Type: Beer – Euro Pale Lager
Name: Peroni – Nastro Azzurro
Price: $1.59
Made:  Italy
Alc/Vol: 5.1%

“Pironi Nastro Azzurro is the No. 1 premium Italian beer. It has an intensely crisp and refreshing taste with an unmistakable touch of Italian style.”

This little beer comes in a light green bottle, which due to allowing more light in means that it is harder to get a fresh quality version of the beer. This holds especially true when referencing imports. The scent has a typical Euro Pale Lager smell to it, a bit of that grassy nose but it is light. Blended in with this there is a bit of sweetness, almost sour in the nose not faint but not overpowering either.  It pours a nice pale golden color, with a light lacing. (more…)

Image property of CiskLager.com

Type: Beer – Lager
Name: Simond Farson’s – Cisk
Price: $1.79
Made: Mriehel, Malta
Alc/Vol: 4.2%

“A golden, bottom fermented lager with a well balanced character and a rich hop aroma.”

After a recent guest post: My Blind Date with Malta I was excited to try this beer that Author Louis Jobin described as “a sweet, cheap and delightfully refreshing local beer that was well-needed after another hot day of gorgeous weather.” I’ve never tried Cisk or been to Malta but I was excited to place myself right next to the author as I re-read his post.

So what was my take on this beer…

The scent had a touch of grains and malts, which is very typical of a lager nothing outstanding. There was a little bit of sweetness in the nose, but it was subtle.

Down the hatches it went and I do have to say it drinks smooth, light and almost creamy in texture. However, there isn’t much in taste, not even in the finish, but it’s likable. I could see enjoying this on a nice hot day with a hearty rabbit meal or stew. Or at least that’s what seems to be a traditional dish in Malta.

As I continued to drink this beer down there was a faint hint of hops that were noticeable, but more so the malts, without being malty that is. (Hmm Malta’s malty malts – hehehe)

The one peculiarity about the beer was that it leaves only the tip of my tongue feeling dry. Overall it doesn’t leave much of an impression. It is drinkable, I could drink these all night and it was cheap as Jobin stated, even as an import. Yet it doesn’t give you enough of anything to be craved, missed, reminisced, or in other words its forgettable. Maybe if I was sitting on the shores of Malta enjoying this beer after scuba diving it would leave an impression. Yet that would be the scene not the beer that puts me there, but then again that seems to be common for beers from hot climates.

Overall, I give this beer 2 1/2 out of 5 bananas. It was middle of the road good, which is more than I can say about a lot of beers.

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Image property of GIAMAonline

Type: Spirits/Liqueur
Name: Limoncello of Sorrento
Price: Gift
Made: Sorrento, Italy
Alc/Vol: 30%

A friend of mine came back from a recent trip to Italy and brought back a little surprise for me. It was a little thin bottle with a long slender neck, delicate almost like a vase for the single most dainty flower that ever was. Written over the bottle was the word Sorrento and there was a little tag that called it ‘Il Limoncello.’ I was intrigued from the very beginning needless to say by this bright yellow drink I held in my paws.

I was told it was a dessert drink of sorts, being lemon filled and what I figured to be sweet I was sure to place it in the fridge once I got home. I didn’t ask how exactly to drink it, I just assumed that it was taken in shot form. More than likely served in shot sized glasses but sipped since it was a sweet drink. From what I could gather, I was generally right in my assumptions, although it is not always drunk cold.

The internet, abundant in many things, does not lack in limoncello home recipes. So I decided to investigate what exactly this was made of so I knew what to expect when I tried it. Most of the home-made recipes call for Everclear, sugar, limes and water, and that is pretty much what it tastes like. However, some substitutions can be made with your choice of alcohol. I’ve seen strong, 100 proof, vodka or grappa, an Italian brandy style drink traditionally made from the stems and seeds of grapes.

Enough of the history and ingredients, how about the taste? It was overly sweet and  syrupy. Not necessarily sour, just lemony to the 10th power. I’m unsure if I’m suppose to mix this with something because it taste like either a lemon drop shot with Everclear or some concentrate mix form. Although the syrupy nature of this drink may be too thick for a cocktail.

The taste grew on me, the first was more of a shock than anything else I didn’t expect such a strong alcohol presence compared to the sweet lemony taste that was shared with this drink. It was good but I’m not sure if I could down a whole bottle of this, even if it is mini. I try to imagine myself enjoying a meal close to the source of where this is made and sipping down limoncello afterwards with friends. After some red wines this may be a good change in drink, after whites I may be over sweetened a bit. I guess I’ll never really know until I go there and try it first hand. I give this drink a 3, it is an interesting lemon candied liqueur that was a bit much but yet I kept sipping it and enjoying its tangy flavor.

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Martini & Rossi - Martini.com

Type: Sparkling Wine
Name: Martini & Rossi – Asti
Price: $10.99
Made: Italy
Alc/Vol: 7.5%

I’m sure some of you are thinking, silly monkey New Year’s is over. This may be true but I’m a believer that as the weather warms my fur it is a sign to bust out the bubbly. Plus the bubbles tickle my nose.

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Malta Full, Image Property of Author: Louis

When I booked my flight to Malta, a singular thought was running through my head: Where’s the line between being adventurous and just being plain stupid, and have I just crossed it? For the first time in my life, I had just booked a flight, due to depart the next day, with no planning whatsoever. No idea on what to do when I got out of the airport, no traveller’s guides, nothing.

All I wanted was a purely spontaneous adventure.

So, what did I actually know about Malta when I booked my flight? Not much, to be honest. I knew that Malta is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Sicily… and that it probably had pretty nice weather.

Well, I was wrong on that last guess: Maltese weather isn’t good, it’s incredible. That’s not the only surprise Malta had up her sleeve, either.

Activities

Malta’s rich history has left behind some of the most fascinating ruins I’ve ever seen. After asking around, I was set on the trail of the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples, two stone temples built around 3000 BCE. Not only did the sight of these ancient structures leave me feeling ridiculously young and insignificant (in a good way!), but the view from the cliffs on which they are perched was simply breathtaking.

On the more physical side, diving is a fun and surprisingly affordable attraction in Malta, provided to begin your dive from the shore. A three-hour ‘try-dive’ cost me around €30 (£25) including all the equipment. It was definitely worth it to ogle the myriad of fish on display and a great first experience!

Food and drink

If you’re looking for something distinctively Maltese, go for anything with rabbit (or fennek) in it. Rabbit is somewhat a traditional meat in Malta, so if it’s got rabbit in it, it’s pretty safe to assume it’ll be delicious.

As for the drink – well, let’s be honest – as for the booze, it’s great. Look out for Cisk: a sweet, cheap and delightfully refreshing local beer that was well-needed after another hot day of gorgeous weather. To be entirely honest, though, I’d drink Cisk in any climate. In fact, I’m planning to drink it after a familiarly grey and rainy day; I brought a case back home!

Luzzu at Spignola Bay on Malta, Image Property of Author: Louis

Top tips

If you speak English or Italian, you shouldn’t have much trouble being understood in Malta, so it’s tempting to go the easy way and speak to everyone in English. Don’t. Picking up a Maltese phrasebook and trying your best to learn a few basics is extremely rewarding, and the locals will greatly appreciate it. My own brand of broken Maltese was always met with an indulgent smile whenever I mustered up the courage to use it.

Rent a bike. It’s cheap and it makes travelling around much faster. If you plan your journey out you can always take the awesome 50′s-looking buses, but if taking my approach to exploring Malta, a bike and a good map will go a long way. Luckily for me, there are bicycle rental shops all over the island, so it’s really no trouble to find one.

Finally, just relax and have fun. Malta is a pretty chilled out place, so this last tip should be pretty easy to follow!

Shortly after my trip, I took the time to actually do some research on the place. It felt odd, a bit like having a main course after eating dessert, but it was fascinating nonetheless. I sometimes felt a little twinge of regret when I discovered that I’d been mere streets away from some amazing sight and had marched right past it, so if you’re prone to regret, I recommend you do at least a little research on the internet (MyMaltaInfo.com seems pretty good) instead of solely relying on your traveller’s instinct as guide. I definitely don’t regret my blind date with Malta, though; her bounty of surprises was the best part.

Meet the Author: Louis Jobin Louis Jobin is an undergraduate studying English and Japanese Studies. His passions are European literature, Asian cuisine and Scandinavian music.

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