What's On Cyprus

my first impressions when I walked through the door, was wow this looks professional, the quality stands out, the rustic, warehouse feel with high ceilings and cool lighting.  A warm welcome from the crew plenty of room, out front about 250 square metres of Wines & Spirits, mixers and soft drinks, out back more than 50 Beers from around the world including Belgium, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Cyprus and of course the UK!

Following their massive recent refurbishment, the new fully licensed Wine Boutique is looking really cool and still awaiting a few final touches.  Airconditioned to a constant 21°C, the old 'AlcoHall Cava' has matured nicely into 'Wine and More Boutique' because the owners noticed that's what many of their clients were looking for!

There's too much to mention, but when it comes to variety the experience shines through, as 'Costi' knows exactly what you'll need, might need, and hope you don't need, so you'll find everything you'll expect from a good corner shop and lots more ... and even better all at locals prices !!!

I asked why their beers are so good;  Taras explained, "The biggest difference of Craft Beer is it has more flavour and taste, mainly because it's not filtered or pasteurised, making it a much richer flavour.  Craft Beer is like a finger print because we never brew our beer in a bad mood, that's how we are here at Octo and we hope you are just like us" …

... and enjoy some wine tasting and maybe try a few of their speciality drinks including; Wines from selected Cypriot Wineries . Single Malts . Whiskys . Blended Malts . Tennessee Whisky . Rums . Beluga Vodka . Belaire Champagne . Prosecco .  Moskato . Borolo and many imported Beers for a list of over 150 from around the world ... oh, and there'll be complementary finger food to accompany your drink.

My initial interest was to find out about their gins, Aris explained, "it's what originally brought us back to Cyprus, 'to create a quality craft gin'.  Our initial inspiration was the aroma of The Troodos Mountains after a long dry summer when it first rains and we wanted to capture exactly that and put it in a bottle and we called it Aoratas Dry Gin which in fact last year won a gold medal. 

Getting into the natural food thing isn't as hard as you think ! Replacing things like crisps and biscuits, with really fresh nuts and totally fresh, dried, and sugarless fruits is easy, tbh, knowing you're not putting rubbish inside you is a fulfilling emotion and actually I discovered ages ago the tastes are just awesome !

... her idea was to gather together a selection of gifts from small Cypriot companies, preferably handmade and handcrafted gifts, unusual, unique and original ... she makes up your hampers and boxes herself and above all Irene loves to help make people happy ... I liked that bit!

Angela mostly works on glass but she can jazz almost anything up. She also loves making hand painted cards, naturally unique every time.  One of her faves, bottles, not just with glitter, which btw is biodegradable . Glass Painting aka Stained Glass . Faux Glass aka Liquid Leading . also the ancient Chinese art of Decoupage, using rice paper, the results are stunning !

This impeccable Wine Bar & Cafe, serves the finer things in life, just about the best coffee you'll taste anywhere in Cyprus.  Complementing your selection of over 300 different quality wines with signature Fruit, Meat or Cheese Platters, introducing you to imported cheeses from all over the world, maybe with a little marmalade, hmm, trust me, you won't find this selection anywhere else, oh, and freshly baked bread and breadsticks and btw, you really must try the new Charguterie, French-based Mixed Meat Platters plus of course everyone's favourite, the freshly made Sushi and some spontaneous finger foods encompassing the trend towards the healthy living options.