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I just wanted to say a really big thank you to everyone at the Cholmondeley arms for a great weekend stay. We picked the pub completely out of the blue. We wanted to stay somewhere in Cheshire and we had no idea where to stay but we fancied a warm cosy pub with good food. We looked at various websites but we liked what we saw of the Cholmondeley Arms on the website. We were not disappointed. Great food (the best steak and kidney pie ever), great pub, friendly and helpful staff, great location particularly being so close to Chester and some great Sunday walks. Oh and a great gin selection.

We will definitely recommend the pub to others and we look forward to returning again.

Thank you and well done to everyone for providing first rate service.

Best wishes

J P and M P

Record Valentine’s Day at the Chum!!

OUR GIRLS ENJOY VALENTINE'S AT WORK.

OUR GIRLS ENJOY VALENTINE’S AT WORK.

Steve and the team made sure the ‘Chum’ was ready for love this Valentine’s day. Right in the middle of Head Chef, Christians, hugely successful ‘Nose
to Tail’ week….celebrating all things Pig… the romantics turned up to celebrate cupids arrow here at the Chum. It was a record Valentine’s day and
Steve ensured chocolate roses were enjoyed by all the ladies present including our wonderful team of girls (pictured) who worked very hard to ensure a good time was had by all. They were rewarded by chocolate roses of their own…even Steve received a hamper of sweeties from his girlfriend as the night enjoyed a sweet note to say the least!!!

So if you want to impress a loved one…remember we have 6 bedrooms and there is nothing more romantic than dinner at the Chum in February!!

Cheshire Cat Trio completed!!

AT CHOLMONDELEY

AT CHOLMONDELEY

Loyal customer and very keen cyclist Jonathon is the first of our cycling customers to complete the ‘Cheshire Cat Pub to Pub to Pub (Trio) Challenge’.

Setting out from near Knutsford in pretty cold and snowy conditions Jonathon headed first to our Cholmondeley Arms Pub out near Malpas on the A49 heading to Whitchurch!! The picture shows just how snowy Cholmondeley was compared to the rest of the county. Having taken on a warm hot chocolate for energy, Jonathon then headed to our next pub the Three Greyhounds Inn at Allostock. Conditions here were much better for a cycling enthusiast. After another picture outside this pub it was on for the final leg of the journey to a rather misty Bulls Head before heading home for a hot shower and an early night. Just over 70 miles later without any performance enhancing drugs or a Steak and Ale Pie even!!! The respective pub teams gave Jonathon a warm welcome as well as helping with photo taking and ensuring he was back on his bike for the next leg of this journey!!

Jonathon commented “I was at a loss as to where to go on my Sunday ride today. So thought I would tackle that well known ride ‘The Cheshire Cat Trio’!! Cholmondley is a little further down the A49 than I thought and there was also more snow than I anticipated when I got there but I am thrilled to be the first of many to hopefully tackle the challenge!!”

Well done Jonathon a great effort and there is a Pie waiting at a pub of your choice from the trio as and when you have recovered!!!

If you are a keen cyclist and want to be listed as a ‘Cheshire Cat Trio Cycling Challenge beater’ then set out and ensure your photo is taken with your trusty bike at each pub with the signs in the background of each picture and send them to info@cheshirecatpubsandbars.co.uk. You will get your photo in our ‘hall of fame’ and we will send you a ‘refreshment voucher’ as well as a pint on us at the final pub!!

Thanks again to Jonathon for taking on the challenge and beating it!!!

AT THE BULLS HEAD

AT THE BULLS HEAD

AT THE THREE GREYHOUNDS

AT THE THREE GREYHOUNDS

 

Farmers is on its way from the U.S!!

farmersYes thanks to regular Chris ‘Gin is coming to the Inn’ this time from the U.S in the form of Farmers Organic Gin …..Big thanks to Chris you can read about the gin below. If you want to ‘Bring Gin to the Inn’ email us from your holiday in Europe or the US and we will confirm whether we have the gin you have found. If we haven’t please bring it back with a receipt and we will pay you back for it as well as paying you £10 in Cholmondeley vouchers to buy a couple of Gin and Tonics on us!!

Botanicals in Organic Balance

Farmer’s Organic Gin is handcrafted in small batches from carefully selected botanicals and the purest grains. Providing a pristinely clean palette for the artful infusion of botanicals, the distillate is made from sustainably farmed grain grown in the U.S. Certified organic by the USDA, Farmer’s Gin possesses a complexity and unique taste profile due to its remarkably balanced selection of organic botanicals, including juniper, elderflower, lemon grass, coriander, and angelica root.

Why they call it Farmer’s

In order to produce a flavorful organic gin, they sought out farmers dedicated to sustainability and preserving the earth. They found four farms growing organic crops that could help them create the highest quality organic gin. They think that there is no better way to honour their farmers than by naming our organic gin after them.

lady-farmer

New Gin Quarterly arrives

Spring is on its way…honest!!! To celebrate Steve, Tim, Ben Stru and Monika have been looking at their next top ten gins to share with you for the coming season from the wonderful selection on the back bar here at Cholmondeley.

The selection covers some of the most innovative gins on our shelves not least the Mallorca gin named Eleven featured in news below. The new Gin quarterly will launch on January 30th 2013 so come on down and enjoy the taste of Spring!!

Gin-Quarterly-01

Gin-Quarterly-02

Happy 2013!!!

GoingpubWell Happy New Year!!! There were many modes of transport used to get to the Cholmondeley Arms over the festive season as the picture shows!! A wonderful vintage motor bike parked outside on Christmas day!! In 2011 in was Ponies and this year a classic motor bike…what will it be on Christmas day in 2013??

On behalf of landlord Steve, Our Deputies Monika, Ben and Struan, Head Chef Christian and the entire team at the ‘Chum’ plus of course Tim and Mary, we wish every one of our customers a very happy and prosperous new year. We also wish to thank everyone for supporting the Cholmondeley Arms through its second festive season since its restoration and indeed supporting us for the whole year!!!

Here’s to 2013!!! Let’s hope it is drier!!!

Happy Birthday you two!!!

What a great week it was last week both at the Bulls Head celebrating 200 years as a pub in 2012 and amazingly the Cholmondeley Arms celebrated 150 years as a building, the old school house opening in 1862!! Cakes were baked, celebrations were had, Lord and Professor Ted did his birthday quizzes with great curry evenings on the nights too, Cholmondeley had its 2nd Annual Gin making competition and the Bulls Head had a jazz evening with the ‘smoooth’ old boys Laurie and Stewart. We are still waiting for the 5000th dog to stroll in to the Bulls Head to finish off the celebrations!!! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on the week when all our Christmas specials ‘went live’ too. Thank you to all our customers who turned up in support and joined in the festivities!! It might become an annual event!!

 


Ok who’s is the white van!!!??

CARS LINE UP

It isn’t every day you walk across the car park of ‘the Chum’ from the pub and look left and see a line of cars like these!! It was one of those days when the posh cars come to lunch.

No it wasn’t our car club, the old Toads and nor was it the annual ‘Pageant of Power’!!

Just a sunny day (for once) when you can bring the car out to enjoy itself!!

It seem obvious that the supplier with the white van felt proud enough to line up next to them….or was it just a delivery??

Bulls Head Chefs complete ‘Tough Mudder’ at Cholmondeley

TOUGH MUDDER T-SHIRT!!.

They may look like part of the 118-118 team but Lloyd (head chef from the Bulls Head) and Andy our great occasional kitchen team player successfully completed the ‘Tough Mudder’ challenge!!

LLOYD AND ANDY FROM THE BULLS HEAD COMPLETE THE COURSE

Cholmondeley Castle hosted the event with the ‘Tough mudder’ organisers.

This was a half marathon with SAS like obstacles from electric shock treatments to wading/swimming through frozen lakes and ice filled containers that would take your breath away. Tough mudder teams including Andy and Lloyd came back to the Cholmondeley Arms after their heroic achievements.

I think Lloyd will appreciate the warmth of his kitchen more than ever having seen how cold they were on arriving at Cholmondeley.

Anyway a couple of ‘Pub Club’ Sandwiches and warm coffee with a bowl of hot chips improved them slightly.

A guest room was set aside in our Headmasters house for hot showers and changing facilities for friends and team-members to use to get them back to normal as quickly as possible.

Well done Lloyd and Andy who might ache a bit but they did it!!!

 

TOUGH MUDDER TEAM

 

First Craft Gin to come from Mallorca!!!

Two years ago I stood in the vineyards of Ca’n Vidalet in the northwest of Mallorca approximately one and a half kilometres from Pollenca. I was keen then to get Mallorcan wines recognised for their quality back here in England and more specifically at our first pub in Cheshire the Bulls Head. I am back again in Mallorca looking at wine and spending more time researching the growth in Gin here on the Island. To my surprise I found that the vineyard of Ca’n Vidalet is a craft Gin distillery as well as an exceptional
winery now.

‘Eleven’ is a gin made from…no surprises here…eleven Botanicals. This gin is different though it has been developed from a Pomace base that would normally be used to make Grappa. The botanicals are typically Mediterranean, with rosemary, Thyme and coriander, there are floral and citrus notes but this gin is pure and I mean really pure!! Gin Mare the most famous Spanish Gin would struggle against this excellent craft gin.

It is the first gin produced completely on the Island and a bottle will soon be on the bar of The Cholmondeley Arms served with a less sweet tonic and a piece of lemon zest and ice this is a distinctly different gin.

Hopefully our import will be here for Christmas in the meantime wait patiently!!!

We have introduced some new gins to our ever growing collection.

The Dram. As in this 164 years old drawing, most people then were drinking their gin neat at the London ‘gin shops’ or ‘dram shops’.

The Norwegian Hammer Gin is among the purest of its kind, created with wild herbs and spices and produced according to a 200 year-old tradition. Using double pot still distillation with a unique filtering process extracts the purest flavour from the herbs, giving the product a clear, rich taste. Pure nose with a distinct aroma of juniper berries and a hint of citrus. Crispy, fresh and with a definite taste of juniper berries and elements of citrus. Refreshing aftertaste with a distinct dryness.

The French G’Vine Gin is small batch distilled from neutral grape spirit with fresh whole-fruit botanicals softened by the infusion of vine flower. Coming from all over the world, nine rare and fresh whole-fruit botanicals chosen for their purity and aromatic and healing properties – ginger roots, liquorice, green cardamom, cassia bark, coriander, juniper berries, cubeb berries, nutmeg and lime – are infused by family during 2 to 5 days and distilled in the grape neutral spirit in small liqueur-maker stills to get the best quintessence.

Infusions of vine flower and fresh botanicals are then blended together and copper-pot distilled a last time to get an ultimate and perfect smoothness and personality.

Bombay Dry Gin is one of the great old-school style London Gins, Bombay Original was first introduced in 1959 and is the precursor of the now more famous Bombay Sapphire. Much drier and more traditional.

 

Autumn Menu arrives

From Friday lunch time the 19th October 2012 the new Autumn menu will be launched here at the Cholmondeley Arms. Christian our head chef and his excellent team have been working hard to come up with new dishes that are true to the traditions of the Cholmondeley Arms…warming, flavoursome, traditional yet innovative. We look forward to you visiting to try them!

Gins up to 115 in our first year!!!!

Yes we have completed a year of being open as the ‘new’ Cholmondeley Arms. September being the month we opened last year 2011. We set our stall out then to be the best pub in Cheshire for the enjoyment of a Gin and Tonic (amongst many other things of course!!) and in turn create a legend.

Little did we know 18 months ago when Tim first visited the ‘Chum’ and decided Gins were definitely the thing to do here, that gin would have become so popular with micro/craft distillers popping up everywhere.

Trips to different parts of the UK and Europe have helped teach us so much about this famous and slightly infamous spirit. The glass, the fruit, the botanicals, the ice, the tonics and of course the gins themselves have all been explored.

We run an annual amateur Fruit Gin making competition, we have guest speakers such as James Chase from the Chase Distillery talking through Gin. We have tasting sessions for those guests that want to learn just a little bit more about Gin and its history. We operate ‘Bring Gin to the Inn’ where customers themselves can search out Gins on our behalf and be rewarded for doing so.

Our aim was to start with the ‘Cholmondeley Top Forty Gins’ in our house ‘Gin Bible’ and add to our collection through our pro-active Gin suppliers, our enthusiastic team and of course our customers who have all brought ‘Gin to the Inn’ over the last year from as far afield as the States and the Far East.

We have built our collection now to 115 different gins. We are the biggest purveyor of Gin in Cheshire, in fact the north of England and in our second year we aim to make the Gin Bible more informative, have Gin Quarterlies that focus the guest on new craft gins as well as some classics changing the list four times a year, add value to our ‘Gin Tasting Classes’ and of course build our collection and our knowledge. So come and help us…enjoy a classic Gin and tonic with us. Thank you to ALL our customers who have supported us in our first year!!!! We are so grateful for your business.

New Reg-Ewe-lars arrive at the Chum!!!

Mmm… Someone was looking rather sheepish when this photo was taken of local sheep enjoying the Cholmondeley Arms garden!!!

We reckon they have popped up from the Ewe Tree pub down the road. You can’t pull the wool over our eyes!!!

They soon moved on to pastures new when they smelt the mint sauce being prepared for Sunday Roast!!!

Mutton dressed as lamb….certainly not!!!