Sunday 14 December 2014

The perfect Christmas present for the car owner in your life

Turtle Wax have been producing the ideal car preparation and detailing products for several generations of careful drivers.

Now they have two new products that are sure to suit the car enthusiasts in your life.

There's the excellent Refine and Shine Clay Bar Kit at £16.99.

It provides the ultimate in vehicle surface preparation. Simply use the non-abrasive clay bar to safely shift hard to remove contaminants to rub over the surface of a newly washed car. There's even a special spray bottle of Clay Bar Lubricant, too. Use it with any Turtle Wax protective waxing product and the difference will be outstanding.

However, as comedian Jimmy Cricket would say: "But there's more!" and there is, in the form of the Turtle Wax Black Box Detailing Kit at £24.99.

Black is again becoming the number 1 colour amongst many car fans most who work hard to keep their black beauty of a motor car in tip top showroom shape.

This is now easier, with the help of yet another fantastic Turtle Wax product, the Black Box Detailing Kit.

What's in it?

Black pre-wax cleaner, special black caranuba blend wax, a black spray detailer, an applicator cloth, a sponge applicator and a microfibre cloth.

Just add some elbow grease and your pride and joy is back with its showroom shine.

Two great Christmas gifts for the driver in your life.

Don't forget the Perrier Water this Christmas!

Please don't forget the Perrier Water this Christmas.

Whilst there are those people who say: Drinking bottled water is ridiculous! You should only ever drink tap water!" I say: "To heck with that!"

Perrier Water is a gorgeous, clean tasting water that tastes the same no matter where you are, at home, in a pub, a bar, a restaurant or in a foreign country.

Tap water, however, can taste like old iron, like chemicals or as if it has been filtered through old socks.

Perrier Water, however, is different. It is a pure. natural spring water that is carbonated at source with naturally occurring carbon dioxide.

So, what does this mean? From the bottle or the can, you get  Perrier Water which can be drunk neat, used as a mixer for both alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. 

Should you attempt to use ordinary tap water for such a procedure you could end up with something that has the slight whiff of the swimming baths about it.

So, leave the tap water where it belongs, in the tap, and treat your guests as if you actually like them and treat them... to Perrier Water!


Buy some Blossom Hill Sparkling Moscato for Christmas

Almost everyone loves to have a bottle of sparkling wine in the house for Christmas and for New Year.

One of the recommendations that the That's Christmas Taste Team can make this year is a nice bottle of Blossom Hill Winemaker's Reserve Sparkling Moscato.

It is a high quality aromatic sweet sparkling wine, which is produced in Italy.

It is a clean and fresh tasting wine. There is a predominantly grape flavour which is also suffused with the tang of citrus fruits, but with a softer taste underlying it that reminds one of melon juice.

It is ideal for sharing with friends, perhaps with finger foods and snacks, or good for drinking with Christmas dinner or for seeing the New Year in.

It should be widely available from wine merchants and some supermarkets.

Visit www.blossomhill.com for details.

Saturday 13 December 2014

Dom't forget Pukka herbal teas over Christmas!

It really is all too easy to forget about the important things in life, the vital things, at Christmas time.

Like what, for example?

Like yourself. We run around sorting out Christmas presents, finishing off the important projects that must be finished before we break up for Christmas.

Inviting people to Christmas dinner, writing out the Christmas cards. (EDITOR: Oh! I forgot some cards that I really must... See? I just did it again!)

And there's the food and drink that we will consume in abundance.

So, how on earth do we get something back for our own selves? Meditation? Well, yes, there's meditation. Good luck with that! "Ohmmmm..." BING! BONG! "Hello! I have a parcel for you to sign for!"

So, if not meditation, what, then?

A Pukka Herbal Collection box! That's what!

Although Pukka Herbs would be far, far too modest to say this, my wife and I like to call Pukka teas "a miracle in a box!"

In this particular box of herbal miracles you'll find elderberry and echinacea, lemon, ginger and manuka honey, night time, three mint and detox.

As they are from Pukka, you know you can rely on them to be organic, carefully selected, carefully blended and carefully packed to ensure they reach you in top condition. All you need do to enjoy them is to carefully prepare them in accordance with the instructions and there you have it, a cup of perfect herbal tea.

They smell and taste absolutely gorgeous. Will you find them as miraculous as my wife and I do? Well, we like to speak as we find and we have found Pukka Teas to be wonderful for more years than we care to remember!

Why not buy several packs? Some for you and some as great, authentic Christmas gifts that really will spread the true meaning of Christmas cheer this year?

Available from all good herbalists or visit www.pukkaherbs.com for more details or to buy from their online shop at £2.39 a box.

How to beat the temptation to present pinch!

30% of us admit (rather guiltily!) that we keep Christmas presents that we bought with the intention of giving it to someone else, because we fall in love with it ourselves!

This information has come out after eBay conducted a survey.

Figures show that Londoners (35%) are the worst for this, whilst those in the North-West only come in at 25%.

Women are worse than men, (34% vs 26%), those aged 16-24 (37%) are even worse!

But it’s not just nicking presents that should have been destined for others, 50% of us actually indulge in a little self-gifting whilst we are out Christmas shopping for presents. 64% of West Midlanders admit to doing this. (EDITOR: Maybe it's a reward for buying such nice gifts for other people?)

Sometimes we have problems sourcing suitable gifts for members of our family members.

The research shows we have problems with partners (26%) and brothers and sisters (15%).

eBay spokesperson, Julia Hutton-Potts adds: “We all know Christmas is a time for giving to our loved ones – and it appears it is also a time for giving to ourselves as well. With gift inspiration all around us, it’s not surprising we also want to treat ourselves.”

(EDITOR: That's Christmas has an idea that we feel eBay may approve of. When you find a suitable present on eBay that you might be tempted to nick for yourself, buy at least two of them, instead! www.ebay.co.uk)

Big Cup, Little Cup's Reindeer Rocket coffee

Big Cup, Little Cup's Reindeer Rocket coffee is the perfect coffee for Christmas. Actually, it's the perfect coffee for any time of the year, in our opinion as coffee drinkers of some years standing.

It's compatible with your Nespresso machine and it has been declared as "The best coffee I have tasted in years!" by my wife and also myself.

It's a limited edition coffee (Note to Big Cup, Little Cup please change your minds and add this to your regular range, OK?) that is a combination of coffees from Brazil, Peru, El Salvador and Southern India,

I was not aware that they grew coffee in Southern India and mentioned this to my wife whose family originated in Southern India. She gave me one of 'those' looks and said: "Yes, of course they do!"

What does Reindeer Rocket taste like? If Santa needed a drink of coffee to help him get round all of the Billions of children in the world, then surely he would choose Reindeer Rocket coffee for the job!

It tastes like coffee. Like a good, honest to goodness coffee that has been lovingly created by people who know and care about coffee.

It has a full, robust taste (but using robust in the genuine sense of the word) that is full-bodied, with hints of warm summer suns, slightly nutty but not overly so and there's something about it's pleasing finish on the palette that just calls out to be the perfect accompaniment for mince pies or for a pleasing after Christmas Dinner cup (or three!) of coffee.

The coffee beans used are Arabicas and Southern Indian Robusta and is a Strength 9.

We at That's Christmas can heartily recommend this coffee.

To buy it visit www.bigcuplittlecup.com or email them at hello@bigcuplittlecup.com.

Do you really need to use a coffee machine to make it? Well, in truth, no, you don't. We found that our trusty over the jug filter worked equally well! (There are some bits left in the cup, but sacrifices have to be made for great tasting coffee, we feel.)

(Editor: That's Christmas acknowledges that Nespresso is a registered trademark Nestle.)

Friday 12 December 2014

Magners Light all the taste, 30% less calories

Yes, it's true. Magners Light does truly have all the taste, yet  30% less calories.

Magners Orchard Berries Light is a premium fruit-flavoured cider with a big difference.

Although it is made from highest quality Irish pears and then has blackcurrants, strawberries and raspberries added, the experts at Magners have been able to keep all of the taste of Magners Orchard Berries pear cider, yet make sure that there is 30% less calories than then original variety.

The flavour is good and refreshing, yet it reminds me of the novelty vinyl LPs that were produced back in the day.

The record producers would have two sound grooves cut on each side of the LP and it was a matter of luck which one the needle fell in when you started the record player.

And I feel the same way about the flavour of Magners Orchard Berries Light. Sometimes the raspberries predominate, sometimes the pear, sometimes the strawberries, sometimes the blackcurrants.

This is an ideal party drink and even those who are on a diet will be able to indulge themselves!

Even though it is low in calories, it's still got 4% alcohol, so could be treated with caution.

It;'s available in packs of four.