Joanne Gould

Joanne Gould taste-tests 25 alcoholic and non-alcoholic seltzers and selects leading options across categories including sustainable, soft, light, kombucha, supermarket, savoury, small-batch, craft and big-brand drinks. Served is highlighted for sustainability and raspberry flavour, Dash for zero calories and surplus-fruit sourcing, Melleau for its low alcohol content, Yew for its distinctive pickle flavour, and High Water for the most premium and natural taste. White Claw remains the standout mainstream brand, while the article also praises affordable Marks & Spencer and Nethergate options. The recommendations emphasize low calories, restrained sweetness, natural ingredients and environmental credentials.

A global guide to food and drink for watching the 2026 World Cup draws on matchday traditions from all 48 participating teams. It recommends regional dishes, snacks and beverages ranging from South African chakalaka and braai foods to Mexican tacos, Brazilian churrasco, Japanese tea rituals, Argentine choripán and English crisps and vindaloo. The guide emphasizes football viewing as a social and ritualized experience, notes the growth of global cuisine in British households, and includes specific product suggestions and retailers for recreating each country’s matchday atmosphere at home.

Joanne Gould selects 10 rums from a tasting of 30 small-scale and independent labels, covering aged, Caribbean, Thai, spiced, unusual, white, dark, fruity, sipping and flavoured styles. The guide highlights premiumisation, artisanal production and brands with links to Black or people-of-colour ownership, sustainability or conservation, while acknowledging rum’s connections to slavery and colonialism. The recommendations range from Uganda’s Kakira Gold and Ghanaian-inspired Reign Rum to British-made Karisimbi, Black Tot, Flat Cap and Matugga, with serving suggestions for mojitos, sours, punches, dark’n’stormies and neat sipping.

Joanne Gould reviews 75 drinks containing less than 2% alcohol, focusing on products that can serve as satisfying alternatives to alcoholic beverages. She recommends options across wine, sparkling tea, spirits, mocktails, beer, cider and functional drinks, with particular enthusiasm for low-alcohol beer, sparkling wine and creative alcohol-free spirits. The selection includes Moderato red wine, Cygnet Infinity, Fortnum & Mason sparkling tea, Bolle Blanc de Blancs, Belvoir Farm’s lime and yuzu mojito, The Pathfinder, Almave Blanco, Bero Kingston pils, Firebrand Shorebreak ale, Chance Clean cider and Smiling Wolf mocktails.

Joanne Gould tests eight soup makers by preparing smooth and chunky soups, measuring cooking times, temperatures, noise and power use, and assessing texture, taste, usability and cleaning. The Tefal Easy Soup is the best overall, while Aldi’s Ambiano offers the strongest budget value, Ninja’s Foodi is the most versatile, Lakeland’s model is best for compact spaces, and Panasonic’s machine has the most premium feel. Capacity, heat, noise, texture and functionality vary considerably, so buyers should match the machine to household size and decide whether advanced blending features justify the additional cost.

A tasting of around 40 tequilas and mezcals produces a shortlist spanning luxury, budget, sipping and cocktail options. Recommended bottles include Patrón El Alto as the luxury tequila, Teremana Blanco as the best blanco, Del Maguey Vida Clásico as the smokiest mezcal, Rosaluna Joven for margaritas and The Lost Explorer trilogy as a gift set. The guide explains the differences between tequila and mezcal, including agave varieties, production regions and aging categories, while highlighting sustainable and independent producers. It also identifies affordable choices such as Sierra Reposado and El Jimador Blanco, alongside more distinctive bottles from Michoacán and Oaxaca.

Joanne Gould recommends 14 whiskies and whiskeys across categories including aged single malt, sustainable Scotch, peated whisky, Japanese whisky, bourbon, Speyside, Islay, gift sets and Irish whiskey. The selection ranges from affordable blends and small bottles to premium single malts, with tasting notes, suggested uses and approximate UK prices. Sustainability, organic production, blended whisky craftsmanship and distinctive regional styles are recurring themes, while the article emphasizes that quality is available at a range of budgets.

Joanne Gould presents a selection of the best gins from a tasting of 65 bottles, evaluating each by aroma, neat taste and performance in a gin and tonic. Recommendations cover categories including all-rounder, Indian, coastal, pink, Old Tom, London dry, Christmas, low-alcohol, flavoured, sipping, unusual, luxury and sustainable gin. Standouts include East London Liquor Co, Terai, Bullards Coastal, Hernö Old Tom, Gordon’s, Cotswold Gin Essence, Still GIN, Aureus Vita Fibonacci and Renais Harvest Edition. The selection emphasizes distinctive botanicals, cocktail suitability, smoothness, value, sustainability and gift appeal, while noting that some bottles command premium prices or have particularly high alcohol content.

Joanne Gould recommends ten Christmas alcohol gifts across vodka, gin, wine, tequila, champagne, cocktails, port, prosecco, bourbon and English sparkling wine. The selection spans roughly £25 to £130 and emphasizes distinctive packaging, gift-ready presentation, versatility and tasting quality, including luxury Beluga vodka, a Salcombe Gin stocking set, a curated Nourished Communities wine box, Patrón XO Cafe, Piper-Heidsieck champagne, Tayēr + Elementary cocktails, Cockburn’s tawny port, Della Vite prosecco, Maker’s Mark bourbon and personalized Chapel Down brut.

Joanne Gould selects 12 festive drinks for Christmas 2025, covering advocaat, mulled rosé, ice cider, fruit-cake and Irish cream liqueurs, gingerbread rum, seasonal gin, sparkling wine, winter ale, whisky and cream sherry. The recommendations favor rich, warming and seasonal flavors, with options ranging from nostalgic Snowballs and indulgent chocolate drinks to more refined sparkling wine, whisky and sherry.

A tasting of more than 30 vodkas identifies nine standouts across categories including sustainable, flavoured, potato, organic, Ukrainian, wheat-based, zero-waste and sugarcane vodkas. The selections range from Sapling’s raspberry and hibiscus vodka and Ramsbury’s hot honey expression to Chopin, Jo Vodka, Eight Lands, Nemiroff, Altamura, Discarded Spirits and Barbados-made Spitfire. The article emphasizes vodka’s diverse production methods, regional character and versatility in martinis, highballs and other cocktails, while highlighting environmentally conscious producers and accessible price points.

Joanne Gould tests 15 toasted-sandwich makers and recommends 10 models across different prices and formats. The Breville Deep Fill VST082 is the best overall choice, while the George Home model offers the strongest budget value. The premium Dualit produces the fastest and most consistent results, the Morphy Richards Mico is the best microwave option, and the ProCook press is recommended for stovetop or outdoor use. The review emphasizes removable plates, capacity, cooking speed, ease of cleaning and storage, concluding that a good toastie maker can cost less than £30, while professional-grade models command a much higher price.

A drinks writer explains how alcohol products are professionally tested while balancing school-run and driving responsibilities. The process involves researching ingredients, production methods and serving suggestions, tasting products neat and in recommended serves, comparing them with similar drinks, and spitting out samples when appropriate. The writer avoids drinking every day, takes several weeks to complete tests and donates surplus bottles through community reuse schemes. Recent testing renewed an enthusiasm for gin, while Hernö gins, Italicus and Bellamie spritzes received particularly positive assessments.

Joanne Gould reviews nine UK rice cookers after testing them with basmati, sushi, brown and jasmine rice, as well as additional functions such as steaming, slow cooking and risotto preparation. The Yum Asia Bamboo is named the best overall for consistently excellent results and broad functionality, while the Russell Hobbs model is the best budget choice, the Ninja Foodi is the best multi-cooker, the Sistema steamer is the best microwave option and the Yum Asia Panda is the best mini cooker. The review concludes that inexpensive cookers can work very well, while dedicated Yum Asia models offer the strongest overall rice-cooking performance; larger multi-cookers should be chosen cautiously because their rice results can be uneven.

Joanne Gould presents ten alternatives to the Aperol spritz for summer aperitivo, emphasizing light, sparkling, wine-based and generally lower-alcohol serves. The recommendations range from cherry, limoncello, bergamot, English garden, gin, Hugo and rosé spritzes to South Asian mango, alcohol-free Nozeco and rhubarb variations. Each entry includes suggested products, mixing proportions and garnishes, with the overall conclusion that spritzes offer a broad range of floral, fruity, botanical and non-alcoholic possibilities beyond the classic orange drink.

Joanne Gould tests and recommends ten UK coffee subscription services as a way to reduce the cost of café coffee while exploring specialty beans at home. The selections include Rave for coffee discovery, Grind for compostable pods, Rise for multi-roaster variety, Kiss the Hippo for blends, Exhale and TrueStart for health- and caffeine-focused options, Tambia for Colombian coffee, Ueshima for affordability, Voyager for single-origin coffees and Monmouth as a gift subscription. The article highlights roast profiles, formats, prices, sustainability initiatives and ethical sourcing, while noting that subscriptions can support coffee producers and related charitable causes.

Mid-strength alcoholic drinks are presented as a compromise between full-strength and no- or low-alcohol options, supporting more intentional drinking without sacrificing flavour. The selection covers beers, wines, spirits, cider, cocktails and mixed drinks, with recommendations including Small Beer lager, Quarter Proof spirit, Maison Sassy Cidre Rose and Nio Cocktails Negroni Next. The trend is linked to growing health awareness, reduced drinking frequency and tactics such as alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Joanne Gould reviews around 40 canned drinks and recommends a selection for picnics, travel and other sunny-day occasions. Her picks include Aldi’s low-calorie Stefanoff black cherry hard seltzer, Villa Maria sauvignon blanc, Hip Pop kombucha, Gosnells raspberry hibiscus mead, BrewDog’s watermelon margarita, Intune CBD drinks, Nice malbec, Jamu functional water, Guinness Nitrosurge cans and La Gioiosa sparkling rosé. The recommendations cover alcoholic, alcohol-free and functional beverages, with attention to taste, price, portability, health claims and sustainability.

Joanne Gould tests 11 slow cookers for ease of use, cooking performance, energy consumption, temperature consistency and value. The GreenPan is named best overall for its even cooking, low running power, cool exterior and versatile features, while the ProCook is the best basic model, the Ninja PossibleCooker the best multi-cooker and the Sage Fast Slow Pro the best pressure-cooking option. The review concludes that a basic slow cooker costing under £60 will meet many households’ needs, and advises buyers to consider capacity, pot material, dishwasher compatibility, hob use, size and whether they will actually use multi-cooking functions.