Just in time for Christmas! Double Dutch New Pink Grapefruit Soda Launches in Waitrose

Double Dutch, the skilled, expert producers of award-winning premium tonics and mixers, have announced that its new Pink Grapefruit soda is now available in Waitrose stores around the UK. 

The brand-new utterly zesty flavour is now available instore and online via Waitrose, with the 150ml cans ready to be paired with Tequila, which has been dominating the spirits sector throughout this year, as well as with Mezcal or other white spirits, allowing you to level up at-home cocktail creations, just in time for Christmas and the New Year. 

(That's Christmas suggests you buy some spirits along with the Double Dutch Pink Grapefruit soda from Waitrose to run some cocktail making experiments before you unleash your newly developed cocktail making skills on friends and family this Christmas!)

Double Dutch's Pink Grapefruit soda follows the distinctive dual flavour style of the Double Dutch range, making for a flamboyant, fresh drink. 

It was developed in response to the burgeoning consumer-led demand for citrus-flavoured non-alcoholic beverages, attracting the attention of Waitrose, which has seen online searches for grapefruit soda increase by an astonishing 400%! 

The Pink Grapefruit soda begins with an intensely rich grapefruit flavour which then slides beautifully into the luscious tastes of Persian lime (yum!) creating a well-rounded mixer that offers a blend of sweetness and depth that's utterly delicious on its own, or paired with white spirits. 

For the signature Paloma serve, you can pair the Pink Grapefruit mixer with tequila, and fresh lime, and serve in a Pink Himalayan salt-rimmed highball glass. The new mixer is a simple, yet effective way to crack the perfect Paloma at home, a rising cocktail trend set to rival the popularity of the classic margarita this year. 

The Pink Grapefruit soda joins the Double Dutch portfolio of innovative and flavourful mixers like Cucumber & Watermelon, Pomegranate & Basil, Cranberry & Ginger Tonic as well as a premium Skinny Tonic Water, Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer. 

Double Dutch is committed to continually innovating in the category, identifying flavourful spirit mixers which make for easy and consistent cocktails at home, as well as being a bartenders' favourite and the exclusive tonic brand for Soho House globally. True to their mission, the brand launched two Cocktail Sodas in 2020, the unique Bloody Mary Soda and spicy Margarita Soda.

Co-founder of Double Dutch Raissa de Haas said on the launch, “We couldn't be more excited to launch our Pink Grapefruit soda to make every Double Dutch party that bit better! 

"A Paloma is one of mine and Joyce's favourite cocktails and we've developed a delicious, zesty recipe to ensure each, and every Paloma made with our Pink Grapefruit soda is the quintessential taste for every season!” 

Double Dutch is the award-winning producer of premium tonics and mixers that are first-class, fabulous and flavoursome. Led by twin founders, Raissa and Joyce de Haas the brand's range of refreshing soft drinks are the perfect pair to any event, or sister serve to any spirit.

The range now contains thirteen delicious flavour variations, bringing the energy to any event, at any time, in any place – whether that's Sunday brunch or a Tuesday evening. All the products are naturally vegan and gluten free, and as part of the twin founders mission to do business the right way, the brand is now proudly Carbon Neutral. 

Double Dutch Pink Grapefruit soda is now available exclusively at Waitrose or the Double Dutch website, £3.50 for 6 x 150ml cans. 

To stock Double Dutch Pink Grapefruit soda, email sales@doubledutchdrinks.com 

To order online visit www.doubledutchdrinks.com.

Mince Pie Bundt Cake

Mince Pie Bundt Cake, using Cottage Delight's delicious Luxury Tipsy Mincemeat

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 1 hour Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter

• 220g golden caster sugar

• 200g light muscovado sugar

• 4 large eggs

• 350g plain yoghurt

• 2tsp mixed spice

• 1 jar Cottage Delight Luxury Tipsy Mincemeat 

• 320g plain flour

• 2tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Tiny pinch of salt

• 1tsp ground cinnamon

For decoration

• 170g icing sugar 

• 1 egg white at room temperature

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 

• Thinly sliced orange or frozen berries (preference)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 175ºC/150ºC fan/gas 3.

• Grease the bundt pan with melted butter and dust with flour.

• In a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.

• Add the eggs one at a time and mix together.

• Mix the plain yoghurt and Luxury Tipsy Mincemeat together and add to the mixer.

• In a separate bowl, measure and sieve out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and all the ground spices.

• Sieve in the flour gradually and stop when the flour is evenly mixed in.

• Pour the mix into a greased and floured tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

• The cake will pull away from the edge of the tin when it is ready.

• Leave the cake to cool fully before removing from the tin. While waiting to cool, make your icing sugar drip. Place icing sugar, egg white and lemon juice into your mixer. Beat on med-high for around 5-7 minutes until it forms soft peaks and is loose enough to drizzle. Pour over and allow to cool/set. Finish with sliced oranges or frozen festive berries (your own preference!).

To learn more about Cottage Delight and to put in some pre-Christmas orders please visit them on https://www.cottagedelight.co.uk.

That's Books and Entertainment: Failed Redemption

That's Books and Entertainment: Failed Redemption: Failed Redemption is a new novel from author R. A. Jordan's John England  series of books. At the beginning of the story we find John En...

Uh Oh Milo! The Excited Elf

In Uh Oh Milo! The Excited Elf Kate Wogan and Helen Faulkner have produced a very good Christmas present for the little ones in your life.

They will learn all about The Excited Elf. The Excited Elf has a very important job. Before Santa arrives and glides down the family's chimney, the children of the house must be sound asleep. 

But who helps them fall asleep on Christmas Eve? The Excited Elf, that's who!

But unfortunately The Excited Elf is far too excited about his exciting job to be able to perform his elfly duties to make certain the children are asleep.

So, what will happen to The Excited Elf? What will happen to the children Milo and Mary if they are too excited to go to sleep?

This has all the hallmarks of turning into a bit of a disaster. But what if their Granny stepped in and offered her expert help and guidance to get The Excited Elf to calm down, just enough, to get his important Christmas task completed and help Milo and Mary to fall asleep before Santa arrives to go down their chimney?

The simple and compelling words of Kate is beautifully complemented by the vibrant and awesome illustrations provided by Helen.

This book, along with the other three books in the Uh Oh Milo! series of books, The Impolite Imps, The Tantrum Trolls and The Beastly Bogels are must haves for the four-year-olds in your life.

They are £7.99 each and, in our opinions, worth every penny.

You can buy them, and other fantastic books and gifts at https://uhohmilo.com.

Pumpkin season - but for your face!

Organic Shop Pumpkin Honey Serum

Organic Shop Pore Minimizing Face Serum for oily skin Pumpkin and Honey (30ml) £4.99

https://amzn.eu/d/59hBtjq

With Organic Pumpkin Oil and Honey for oily skin

This face serum is everything you'll require when it comes to minimising the appearance of pores. It's formulated for all oily skin.

Formula, based on organic pumpkin oil and honey, helps control skin oiliness, and provides it with nourishment.

Made with 99% natural origin ingredients.

Certified COSMOS Natural by BDIH.

Organic Shop Balancing Face Mask for oily skin Pumpkin and Honey (75ml) £4.99

https://amzn.eu/d/bdQUjL7

This mask helps balance out moisture and control excess sebum production.

Formula, based on organic pumpkin oil and honey, helps control skin oiliness, and provides it with nourishment.

Made with 99% natural origin ingredients.

Certified COSMOS Natural by BDIH.

Organic Shop Mattifying Face Cream for oily skin Pumpkin and Honey (50ml) £4.99

https://amzn.eu/d/1fpHpJL

Try this cream to help restore skin natural balance and leave it with a matte finish.

Formula, based on organic pumpkin oil and honey, helps control skin oiliness, and provides it with nourishment.

Made with 99% natural origin ingredients.

Certified COSMOS Natural by BDIH.

These will be ideal Christmas presents for the organic skin care fans in your life.

BiGDUG launches a Ltd Edition ‘Christmas Mega Deal’

What's included in this Christmas Mega Deal? A whole host of items including:- 

Garage Shelving Unit

Garage Corner Shelving Unit

Garage Shed Workbench

15x Plastic Storage Boxes

24x Plastic Parts Bins

If you have a husband, wife, aunt, uncle, cousin or best friend who needs some new stuff for their home workshop, their garden shed or their garage, then BigDUG has exactly what you need to buy them for Christmas 2022.

So, this Christmas, forget the worrying about a stocking filler when you can gift your loved one/s a whole garage filler, thanks to the Christmas Mega Deal from Storage Solutions specialist BiGDUG.

This limited-edition, festive-red bundle includes everything they will ever need to organise their garage or shed – and they’ll love you snow much for it!

The BiGDUG Christmas Mega Deal features two adjustable steel shelving units – with one being a handy corner unit that fits nice and snug while utilising space, a matching powder-coated red workbench, 15 lidded storage boxes and 24 plastic part bins for the ultimate storage solution.

Sleigh the gift-giving game and treat the special person in your life with the Christmas Mega Deal for just £194.46 from Christmas Mega Deal Shelving BiGDUG. Christmas are decorations not included, you'll need to supply them yourself!

BiGDUG saves you time, space and money by offering the best storage solutions, to bring order and efficiency to your space. Or the space of your loved ones!

BIGDUG offers everything from shelving and racking to workplace products and packing and will provide customers with the best quality products at the best prices.

BiGDUG was founded in 2004 and is now part of the global business equipment group, TAKKT. It already sells storage products to over 250,000 customers and continues to welcome them each day to its trust, customer-focused business.

For more information or to make your Christmas purchases, visit: https://www.bigdug.co.uk.

New Vegetarian Box - Quicke's Letterbox Range

Quicke's Letterbox Range

Quicke's Vegetarian box is the latest addition to their Letterbox range, the perfect way to enjoy the delicious taste of Quicke's traditional clothbound cheeses, delivered straight through your letterbox. 

We at That's Christmas feel that these would make ideal Christmas presents for the vegetarian cheese lovers in your life.

The New Vegetarian Box is perfect for the turophile (that's a lover of cheeses!) in your life. The recyclable box contains all five of the Quicke's vegetarian clothbound cheeses - Goat's Milk Cheese, Oak Smoked Goat's Milk Cheese, Elderflower Cheese, Double Devonshire Cheese and Devonshire Red Cheese.

Each cheese has been carefully handcrafted using milk from their very own grass-fed cows or locally sourced goat's milk, before being clothbound only using vegetable oil and left to mature in the cool, quiet of their Cheese Cathedral. This box also contains tasting notes, each with its own flavour wheels and pairing suggestions. Available at quickes.co.uk : £24

Postage is included in the cost for all UK mainland postcodes.

These convenient packs are also available in three different variations; Cheese and Chocolate, The Cheese Taster and The Cheese Picnic. 

Quicke's Goats Cheese, Honey and Thyme Pizza

Enjoy Quicke's take on a bianca pizza, with the creamy nutty goats cheese, freshness of thyme and a hint of sweetness from the honey.

Serves 4 - Prep time: 15 mins - Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

X 4 Sourdough Pizza Balls 

300g Quicke's Goats Cheese grated 

Honey 

Sprigs of Thyme

Method:

Take the dough balls out from the freezer. Defrost overnight (at least 12 hours) in a refrigerator covered with a clean cloth or cling wrap to prevent drying out.  

Remove 2 hours prior to use and bring up to room temperature allow to double in size.  

On a floured surface, either hand stretch or roll out using a rolling pin to your required size.  

Place in a pre-oiled pizza pan and spread grated Goats cheese evenly across the base sprinkle on the thyme and bake for 8 – 10 minutes until crisp. 

Remove from oven and drizzle over a bit of honey and serve.

Incidentally, I have learned something new. Apparently I, as a confirmed lover of cheese, am a turophile! And I'm cool with that.

Magical Mulled Wine Jam Trifle

Using Cottage Delight Magical Mulled Wine Jam

Prep: 40 minutes Cook: 6 hours chill Serves: 8

Recipe:

For the trifle:

1 x 340g jar Cottage Delight Magical Mulled Wine Jam

2 oranges, peeled and sliced in halves

420g sponge swiss roll

480ml custard

360ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks

500ml mulled wine (ready-made or using recipe below)

135g pack raspberry jelly

Fresh/frozen berries, to decorate

Ground cinnamon, to decorate

For the mulled wine jelly:

Option - make your own mulled wine using the recipe below or use ready-made mulled wine.  

For home-made mulled wine: 

500ml red wine

2 bay leaves

1 star anise

1 orange, thinly sliced

8 cloves, whole

2tbsp sugar 

2 cinnamon sticks

1 packet raspberry jelly

Method for mulled wine jelly:

• Combine all ingredients (not including raspberry jelly) in saucepan and heat gently. Do not boil. Hold at gentle simmer for at least 10 minutes. 

• Remove from heat and strain the liquid.

• Return liquid to pan and dissolve in jelly cubes (if jelly cubes do not dissolve, put some gentle heat underneath).

• If using bottled mulled wine, heat according to bottle instructions before dissolving in the jelly cubes. 

To assemble the trifle: 

1. Make your mulled wine jelly in advance, using recipe and method stated above. Pour jelly mixture into a small rectangle or square baking tin, so it’s roughly 1 inch high. Leave it in the fridge to set (approx. 3 hours)

2. To assemble, line the bottom of a trifle bowl with half of your cake slices. Press slices half way up along the sides of the bowl. 

3. Arrange halved orange slices around side of bowl.

4. Arrange half of the jelly squares over the cake mixture. 

5. Pour over half of the custard. 

6. Spoon over half of the Magical Mulled Wine Jam evenly.

7. Repeat steps 2 to 6.

8. Cover the top with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours or even better, overnight.

9. When you’re ready to serve, add whipped cream and fresh or frozen berries to decorate before dusting with cinnamon. 

To learn more about the Cottage Delight range or to make your purchases please visit https://www.cottagedelight.co.uk.

Some more Christmas goodies from That's Christmas!

I'd like to thank Louise for her help in putting this particular list of Chirstmas presents together! They all look mightily good and eminently Christmassy!  

Slingsby (Gin & Vodka) – 70cl bottle  (RRP £30.00)

Slingsby Gin (www.spiritofharrogate.co.uk) is an award-winning Yorkshire gin brand inspired by its spa town heritage and enjoyed around the world, Slingsby’s premium spirits range is crafted with pure spring water and real fruits to create the finest, award-winning British gin and vodka. 

The range includes: London Dry Gin, Rhubarb Gin, Gooseberry Gin, Marmalade Gin,  Blackberry Gin, Old Tom Gin, Navy Strength and Slingsby Vodka

RRP: £30.00 for a 70cl bottle

Stockist: www.spiritofharrogate.co.uk

Powderhound Christmas Bauble Gift Set, £64 (single bauble £17 with gift box)

Add a bit of Alpine magic to your Christmas Tree with this exquisite fine bone china Christmas bauble featuring the Powderhound classic skier design. Available as a single bauble or in a set of 4 in a luxury gift box. 

RRP: £17 for a single bauble or £64 for a set

Stockist: www.powderhound.london

Uhuru – Rum (RRP £39.99)

A XO Golden Rum from the Caribbean. After soaking up the tropical heat, the cask was transported to the Youngs Spirits bottling house to end the maturation process at 44%. This bottle of Uhuru Rum is filled with flavours of buttery toffee and fruity sweetness, balanced with unfolding oaky notes.

RRP: £39.99 for a bottle

Stockist: www.uhuruspirits.co.uk

Uhuru – Whisky (RRP £44.99)

Uhuru’s first release is a 10 year-old blended malt Scotch Whisky. This cask was chosen for it’s perfect balance of sweet vs. smoke. It’s the first whisky to have an analysed measurement of sweetness identified through a revolutionary process! The whisky is defined as having 019 SPPM within it, which gives it the perfect balance of peat vs sweet!

RRP: £44.99 for a bottle

Stockist: www.uhuruspirits.co.uk

Tea Heritage – Tea Advent Calendar (RRP £33.00)

The Tea Heritage Christmas Advent Calendar is beautifully illustrated and packed with 25 hand-stitched, organic loose leaf tea bags. 

This year’s calendar features an assortment of 22 tea bags and 3 chocolates from the French chocolate maker, Louis Simart, making it the perfect gift for tea lovers this Christmas.

RRP: £33.00

Stockist: www.teaheritage.fr/en

Ferg & Harris – Luxury Whisky - Speyside 12-year-old (RRP 69.99)

Speyside 12-year-old is light and fruity with a gorgeous umber colour, scents of toffee, baked figs and rich raisins. A quick hit of sherry sweetness on the palate with lighter fruity notes to follow. It finishes in a warm, smooth fashion.

RRP: £69.99 for a bottle

Stockist: www.fergandharris.co.uk

Tea Heritage – Christmas House Tea Bags (RRP £13.00)

The Tea Heritage Christmas House Tea Bag includes x10 hand-stitched, organic loose leaf tea bags with x5 of Organic Earl Grey Tea and x5 of Organic Christmas Black Tea. Tea Heritage’s Christmas House Tea Bag can be hung on your Christmas tree and used as a Christmas decoration, making it the perfect gift for the holidays.

RRP: £13.00

Stockist: www.teaheritage.fr/en

Powderhound – Alphabet Ski Mug (RRP £17.99)

Brighten up a tea break with a personalised Alphabet Ski Mug. Featuring miniature skiers spelling out the chosen initial on the front and back.

The perfect gift for any skier, snowboarder or alpine lover, this mug will bring memories of the mountain straight to the kitchen.

RRP: £17.99

Stockist: www.powderhound.london

Make a big Splash this Christmas with Splash soap

Splash Foaming Hand Soap is the new way to buy hand soap which is so much kinder to our planet! And will make an utterly superb Christmas present this year, especially for people who are keen on their impact on the environment.

Introducing SPLASH which is an innovative and totally new way to purchase hand soap that will help you reduce plastic waste, carbon footprints, save money and still look attractive as it sits on your bathroom shelf!

SPLASH is a zero plastic-waste SOAP DISPENSER FOR LIFE - made from recycled materials and designed to last an entire lifetime.

Its simple, elegant design will look stylish in any home, no matter what the décor. 

The Starter Pack RRP £4.99 contains one 250ml reusable and refillable foaming soap dispenser and one plastic-free, foaming hand soap tablet in either Tropical Coconut or Juicy Orange.

This helps to save the waste of single use plastic bottles and is super easy to use, fill the dispenser with warm tap water, drop in the hand soap tablet and watch the magical fizz as it transforms into soap.

Each soap tablet makes 250ml foaming hand soap to cleanse and moisturise your hands.

PLASTIC-FREE HAND SOAP TABLETS - Be kind to your skin and the planet with zero plastic-waste, dissolvable hand soap tablets. Re-use a bottle, add warm water, drop in the tablet and watch the magic happen. Buying these hand soap refills will prevent the waste of single use plastic bottles. And, of course, the minimal wrapping is fully recyclable.

POWERFULLY EFFECTIVE & BEAUTIFULLY FRAGRANCED – Splash is clinically proven, and lab tested, washing away all of the yucky stuff with proven natural surfactants for exceptionally clean hands. Delicately scented with tropical coconut or uplifting juicy orange, they are made from all natural, vegan-friendly ingredients.

And the ‘for life’ bottle, included with the starter pack (RRP £4.99) is all you need as the specially designed pump creates the foam as you pump. What’s more, the pump is guaranteed for life, so if it breaks, you will get a replacement free of charge.

That means you never have to buy another plastic soap bottle again – and our beaches will thank you for that!

Replacement tablets can be bought in packs of one RRP £2.99, three £4.99, or five £6.99.

Available from Amazon and High St health food stores.

Starter pack orange - https://amzn.eu/d/0hB8wal

Starter pack coconut - https://amzn.eu/d/0XtKsJW

Pack 3 refill orange - https://amzn.eu/d/9ffhXB3

Pack 3 refill coconut https://amzn.eu/d/21LkgmV

A father and son team, Antony and Sam Haase, the company wanted to find a way to cut back on our reliance on disposable plastic bottles plus create a product that looked good in situ, and was fun, fresh and effective. And that’s how SPLASH was born.

It’s all about empowering consumers to make a seamless but hugely planet positive change, without comprising on style or performance, all at accessible price points.

Sam Haase said: “We were frustrated and disappointed at the lack of solutions to single use plastic in personal care.

Personal care is ready for change, it needs change. It is estimated that some 20% to 40% of all plastic waste comes from personal care products.

“But at the same time, we didn’t want to compromise on quality, so it was important to us to use vegan ingredients, that are cruelty-free and natural.”

www.splash-care.com.

Splash is available online from Amazon and also from independent retailers.

Need more reasons to buy Splash?

According to the UN Environment report only a mere 9% of the 9 billion tons of global plastic has been recycled so far. (Yikes!)

The rest of this ends up in landfills, protected conservation areas, or in the ocean forming massive trash islands such as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch which spans 1.6 million square kms and is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world, located between Hawaii and California.

Still, need more reasons to ditch the single-use plastic for good? Here are some shocking facts about the impact single-use plastic has on our world.

People use approximately 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute in total.

Five trillion plastic bags are produced every year globally, with it taking up to 1,000 years for a bag to disintegrate completely.

At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans annually.

Roughly five million tonnes of plastic are used every year in the UK alone, nearly half of which is for packaging purposes.

32% of all plastic packaging produced finds its way to our oceans every year.

73% of beach litter worldwide is plastic.

There could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.

Ingestion of plastic kills an estimated 1 million marine birds and 100,000 marine animals each year.

90% of all sea birds and fish are believed to have plastic particles in their stomach.

The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year.

Over the past 50 years, world plastic production has doubled.

https://theoceancleanup.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch/