The bottle's on the table

There are sweet words on a night out which are a pleasure to hear. Perhaps the whisper of your loved one telling you how they feel. Possibly one of your dining partners saying they don't really like langoustine and could you finish their portion. But, above all, your host saying: "There's the grappa, I'll leave it on the table".

It was one of those nights on Thursday. A table for 12, some good friends down from Glasgow and a lot of old pals round a table. A mix of stupid football talk, memories of nights gone by and crude humour. A perfect combination - I am sure you would agree.

When the bottle landed on the table, it knew it was being consigned to history. With a dozen grappa drinkers round about what did you expect? All credit to our host for sacrificing a bottle to us. Although work was a bit slow the following day...

A pleasant parcel

I have recently been lucky enough to receive - whisper it - a Grappa Handbook! I hardly believed such a thing existed but those wonderful people at Nardini have produced one and, trust me, it does justice to my favourite drink.

One of its aims is to help raise the profile of grappa and get it more recognition for the quality drink it is. Amen to that, I say.

Among the sections are some recipes with grappa and a list of grappa cocktails. Normally I would be against this kind of thing and yet, to tell the truth, they looked quite good. I may share some recipes in future. I am intrigued to find out just how many are drinkable and what quantity it might be possible to consume them in.