A cup of Christmas for you?

Out Christmas shopping last weekend my friend and I loved all the teas, coffees and cups at Ringtons. Whoever picks their quotes has a great sense of humour and picks out really fun quotes that aren't gimmicky.

I love the Dickens on the mug above. Dickens and I agree on a lot about Christmas.

we also both felt Billy Connelly was very wise when he said:



But our favourite stocking filler of all was this cup:

The Expresso Martini

All hail the Espresso Martini, you make tired Londoners kick their heels off and party long after the last tube. You may also be guilty of leading them to stay up much too late and behave much too badly but you are still fabulous in every way.

Should you need some help from the Espresso party starter here is the recipe. Use with caution, sore feet, lack of sleep and lots of fun may follow.

Classic Espresso Martini

Ingredients:
1 oz cold Espresso
1 1/2 oz Vodka (Absolut)
1 1/2 oz Kahlua
1 oz white Creme de cacao
Mixing instructions:
Pour ingredients into shaker filled with ice, shake vigorously, and strain into chilled martini glass.
It should be somewhat frothy.

picture courtesy of: http://flickr.com/photos/83838608@N00/324819770

Wake up and smell the coffee

I have a serious weakness for Starbucks eggnog lattes. I have completely bought into the marketing and now associate the arrival of the red cups with the start of the Christmas season.

You can understand then that I was fairly horrified that Starbucks have stolen a little bit of my Christmas and discontinued the eggnog latte this year (in the UK in any case).

I know I'm not the only person who feels this sense of despair and muting of the Christmas bells, in fact there is a Facebook group called bring back the eggnog latte. While I hope they will conquer the giant and bring back the eggnog I'm fairly certain that this year I will not be able to enjoy my seasonal favourite.

So in the meantime I will be getting my coffee hit elsewhere (aside from red cup time I'm more of a chai tea gal than a coffee addict).

I have a secret passion for Cacharel's Noa perfume which has a prominent coffee note.



This is not every one's cup of tea (or coffee), Susan Irvine describes it as being for 'nuns and virgins' in herThe Perfume Guide book. But Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez are keener in Perfumes the Guide calling it a 'low budget wonder' that has the 'feel of a perfect everyday fragrance'.

I actually wore this a lot on a holiday to Cornwall, which should smell of crashing waves, driftwood, moss and rain on sand. So the soft whisper of cashmere and coffee that I get from Noa was perhaps a strange choice- but I like to mix it up and this fragrance is a whisper rather than a shout which appealed to my idea of soaking up the natural Cornish smells while having scent on- and retaining some slight smell of the city I love.

This scent now has lovely memories of a great holiday in a county I love. So at a time when the city is very busy and everything is very hectic Noa calms me and takes me back to the grey deserted beaches in Cornwall- and gives me a little coffee hit too.

Noa picture courtesy of www.iloveperfumes.com