Stappj - the perfect aperitivo

Even wine writers have booze-free days. Correct that. All wine writers should have booze-free days but the dilemma is what to drink at Picpoul (or whatever) o'clock. Which in my case is usually about 7pm when I wind down and think about cooking.

Up to now my favourite drink has been a tonic made in the same style as a G & T - i.e. with loads of ice and a good slice of lemon or lime but tonic always seems slightly sickly without the balancing bitterness of gin. (You can - and I do - add a dash of Angostura bitters but it's not the same)

Anyway the other day my friend Elly, patron of the wonderful Pear Café and underground restaurateur extraordinaire brought along this cute little six pack of a an alcohol-free Italian aperitivo called Stappj Bitter which admittedly sounds more Eastern European than Italian but which is a marvel.

It's a lurid vermilion red which probably owes more to E numbers than nature and tastes remarkably like Campari. Serve it cold in a chilled martini glass with a twist of orange peel and you've got yourself a hell of a cool drink.

It's available in Bristol from Licata in Picton Street and Gloucester Road at the knockdown price of £2.50 for six.

Suffolk Heritage apple juice

One of the advantages of getting out into the country is that it increases your chances of drinking good apple juice. This russet apple juice from Suffolk Heritage Orchards was on offer at breakfast at the Anchor at Walberswick where I've been staying for the past couple of days (so much nicer than packaged orange juice) but I seem to remember having it before in Orford just down the coast.

It's the kind of drink that makes you feel that being teetotal need not be a penance - not that I'm contemplating it in the near future . . . Beautifully pure, flavoursome and healthy-tasting, it apparently comes from three different kinds of russet apple and is pressed at the farm

It's the kind of product England does particularly well. It reminds me of one I tried a while ago at Barley Wood Walled Garden in Wrington near Bristol. You can almost certainly find a similar one somewhere near you.