Where to go on New Year's Eve in Moscow: 5 ideas for a magical feast
Every year on December 31, the heroes of the movie "The Irony of Fate" went to the bathhouse. Modern Muscovites have more interesting options - from leisurely strolls through the shining streets to visits to holiday performances, from active recreation at the rink to a magical trip to the estate of Santa Claus. We offer you 5 simple and at the same time win-win ideas of what to do during the New Year holidays.
1. Take a trip to Christmas
From December 13 to January 12, Moscow hosts a large-scale festival "Journey to Christmas" - the quintessence of all possible winter fun on all the sites of the capital. Ice theaters and street shows, snowboarding, curling and hockey tournaments, culinary master classes and traditional Christmas treats from different countries - this and much more awaits you at the festival sites. There are 81 of them in all districts of the country, so you won't be able to hide from Christmas!
2. Go to the ice rink
Every year more and more sports grounds for winter entertainment are opened in the capital. The main one is, of course, the GooM skating rink on Red Square. Here you can kill two birds with one stone: take a breeze ride and admire the sights of the capital.
Besides it, Moscow has hundreds of other ice rinks - large and small, with natural and artificial turf, in ice complexes and in the open air. VDNKh, Sokolniki, Gorky Park, Bauman Garden, Chistye Prudy, Kuzminki - choose any!
3. Try the winter menu at one of the capital's restaurants
Just imagine: after a long walk in the fresh air to come into a cozy cafe with dim lights, take a table by the window, order mulled wine - and completely plunge into the cozy and lazy atmosphere of the New Year holidays. Brasserie Lambic on Strastnoy Boulevard is a great place for such "home" trip.
The menu includes all the most spicy, warming and New Year's Eve. For example you can have tea with ginger and orange juice, and white chocolate mousse with mandarins to go with it. And, of course, there's a lot of beer which is original and, therefore, delicious by default!
From January 2 to January 12, the restaurant has a New Year offer - a lottery ticket for every 2000 rubles in the bill. The main prize - a weekend in a two-storey cottage with jacuzzi and sauna for a company of 6 persons. And you can keep on celebrating!
4. Listen to music from your favorite fairy tales
January 2, 12:00 p.m., Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Not just an address, but a starting point to other universes, familiar from the beloved books - "Harry Potter" and "The Chronicles of Narnia".
The Conservatory stage will feature excerpts from beloved fairy tales, accompanied by sand animation and music recognizable from the first notes. But on this day it will appear before the audience from an unusual side - as performed by the orchestra with the organ.
5. Visit Santa Claus
It is not necessary to go to Veliky Ustyug - the wizard has his own residence in the capital. The Moscow estate of Santa Claus is located in Kuzminskoe Forest. The main attractions are the mansion of Snegurochka and a huge live fir, an ice rink and a sports town, a path of fairy tales and a post office, which will surely deliver your letter to the magician.
And lastly, when planning your New Year's adventures, plan your routes correctly. For example, do not forget to take into account that during the holidays the capital's main street - Tverskaya - will be partially closed. Traffic will be restricted on the section from Mokhovaya to Tverskoi Boulevard from December 28 to January 6.
Happy New Year!
Coffee and beer - a match or a flop? Exploring the myths about the famous combination
Coffee and beer are drunk at different times and on different occasions, but they have much more in common than meets the eye. Beverages that were considered ordinary 10 years ago have now become gourmet products: craft beer and specialty coffee have won millions of fans. But what if you mix the two? Let’s find out how justified this combination is and what myths are associated with it. How did the combination of coffee and beer appear? Experiments with coffee and beer began in the middle of the XX century, when brewers and bartenders began to look for new flavors. But the real boom happened in the nineties and noughties due to the growing popularity of craft beer. The first successful variants were coffee stouts and porters — dark brews with deep flavors that perfectly complemented the coffee notes. Brewers added coffee at various stages: — during brewing — for a rich flavor;— during fermentation — for softness;— into the finished beer — as a cold coffee infusion. A good example of such a recipe is the Japanese beer Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout, which can be tasted in Lambic beer restaurants. It’s a flavorful, dense ale brewed in the style of American imperial stouts with coffee beans added for espresso. Bartenders, too, have contributed to popularizing this unusual combination, creating original cocktails from coffee and beer. The most popular is the Black & Tan, which includes stout, lager and espresso. Today, such mixes are part of the craft culture. Is it true that coffee helps sober you up? One of the main myths is that coffee supposedly neutralizes alcohol. In fact, caffeine only masks intoxication. It creates the illusion of liveliness, but coffee does not actually lower blood alcohol levels. In addition, a cocktail of coffee and beer can increase the strain on the heart. If you drink coffee before alcohol, it will temporarily increase the activity of liver enzymes that break down ethanol. But this does not mean that it is necessary to increase the dose. Coffee with beer: harm or benefit? In moderate quantities, low-alcohol coffee beers (for example, stouts with 4-6% strength) are relatively safe. If you want to try such a mix, choose drinks from quality ingredients. For example: — Dark beer (porter, stout) and cold espresso.— Lager or ale and light coffee syrup. There are contraindications for such cocktails. Mixing coffee with beer is not recommended for people with hypertension, heart and GI diseases, as well as those who use drugs incompatible with caffeine. The combination of coffee and beer is an interesting gastronomic experience, especially if you respect the measure. Come to Lambic — we will treat you to interesting drinks without harming your health!
20 May 2025
Bitter! Let's understand what IBU is and how bitterness affects the taste of beer
If you’ve scrutinized craft beer labels, you’ve definitely seen the mysterious IBU abbreviation on them. This indicator plays a key role in shaping the flavor of the beverage. Let’s find out what it means and why bitterness is one of the main criteria for evaluating beer. What is IBU? IBU (International Bitterness Unit) is an international indicator of beer bitterness. It indicates the concentration of isohumulone, an alpha acid found in hops, which gives the drink its characteristic bitterness. The higher the IBU, the more bitter the beer will be. However, the perception of bitterness depends not only on this indicator, but also on the balance with malt sweetness, strength and aromatic additives. Why do you need the IBU index? Before the advent of industrial brewing, a beverage could be either too sweet or, conversely, too sour or bitter. To achieve a harmonious flavor, brewers began to adjust bitterness with hops. In the past, herbs (thistle, mint, juniper) were used to soften sweetness, but today the main source of bitterness is hops. It is added at different stages of brewing to: — compensate for the sweetness of the malt;— add complexity and flavor to the beer;— increase shelf life (isohumulone has antibacterial properties). The first to calculate the bitterness of beer were the people of Great Britain, using the formula «pounds of hops per quart of malt». The modern IBU standard was developed to accurately categorize beers. How to calculate IBU? The bitterness index is determined using a mathematical formula: G = D × E D = (A × B) / (C × 0.1) Where: A — mass of hops (in grams); B — alpha acid content of hops (%); C — wort volume (in liters); E — loss factor (production time and beer density are affected); G — final IBU. The longer the hops are brewed, the more alpha acids pass into the wort, increasing bitterness. IBU scale: from lager to IPA Beer bitterness is measured on a scale of 0 to 120+ IBUs, but most beers are in the 5-90 range. Beer Style IBU Level Characteristics Pale Lagers 8–15 Light, smooth, minimal bitterness Wheat Ales 10–20 Fruity notes, low bitterness Porters/Stouts 30–50 Coffee, chocolate tones, moderate bitterness American IPA 50–80 Strong hop bitterness, citrus and pine notes Imperial IPA 80–120+ Extreme bitterness, high alcohol content Why is IBU not the main selection criterion? A high IBU does not always mean that the beer will seem too bitter. For example, sweet stouts (30-50 IBU) seem less bitter than IPAs due to caramel and chocolate notes. And light lagers (8-15 IBU) may be perceived as more bitter due to a lack of malt balance. How do you choose a beer based on bitterness level? If you don’t like bitterness — choose lagers, wheat ales, Belgian trippels (up to 30 IBU). If you like balance, try porters or amber ales (30-50 IBU). If you like a rich hop bitterness, an IPA or Imperial Stout (50+ IBU) is ideal. You can try any of these varieties in Lambic beer restaurants. Come — we will find something to surprise you!
20 May 2025