling. I love Raspberry. To be honest, the raspberry and vanilla filling was why I was drawn to this bar in particular. The Raspberry and Vanilla worked well together. I know when some hear Raspberry and Vanilla, they imagine those split flavour yoghurts but this was nothing like that. The Raspberry added a sharp burst to the whole bar and made you wanting more and more where as the Vanilla to me added a bit more of that creaminess but in a completely different way than the Chocolate did. I really enjoyed this bar as it kept surprising me. Finally on the train of taste was the Wafer Cone pieces. Oh my god these were amazing. These shards of cone added a salty edge to the bar and well all I will say is that if you know me at all then you will know that I am a lover of sweet and salty flavours together. This bar definitely took me on a ride and I loved it. 

Would I buy it again? Yes. I think that this bar is definitely one of those that you buy when you need a pieck me up. I know that some may say that £4.99 is a lot for a Chocolate Bar and it may be but you can tell why it is that price when you take a bite of this bar as you can see, feel and taste the love and craftsmanship the has gone into this bar. 

If you haven't checked out The Chocolate Smiths then please do by clicking on their name in this sentence as it will send you to all of their amazing and creative chocolate products. 

What's your favourite Chocolate Bar at the moment? Let me know down below. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x