What's On Cyprus

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" …

It's deceiving from the outside, 'Tardis' like, comes to mind, as inside you'll find about 7,000 different labels, everything from postcards to booze and puffs, chocolates, drinks and munchies, to all your basic groceries and fresh fruit and veg, oh, Suntan Lotions and Beachwear, Body Boards and Buckets & Spades, and they're open 24/7, 365 Days a year ... now that's what I call 'convenient' and just what you'll need 😉

... Anyway, I imagine there'll be a few clinking bottles en route !

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. 

I just love it when I find something by accident, especially when it's this special ... Opposite Liquid Cafe, so I'm normally looking that way, is this fabulous discovery ... It's a cafe snack bar with a unique twist ... there's a few tables on the entrance, two big beer barrels sporting huge white letters, Wine & Beer ... Quite Appt.

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!

There's 8 different Cocktail Mixing Competitions that will be held over the two days, with big cash prizes to be won.  At the exhibition will be around 20 Booths, where members of The Cyprus Bartenders Association can present their services and local products, anything from glasses, and bar tools to craft beers and award-winning wines and spirits ...

Maria specialises in importing foods and more from all over Europe including; the UK, Romania, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, and Poland, with more than a little bias towards Bulgaria, and even India, in fact, all over Asia.  So, there are great choices in European and Asian style sauces and ingredients and they even sell Basmati rice by the 20 Kg sack for crazy cheap prices.

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 !