The right match
Opinion wavers on rights and wrongs when it comes to food, wine & beer matching, certain flavours bring out the best in each other, we match our dishes with different wines and beers that we feel bring out the best taste, use our guide as a rule of thumb, but most of all enjoy the wine & beer you drink! Be aware we cook with wine, sometimes we even put it in the food!
Drinks menu
Coffees, teas, draught and bottled drinks, wine, fizz, and a wonderful list of cocktails
Cocktails
The bartenders at The Abbey Hotel love to experiment with the craft of cocktail making, utilizing premium spirits, cordials, bitters & juices with fabulous glassware to create bespoke cocktails and twists on old classics. Guests can indulge in a vintage cocktail, ‘Pimp their Prosecco’ or try this week’s new creation.
Beers
After over 30 years in the brewing industry, Gordon wanted the Abbey to provide a quality selection of beers primarily from the south of England area. The beer range is exciting with local lagers such as Whitstable Bay lager and a great local stout, with ales such as Master Brew, Bishops finger and Spitfire Gold not forgetting our own Battle beer which I’m sure both Harold and William would have approved of!
Wine
The culture of wine in Europe predates the Romans, wine was praised by poets, historians and artists in ancient Greece, however, wine was considered the privilege of the upper classes. Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, represented not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. He was viewed as the promoter of civilization, a lawgiver, and lover of peace. Indeed, according to ancient Greek historian Thucydides, “the peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine”.
Wine today
Wine has evolved as part of everyday life, there’s nothing better than a French chardonnay or Italian Pinot Blush on a warm afternoon, or a great French Merlot and Argentinian Malbec with your dinner on an evening. We change our wine menus regularly serving great wines not only by the bottle but by the glass to give you more opportunity to experiment. We choose a new wine every month to add to the menu, selecting wines from not only old world wine makers but new worlds varieties to, not forgetting wines from closer to home, as we are avid supporters of our British wine makers.
What’s the difference between Champagne & English Brut?
Depending on who you ask you will get a “grape variety” of answers, but by drinking the stuff we found very little difference except for the price! The Champagne region in north east France has a fairly unique climate & geology that gives the wine its distinct flavour, with global warming giving us warmer English summers and our chalky soil, English Brut in our opinion has a similar if not better flavour. So go ahead and give our English Brut a try if nothing else comparing the two can be fun!