The Adamson Laurent-Perrier Champagne brunch

Nothing screams luxury more than high quality champagne with a delicious brunch in a fashionable, sophisticated bar. Looking for the ultimate stylish Sunday brunch experience, I headed along to The Adamson Restaurant and Bar at the weekend to try out their first sold-out Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brunch.

Stepping into one of St Andrew's hot spots guests were transported to what I can only imagine a contemporary bar in Marbella would resemble. With giant Laurent-Perrier balloons dotted across the room, buckets full of champagne on ice and a live DJ playing chilled out house music, this was a Sunday event worth getting out of bed early for.

Sampling both the Cuvée Brut and Rosé there was also the option for guests to order numerous champagne based cocktails at the event including the Parisian - Laurent-Perrier champagne, with vanilla vodka and lemon, Kir Royale - Laurent-Perrier champagne with crème de cassis and others.

As bottles popped and friends toasted to one another, the champagne brunch was off to a fantastic start. Tuning my attention to the menu, myself and Kate from Citylicious - who I was hanging out with for the day - fretted over what to order.

To begin, we were treated to an array of canapés which I very much enjoyed and polished off within minutes.

The trio included; a Thai spiced fish cake, a parma ham arancini, and a goats cheese and red onion marmalade tart. The parma ham arancini was crisp and quite creamy, and the goats cheese tart was scrumptious - its red onion marmalade placed on top was divine and it provided just the right amount of sweetness to the taster.

The showstopper for me had to be the Thai spiced fish cake. It was slightly zesty and was full of exotic flavours. Partnered with the creamer dollop of sauce it sat on, it was delicious.

For mains, it was a tough choice between the sweet option, scrumptious pancakes with bacon, maple syrup and cherries, and two mouth-watering savoury dishes. Having decided against the sweet (due to having a peak of the dessert options) it was a toss up between the eggs benedict with crisp, juicy bacon, and the fresh avocado with poached eggs and toasted sourdough options. Avocado it was.

Bursting with flavour the poached eggs were perfectly cooked, and as my knife pierced it, the yolk oozed around my plate. The avocado was on the softer side, meaning it was ripe and ready to be demolished, and the sourdough was well toasted and provided a real crunch and texture to the dish. It was exquisite.

Kate had opted for the eggs benedict, a firm choice also. Smothered in a creamy sauce and topped with two large bits of bacon it was the silence as we both tucked into our dishes that confirmed we were both very much satisfied with our choices.

Turning to dessert, there were two choices; a Laurent-Perrier champagne sorbet with fresh raspberries or eton mess with strawberries, Laurent-Perrier jelly, meringue and champagne sorbet.

The champagne sorbet had been specially made for this event by individuals who supply The Adamson's ice cream, something I was very pleased to hear. And with this in mind, I decided to go for the lighter option as surprisingly, I was feeling rather full.

When the generous serving of sorbet arrived it was the beautiful bright raspberries which caught my eye instantly. Tucking in, the sorbet melted in my mouth and I got an immediate hit of the smooth Laurent-Perrier. The sorbet was extremely refreshing and light, and it was the perfect balance of sweet with a little hit of sour from the fresh raspberries.

Kate opted for the eton mess and thoroughly enjoyed her creamier dish which boasted a serving of the sorbet and a beautiful Laurent-Perrier jelly.

To end our delicious lunch, we were treated to a few white and milk chocolates each which were very rich and extremely delicious. It was a great way to round everything off and left a real sweet taste in my mouth.

Making these Laurent-Perrier champagne brunches a monthly event is something I am very much on board with and would love to see more of these types of events pop up. The Adamson Restaurant and Bar is somewhere I've visited every time I've visited St Andrews and I've always had a fabulous experience. The event is extremely exclusive and this particular one sold-out very quickly. 

The next event is scheduled to be on Sunday 27 August from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, and its expected tickets for this event will also be scooped up in a short space of time too. 

So whether you're looking to catch up with your girlfriends, treat your mum, toast a special occasion, or even arrange a nice afternoon out with your husband or partner, the Laurent-Perrier Champagne brunch is a must.

  For Now...

Just Julia

Fentimans - World Gin Day

Celebrate World Gin Day in style with these awesome pre-mixed alcoholic gin drinks by Fentimans Ltd.

Perfectly balanced and ready to serve, these gin and tonics, and alcoholic gin beverages are great for any celebration and are easy to serve. Just grab a glass of your choice, add a few cubes of ice, preferably the right garnish and voila - gin served within seconds.

Living a busy life it's sometimes just that little bit easier to grab a pre-mixed bottle and bang it in a glass - as much as I do love to play around with the hundreds of gins on the market to find out what their perfect serves are. The convenience of these drinks is really beneficial, especially if you're looking to grab something from your house quickly before venturing over to a friends - and these drinks are great if you're not the most organised of people, especially when in a rush.

Having been established for over 110 years, family-run business Fentimans have grown their product offering from ginger beer and soft drinks to tonic waters and pre-mixed alcoholic drinks.

The rose lemonade and bloom gin is exceptionally sweet, as I had anticipated having tried the rose lemonade on its own. I could easily have one or two of these on a summers night, but I think after a while a drink so sweet would need to be swapped out for a good ol' regular gin and tonic. Oozing with floral tones - something I quite enjoy about this drink - the bloom gin and rose lemonade make this marriage a very sweet one.

The gin and tonic was completely different and much more crisp on the tongue. Bloom London Dry gin and Fentimans have partnered to bring their edition of the perfect gin and tonic to their customers in the easiest of fashions. Again, with slightly floral notes this gin is very much to my taste, but it's  the Fentimans tonic water which softens the sharp blow of gin creating within this beverage, making a  very delicious drink.

Both drinks are 275ml, a great size for transporting about, and for drinking of course. The ABV on both is 6.5%.

The only company in the UK to utilise botanical brewing is what makes Fentimans stand out with unique 3D flavours, the drinks have a depth of texture and a distinctive feel in your mouth and every drink takes seven days to brew using a combination of infusion, blending and fermentation of the natural ingredients. The best thing, none of their drinks have artificial sweetener, flavours, colours or preservatives All of the flavours are produced by hand from Chinese ginger root to rose oil from the Rose Valley in Bulgaria.

Also, the tonic waters were really tasty, and I really enjoyed the pink grapefruit tonic water. Having been served Rock Rose gin with a wedge of grapefruit, I partnered the Scottish gin with the pink grapefruit tonic water which went extremely well together. The slight bitterness of the tonic water complimented the sweet notes of the Rock Rose, creating a delicious partnership. I also tried the tonic out with Lone Wolf gin too and it worked really well.

The rose lemonade can be rather overpowering at times due to its pure sweetness, but partnered with a more earthy gin like Gordon Castle which also boasts notes of lavender I think this gin would go quite well with it. Any other earthier and more dry gins would also go really well too.

I decided to pair the original tonic water with Porter's gin and Esker gin as I felt these gins would be best suited to a plain tonic, and I was so right. Finish off with your perfect serve for each and you're definitely off to a winning combination there.

Whatever gin or alcoholic beverage your drinking to celebrate World Gin Day this year,  remember to raise a glass to the most fashionable spirit of the moment. And please, drink responsibly.

  For Now...

Just Julia