Our long-time collaborators, Katya and Anya from Ekaterinburg in Russia, visited us in March and April 2015. We took the opportunity to expose our Russian visitors to local food and drink. First up, was a trip to the Eden Distillery and Brewery, near St Andrews. Inexplicably, Josh was off the gin in the lead-up to Easter, so naturally we opted to take the gin tour. (As a consolation, we did present Josh with a bottle of Eden's "Love Gin", with which to break his fast after Easter.) After the tour and a thorough skinful, we then trooped off to St Andrews for a look around, beer, and food.
On the way home, Katya, Anya, and Andrew had a deep discussion about the differences between different brands of Jelly Babies. Obviously, Katya and Anya (hereafter, Katie and Annie) were skeptical, prompting Andrew to design a blind taste testing in the department several days later. Andrew conducted the experiment with characteristic skill and attention to detail. Jelly Babies were aligned on a grid of flavour and brand, allowing a proper comparison between eight different brands. The panel of connoisseurs (Andrew, Annie, Julien, Katie, Martin, Michael, and Philip) decided that the winner was, by some margin, Tesco! Not that this matters any more, because none of us wants to see another Jelly Baby ever again...
