Scottish Food & Drink News – October 2017

We kick off this month with the Edinburgh Cocktail Weekend. The set-up is pleasantly straightforward – buy a £6 wristband, and you'll be able to grab a specially-designed signature cocktail in any of the Weekend's participating bars for just £4. Having quickly run the numbers, we reckon this works out as a Pretty Good Deal, so get ready for a weekend of bar-hopping. 6-8 Oct, various venues across Edinburgh, full line-up at edinburghcocktailweekend.com

Over in Glasgow, food anthropologists Küche return with From Nigeria to Brazil, Yoruba Flavours Across the Atlantic. A three-course look at Afro-Brazilian cuisine and culture, the night will be the chance to explore the ways in which the Yoruba traditions of West Africa interacted with those in Brazil when the two met as a result of the slave trade. 12 Oct, 7.30pm, African Arts Centre, 286 Broomloan Rd, £15, tickets via tabl.com/kuche

Next, one for Edinburgh-based fans of delicious American beers and retro arcade gaming. Brooklyn Throws Switches is a pop-up arcade presented by the lovely folk behind the Games Are For Everyone video game events series, with the boozy element of proceedings covered by the always-excellent Brooklyn Brewery. Plus it's all taking place in the charming Edinburgh outpost of Stonehaven brewery Six Degrees North, so gold stars all round. 12 Oct, 4pm-midnight, facebook.com/sixdnorthedin

The Edinburgh Coffee Festival returns this month to its somewhat cavernous new home at the Corn Exchange. Still, more space means more stuff, so you'll find more than 40 stalls from roasters, cafes and suppliers, plus a host of demonstrations and chats for those of you keen to get into the flat white game yourselves. 14 Oct, 10am-6pm, £10, edinburghcoffeefestival.co.uk

He loves to pass judgment and his hair has more than a little of the biblical about it; now Observer food critic Jay Rayner is leaning into that well-curated image in touring his new book The Ten (Food) Commandments. Expect interesting advice on what you should be eating and how you should be going about it; don't expect complex religious doctrine, although there is a Q&A portion of the event so you never know what might happen. 19 Oct, 7.30pm, Assembly Roxy, £15.50-17.50, assemblyroxy.com 

October wouldn't be October without the eponymous German beer festival, and Barras Art and Design Centre in Glasgow may have the pick of this year's Oktoberfest celebrations. For one thing, they have the requisite half-indoor, half-outdoor courtyard that's central to Bavarians' enjoyment of the festival – there's just something very liberating about knowing that you have a good amount of headroom but still won't get rained on – as well as a host of German beers and food to get stuck into. There are also two-pint steins of Jagermeister and ginger beer on the menu, so good luck to everyone involved. 19-22 Oct, various times, tickets from £15, baadglasgow.com

Now, a slightly awkward one to get through – there is a new food and music festival popping up in Edinburgh this month. It's a celebration of barbecue and other smoky comfort foods, and of excellent local craft beers and cocktails, with an eclectic decade-hopping soundtrack. The only problem is it's called the Meats & Beats Festival and to be honest lads we aren't entirely sure about that name. Still, if you can shuffle past that, an intriguing evening awaits. 20-22 Oct, various times, tickets from £5, meatsandbeatsedinburgh.eventbrite.co.uk