What's On Cyprus

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 😉

This really is a lovely initiative by local, ex-pat and international artists and crafters from all over the world and a lovely way to spend a family day out doing a little shopping and bartering for Christmas and I really hope you'll go along to give them some support, especially this year ... See you there!!!

I love the way they attacked the corona crises and immediately introduced a delivery service to the Paralimni and surrounding areas … so now you can enjoy, the freshest of fruit and vegetables delivered to your door … They can also supply an extensive list of essentials, like milk, coffee, rice, pasta and pulses, liver pate, cheeses, halloumi, cold cuts, flour and loads more … Delivery is free for orders over €15 or a €2 delivery fee is charged ...

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" …

They specialise in importing foods from UK, Poland, Bulgaria and Asia.  So, great choices in sauces and ingredients and even Basmati rice by the 20 Kg sack for crazy cheap prices.

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.

... 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!

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 !

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've known Andri, and Jimmy since before they opened.  What I like so much about this couple is the obvious passion for their business, as you walk in, the immediate impression is that this company has a touch of class!