Scottish Food News – February 2017

This month's best food events, from micro beer festivals to fantasy-inspired pop-up bars

Feature by Peter Simpson | 27 Jan 2017

February kicks off with an Introduction to Speciality Tea from everyone's favourite speciality tea-mongers, Eteaket, at their Rose Street shop. You'll taste a whole host of teas, learn how to use a tea syphon without setting your jumper alight, and you'll get a whole load of tips on new ways to prepare your cuppa. You'll also be sent away with a set of tea tasters to help you decide which is the tea for you. If you like tea, this should be right up your street; if you want us to stop using the word 'tea' then fear not, there's some other stuff coming shortly. 2 Feb, 6-7.30pm, £30 (includes taster set), tickets via Eventbrite

Over in Glasgow, things kick into gear at Hippo Taproom's Hopstars 'micro beer festival'. 'Is it a festival for tiny beers?', you ask. No, it's better than that – it's a one-afternoon fest that offers the chance to try out a whole host of small breweries in one place, including new kids on the Glasgow brewing block Out of Town and Gallus, alongside established aces like Alechemy and Fallen. Pop down, try some great new local beers, get home in time for dinner. 5 Feb, 12.30-7pm, £5, tickets via hippotaproom.co.uk

Back in Edinburgh, we have two pieces of good news to share with you! Piece one – The Pitt street food market is back! The celebration of Scottish street food culture returns to Leith after a festive break with a host of the country's best on-the-go grub; wrap up warm, bring a full stomach, and try not to trip over anyone's dogs and/or children. 18 Feb, from 12pm, facebook.com/pittstmarket

And piece two – Blood and Wine, the Game of Thrones-inspired pop-up bar in the New Town, will run for a second month due to everyone continuing to be incredibly excited about it. The den of swords, big tankards and Westeros-style excess runs Wednesdays and Thursdays until 23 Feb at Daylight Robbery – full details here.

On a less alcoholic but no less interesting tip, CCA's Bottle of Ginger series throws up a pair of intriguing events this month. It all stems from Scots Kola, a new project aiming to create a 'community soft drink' while investigating the politics, ethics and economics of the soft drinks industry. 

Farm: Scots Kola (18 & 25 Feb, 11am) offers the chance to drop in on the micro-farming of botanicals for the drink and find out a bit more about the project, while What is Ginger? The Many Ways to Name Something (22 Feb, 7pm) will see Kathrin Böhm of Company Drinks lead a discussion on what really constitutes being local, and the politics of naming. Ever wanted to know 'what's in a name'? Now's your chance to find out... All events at Manufactory, 142 Crownpoint Rd; full details at cca-glasgow.com

http://theskinny.co.uk/food