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<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Kate Dutton/GBx</span></p><p class="caption">GBx members on a recent cycle ride. That's RocketSpace's Josif Grace, Emergent Technologies' James Cole, the British Consulate's Andrew Whittaker, Duncan logan (also from RocketSpace), Casual Films' Nick Francis, Social Standards' Mark Charkin, EQT Ventures' Alastair Mitchell, and AppWise's Julian Gay.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>GBx is an exclusive group of British entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley.</strong></li><li><strong>Founded a little under two years ago by British expats and the UK Consulate, it's a way for British techies to meet up and talk about industry issues - and "salt and vinegar crisps."</strong></li><li><strong>Membership of the 250-member non-profit organisation starts at $150 a year, and is restricted to founders, investors, and senior executives.</strong></li><li><strong>It hosts private tech industry events and helps support British entrepreneurs moving to America - as well as more casual get-togethers like curry clubs and cycle rides.</strong></li></ul><p><br />SAN FRANCISCO - About two years ago, Pete Flint had some time on his hands.</p><p>The British entrepreneur and California Bay Area resident had led a merger between Trulia, an online real estate platform he had founded a decade before, and rival Zillow, in a deal that valued his business at $3.5 billion. "I was freed up from a big operational role, and I started to kind of think about different ecosystems within Silicon Valley," he said.</p><p>The American tech industry is dotted with groups catering towards expats of varying nationalities - the Canadians have C100, Israel has IEFF, and so on. And while Flint had been meeting up with other British entrepreneurs and founders to "talk about the trials and tribulations of being a startup founder" in a pseudo-support group as long as he'd been in the Bay Area, there was no dedicated organisation catering towards the needs of Brits living and working in the tech industry, he noticed.</p><p>Flint wasn't the only Brit in the Bay Area to feel that way. A group of British techies and the British Consulate in San Francisco subsequently determined to do something about this - and in June 2016, GBx was born.</p><h2>A 250-strong group of entrepreneurs, investors, and tech executives</h2><p>GBx, at its simplest, is an exclusive group of British entrepreneurs and tech workers living in Silicon Valley.</p><p>The group has three key roles: It's a community for Brits in the Bay Area, where they can get advice and support from their peers. It's an existing network for British entrepreneurs moving to America, so they don't have to start from scratch. And it's a space for discussing policy issues with the aim of informing British government policy.</p><p>Its growth in its first two years highlights how, even as the British tech scene flourishes domestically, its expatriate citizens are also becoming ever-more present in Silicon Valley. Business Insider spoke to key figures within the organisation to learn about its history, and what it's trying to achieve.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Evie Griffin/London &amp; Partners</span></p><p class="caption">Members of GBx's female founders group. Executive director Kate Dutton is in the centre, wearing the white shirt and black jacket.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Members of GBx range from entrepreneurs to investors to senior employees at big American tech giants. There's Flint, who serves as one of GBx's two co-chairs, is a managing partner of<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pete-flint-trulia-nfx-vc-firm-150-million-early-stage-startup-fund-2017-11"> early stage venture capital firm NFX</a>. And there's Michael Birch, cofounder of defunct social networking site Bebo who now an angel investor and philanthropist - and founded popular San Francisco <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/take-a-look-inside-the-battery-2018-1">venture capital haunt The Battery.</a></p><p>Other members of the organisation's board include Julian Green, a product manager at Google-linked moonshot factory X; Jaclyn Mason, the British consulate's head of trade and investment; Janice Roberts, GBx's other co-chair and partner at Benhamou Global Ventures; Andy McLoughlin, a partner at SoftTech VC and cofounder of SaaS company Huddle; and Kate Dutton, GBx's executive director. </p><p>It's an experienced group, and kept exclusive by design - there are currently only 250 members, with membership largely limited to entrepreneurs, senior executives, and investors. You're not going to bump into many mid-level sales people or marketing managers at its events.</p><p>"When a community gets too big you don't re-encounter the same people again [at events]," Michael Birch said - making it it difficult to build relationships. "There is value is keeping it focused on people who have something in common."</p><p>Flint added: "We think it's just really important to be highly curated, high quality, and we're really designed for c-level executives or founders. Not to try and make it exclusive ... it's really just trying to solve this specific issue for Bay Area entrepreneurs and executives."</p><h2>The British connection</h2><p>In December 2017, GBx members and their families were treated to a private showing of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at the cinema at Lucasfilm's headquarters in San Francisco. (Business Insider attended and can confirm it was excellent, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/12/18/16791844/star-wars-last-jedi-backlash-controversy">despite what the haters say</a>.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Rob Price/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">The Yoda fountain outside Lucasfilm's offices in San Francisco.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The organisation isn't just British techies sharing lessons about the venture capital ecosystem - there's a social aspect to it, its members held together by a shared cultural experience as they navigate a foreign land. It's "always fun for Brits to get together, talk about the Queen," Michael Birch joked.</p><p>Birch, along with his wife and serial cofounder Xochi Birch, have hosted brunch at their San Francisco home. Members have gone on a group bike ride. It's got a curry club. And there's a glitzy annual members' gala which debuted in 2017 -  "a real coming of age moment" for GBx, said British Consul General Andrew Whittaker.</p><p>Of course, there's the more serious business too. It throws member events, from panels on industry subjects like healthtech and  talent, to meetings with British government officials like London's chief digital officer.</p><p>What members get out of GBx - and what they put in - varies wildly from member to member. For a startup founder new to the US, it's an opportunity to learn from people who've done it all before. Birch, meanwhile, has lessons to share about growth marketing. Flint has direct experience of building billion-dollar companies on two continents. And for Whittaker, it's less about sharing lessons as it is about listening to members' inputs and using it to try and inform UK government policy. </p><p>It fulfills a similar function to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-london-tech-scene-retreat/">the "ICE list," an exclusive UK-based tech network of entrepreneurs and investors</a> that hosts events ranging from focused panels to ski trips in Europe (though GBx hasn't considered residential trips for its members just yet).</p><p>After kicking off in 2016, it formalised its activities in early 2017, with Kate Dutton coming on board as executive director in March, and then it incorporated as a non-profit organisation in April. <a href="https://gbxglobal.org/?page_id=362">Members' fees range from</a> $150 a year for the lowest tier to $1,000 to be an "inspire" member, with perks like unlimited event access, guest passes, and sponsorship opportunities.</p><p>So what's the appeal of having a British-focused group? Why not stick to existing, non-regional tech networks? "I think there are definitely elements of British culture ... recognising when you talk about, I don't know, salt and vinegar crisps, or the things people can relate to very quickly," Whittaker said. "There's also the bit about being a Brit in the US - it is a foreign country, and people sometimes miss that."</p><p>"We're not trying to be patriotic, or live a British lifestyle, quite the opposite," Flint said. "You become fast friends because you have a similar background, and Silicon Valley is inherently a place where people are very generous with their ideas and their time."</p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/prevent-stop-robocallers-spam-calls-2018-5">How to stop robocallers</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Her Majesty's Techies: Inside GBx, the exclusive Silicon Valley club full of British techies that have created billion dollar companies

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>Hershey's has blocked British-made Cadbury chocolate from entering the US. </p>
<p>The chocolate company struck up a deal with Let's Buy British Imports to stop imports of Cadbury products made overseas, reports <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/nyregion/after-a-deal-british-chocolates-wont-cross-the-pond.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;module=mini-moth&amp;region=top-stories-below&amp;WT.nav=top-stories-below&amp;_r=2&amp;referrer">Tatiana Schlossberg at The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>The company will also stop importing British Kit Kat bars, Toffee Crisps, and Yorkie chocolate bars. </p>
<p>Fans of chocolate manufactured in Britain say it tastes better than the American-made version.</p>
<p>A Hershey's representative told the New York Times that the company has the rights to manufacture Cadbury chocolate in America using different recipes and that importing British chocolate is an infringement. </p>
<p>The New York Times broke down the major differences between both chocolates. </p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Chocolate in Britain has a higher fat content; the first ingredient listed on a British Cadbury's Dairy Milk (plain milk chocolate) is milk," <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/nyregion/after-a-deal-british-chocolates-wont-cross-the-pond.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;module=mini-moth&amp;region=top-stories-below&amp;WT.nav=top-stories-below&amp;_r=2&amp;referrer">Schlossberg writes</a>. "In an American-made Cadbury's bar, the first ingredient is sugar."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The American versions also contain preservatives. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Furious Cadbury fans have started the hashtag #boycotthershey.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottHershey?src=hash">#BoycottHershey</a> Why should you <a href="https://twitter.com/hersheys">@Hersheys</a> dictate what chocolate we eat? British &amp; Irish RT <a href="http://t.co/2pxgF6RY7R">http://t.co/2pxgF6RY7R</a> <a href="http://t.co/uC211n8hV6">pic.twitter.com/uC211n8hV6</a></p>
- Michele Rosborough (@micheleros) <a href="https://twitter.com/micheleros/status/559417225551958016">January 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
<p class="p-block a-ok">Andrew Baker at The Telegraph speculated that Hershey's is afraid of Cadbury chocolate.</p>
<p class="p-block a-ok">"It will seem more likely to anyone who has ever tasted Hershey's own-brand products, and its approximations of Cadbury's, that they are instead preventing consumers from buying products which taste much better than Hershey's own," <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11370055/Why-is-Hersheys-afraid-of-British-chocolate.html">Baker writes</a>.</p>

Hershey's Just Blocked British Chocolate From Entering The US And Fans Are Furious

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Journalist Robert Hardman spent a year shadowing King Charles for a BBC documentary.</li><li>Hardman is a trusted voice in the royal field and has interviewed royals from around the world.</li></ul><p>King Charles is perhaps one of the most misunderstood British royals of modern times, according to the man who shadowed him for a year.</p><p>"There's the completely wrong narrative that you get from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-crown-season-6-accuracy-fact-check-fiction-2023-11">'The Crown,'"</a> Hardman said about the Netflix series. "Charles is depicted as always trying to get his mother to step aside and let him take charge, right back to the '90s."</p><p>"That's simply not what happened."</p><p>Hardman should know. The British journalist shadowed King Charles for the BBC documentary, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tw41">"Charles III: The Coronation Year."</a></p><p>The documentary gives behind-the-curtain access to Charles' first year as monarch, showing glimpses of his <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/king-charles-coronation-important-moments-in-photos-2023-5">coronation</a> rehearsal and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/king-charles-portrait-hidden-details-2023-5">first official portrait</a> as king. It also features interviews with members of his family, including his sister, Princess Anne, and Queen Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliott.</p><p>I meet Hardman for the first time over Zoom in January, four days after the release of his new book, "Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story," published on January 18. (In the US, it's retitled <a target="_blank" href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Making-of-a-King/Robert-Hardman/9781639365319">"The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy."</a>)</p><p>He looks polished in a crisp white shirt and a teal-printed tie. His face is framed with his signature square-shaped glasses as he recounts his royal career — which, according to Hardman, happened completely by accident.</p><h2>Hardman didn't intend to become a royal correspondent</h2><p>Hardman was working as a columnist and news reporter at the Daily Telegraph in London when, in January of 1992, he was sent on a travel assignment to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-crown-swiss-ski-resort-prince-charles-avalanche-accident-2020-12">Klosters, a luxury ski resort</a> in the Swiss Alps that doubles as a billionaire's playground.</p><p>His only brief was to find some "skiing stories," he tells me. He ended up finding <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-ferguson-says-skin-cancer-diagnosis-was-shock-2024-1">Sarah, Duchess of York,</a> instead.</p><p>"So off I went with a photographer, and while we were there, we stumbled across the Duchess of York and her daughters, who were having one of those royal photo calls on the Alps on the side of the hill," Hardman says.</p><div type="image" title="The Duchess Of York with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in Klosters in January 1992" height="1361" width="1815" msid="107325927" hostid="261" sizebytes="131130"></div><p>Hardman didn't know it then, but 1992 was set to be a grisly year in royal history — the "annus horribilis," as Queen Elizabeth II called it in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.royal.uk/annus-horribilis-speech">now-famous speech</a> marking her Ruby Jubilee.</p><p>Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, and Princess Anne ended their respective marriages, and the royal family's largest residence, Windsor Castle, was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-crown-season-5-episode-4-annus-horribilis-speech-explained-2022-11">severely damaged in a fire</a>.</p><p>The years that have followed have been just as tumultuous, particularly for the king.</p><h2>The king's shadow</h2><p>Hardman tells me he was inspired to write his new book, "Charles III," while making the BBC documentary about the first year of his reign.</p><p>Both projects give readers an emotional look at the origins of Charles' reign. In the book, for example, Hardman writes that Charles learned of Queen Elizabeth's death while driving back to Balmoral Castle from his nearby Birkhill Estate after previously visiting her earlier that day.</p><div type="image" title="King Charles III and Queen Camilla stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 6, 2023." height="3592" width="4789" msid="107325930" hostid="261" sizebytes="1435066"></div><p>"He had climbed into the car as both Prince of Wales and Duke of Rothesay (his title when in Scotland). Twenty minutes later, he would climb out of it as King Charles III — with the new Queen at his side," Hardman wrote.</p><div type="image" title="King Charles laughs as Prince William pins something to his chest." height="1371" width="2000" msid="107325931" hostid="261" sizebytes="184076"></div><p>Hardman tells me the experience allowed him to see a different side of the king.</p><p>"In fact, as I hope I make clear in the book, he was almost painfully reluctant to even discuss plans for his reign," he said, adding that Charles wouldn't have wanted to undermine the Queen's authority when she was alive.</p><div type="image" title="King Charles (Dominic West) and Camilla Parker-Bowles (Olivia Williams) in &quot;The Crown&quot; season six." height="1000" width="1333" msid="107325932" hostid="261" sizebytes="79516"></div><p>Hardman is among a handful of people to publicly dismiss the characterization of Charles and Camilla in "The Crown." In 2020, two royal staff members <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prince-charles-camilla-staff-say-the-crown-gets-couple-wrong-2020-12">told Business Insider</a> they considered the show's portrayal of the couple unfair.</p><p>Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p>Looking back at Charles' life, Hardman said he's noticed the king has appeared much "happier" as he gets older (the king turned 75 in November). He said he noticed a similar pattern for the late Queen, who he described as more "smiley" and overall more content after her Golden Jubilee in 2002.</p><p>For his book, Charles gave Hardman special permission to access the Royal Archives (a private collection of documents, letters, and diaries relating to the royal family) to assist with his research.</p><div type="image" title="Robert Hardman Queen Camilla" height="1500" width="2000" msid="107326270" hostid="261" sizebytes="124050"></div><p>Hardman also spoke to an anonymous palace aide who alleged Queen Elizabeth was "as angry as I'd ever seen her" in 2021 after Prince Harry and Meghan announced that she had given her blessing to name <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prince-harry-meghan-markle-meaning-daughters-name-2021-6">their daughter, Princess Lilibet</a>, after her.</p><p>"The couple then fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest otherwise, as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57408163">BBC</a> had done," Hardman wrote in the book.</p><p>"However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed. Once again, it was a case of 'recollections may vary' as far as the Queen was concerned. Those noisy threats of legal action evaporated and the libel action against the BBC never materialized," he added.</p><div type="image" title="prince william, prince harry, meghan markle, king charles" height="1477" width="1969" msid="107326273" hostid="261" sizebytes="292152"></div><p>Hardman received criticism from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/royal-biographer-omid-scobie-endgame-interview-2023-11">royal author Omid Scobie</a>, best known for co-authoring <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prince-harry-meghan-markle-finding-freedom-biography-surprising-things-2020-8"><u>"Finding Freedom,"</u></a> a biography on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, in 2021.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/scobie/status/1747164917646741604">Writing on X</a>, Scobie said Hardman's story contradicts details shared in Gyles Brandreth's biography of Queen Elizabeth, titled "Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait." Brandreth, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/queen-weeks-without-seeing-prince-philip-royals-book-claims-2022-11">friend of the royals</a>, writes that she reacted positively to Lilibet's name, according to screenshots of media coverage shared by Scobie.</p><p>The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Buckingham Palace, and Pegasus Books did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. Hardman declined to comment on Scobie's post.</p><h2>Hardman's success will be remembered</h2><p>Hardman's access to the royals is something that most journalists can only dream about. When I ask what his secret is, he insists that he's been turned away by the palace for documentaries and press opportunities in the past.</p><p>"I don't pretend to have any kind of special access, but I think it's important to be fair. I think if people know that you are fair, then they won't feel they've been turned over," he says.</p><p>For now, Hardman says he's perfectly content with not knowing what comes next for him.</p><p>"It's the joy of journalism — you don't really know what's happening. I don't know what I'm doing this week or next," Hardman says.</p><p>"I did promise my wife that there would be no more books after the last one, and then this one came along. So I may have to press the pause button for a little bit," he adds. "But yeah, you can't stop in this game."</p>

The man who shadowed King Charles for a year describes what life for the royal is really like

<ul class="summary-list"><li>All beers are either an ale, lager, or hybrid, depending on the yeast and fermentation method used.</li><li>Ales tend to be more robust in flavor, while lagers are known for being crisp and thirst-quenching.</li><li>From lightest to darkest, the most common <keyword id="6359860" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Beer">beer</keyword> styles range from pilsners to stouts.</li></ul><p>Today, there are over 100 distinct styles of beer available for the sipping - from hop-forward IPAs and rich dessert-like stouts to tart sours and crisp, mellow pilsners. Despite the overwhelming selection, however, experts say you only really need to know the core varieties since there's a lot of overlap between them.</p><p>"Many styles borrow from each other, so understanding a handful of styles can help with understanding a wider range," says Savannah Yeager, manager of <a href="https://www.agricolehospitality.com/eight-row-flint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eight Row Flint</a>, a beer and bourbon bar in Houston, Texas.</p><p>Whether you're an unabashed beer nerd looking to expand your knowledge or you only recently discovered an affinity for suds, here are some essential terms and styles worth getting acquainted with.</p><h2>Lager vs. ale</h2><p>All beers are classified as either an ale, lager, or hybrid. Which category they fall under depends on the type of yeast and fermentation technique used. </p><p>Some yeast strains are bottom-fermenting and some are top-fermenting, and according to Yeager, this refers to where in the fermentation tank the yeast is working. Top-fermenting yeast is used to ferment ales, while bottom-fermenting yeast is used to ferment lagers.</p><p>"Ales are fermented warmer - closer to room temperature - and usually turn around quicker, whereas lagers go through fermentation a little slower at cooler temperatures around 48 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit," says Erik Pizer, head brewer at <a href="https://milkmoneybrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Milk Money Brewing</a>. "Ales are usually a little fruitier and rounder on the palate due to the esters that are created during fermentation, while lagers are typically cleaner and crisper from the cooler fermentation and longer storage time."</p><p>Hybrid beers combine brewing practices for both lagers and ales - for example, they may use ale yeast at lager temperatures, or vice versa.</p><h2>Terms to know</h2><div type="image" title="A beer brewer adding hops to a tank" height="1414" width="1885" msid="85258547" hostid="261"></div><p>Yeager advises referring to this glossary of essential beer terms when familiarizing yourself with the styles listed below.</p><p><strong>Fermentation:</strong> The chemical process by which yeast breaks down sugars, creating byproducts of carbon dioxide and alcohol</p><p><strong>Refermentation: </strong>A second fermentation during which yeast continues to work on available or newly introduced sugars in another vessel such as a barrel or bottle</p><p><strong>Mash: </strong>The grain and hot water mixture where complex starches are converted into simple sugars</p><p><strong>Wort:</strong> The sugary liquid resulting from the mash to which yeast is added</p><p><strong>Adjuncts: </strong>Supplementary <keyword id="190344" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="ingredients">ingredients</keyword>, such as fruits or grains, added to the mash to alter flavor</p><p><strong>Imperial:</strong> Originally used to describe beer brewed to be shipped to imperial courts, it now indicates that the beer is stronger than usual</p><p><strong>Session:</strong> Beer with a relatively low alcohol by volume (ABV)</p><p><strong>Mouthfeel: </strong>The physical sensation of the beer in the mouth, encompassing body, texture, and carbonation</p><p><strong>Hops: </strong>Flowers from the humulus lupulus plant that are used as a bittering, flavoring, and stability agent in beer. Depending on the type of hops used, they can add flavors and aromas of citrus, pine, herbs, florals, or tropical fruits.</p><p>Here are a handful of the most common beer styles to know, according to Yeager and <a href="https://www.fourseasons.com/denver/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four Seasons Hotel Denver</a> bar manager, Andy Carroll.</p><h2>Pilsner</h2><div type="image" title="Two pints of pilsner beer on a wooden table" height="1412" width="1883" msid="85258548" hostid="261"></div><p><strong>Type: </strong>Lager</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>4.5% - 5%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Yellow or light gold. Clear, bright.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Low</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Crisp and usually heavier on the hops than other lagers, giving it a slight spice.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>Named for the Bohemian city of Pilsen in the modern-day Czech Republic, the first pilsner was invented by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll in 1842.</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>Refreshing and thirst-quenching with high carbonation, this is the perfect summer beer.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://weatheredsouls.beer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Weathered Souls Brewing Company Hardwood Classic</a>, <a href="https://www.greenbenchbrewing.com/our-beers/postcard-pilsner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green Bench Brewing Co. Postcard Pilsner</a>, <a href="http://heaterallen.com/regularbeers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heater Allen Pils</a></p><h2>Kölsch</h2><p><strong>Type: </strong>Hybrid</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>4.5 - 5%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Straw yellow or gold. Clear, bright.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Light to medium</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Refreshing and ultra-drinkable with soft fruity hops, balanced maltiness, and a clean finish.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>Originally produced in Cologne, Germany in the mid-1700s in an attempt to compete with the wildly popular bottom-fermented lagers that were emerging, brewers top-fermented their beer and then conditioned it in cold cellars. </p><p><strong>Description:</strong> Fermented with ale yeast in cold temperatures like a lager, this hybrid style offers the best of both worlds.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://assemblybrewingco.com/contact-free-pickup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Assembly Brewing Kölsch</a>, <a href="https://www.oakparkbeer.com/beers/#beers">Oak Park Brewing Krankshaft</a>, <a href="http://www.coastbrewing.com/kolsch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COAST Brewing Co. 32°/50</a></p><h2>Sour</h2><p><strong>Type:</strong> Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>3 - 5%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Light yellow to orange. Slightly cloudy to clear.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Very low</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Light bodied, tart. Fruit is often added during refermentation or bottle conditioning.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>The first sours were brewed in Belgium during the early 18th century, but they weren't widely available in the US until the 1970s.<br /><strong>Description: </strong>Sour beers get their tart, tangy, and sometimes funky quality from wild yeast and bacteria strains, including Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, and a fungus known as Brettanomyces. Lambic sours are usually fruited, while goses incorporate salt and coriander.</p><p><strong>Examples:</strong> <a href="https://crownsandhops.com/collections/beer/products/blue-peach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crown &amp; Hops The Blue Peach</a>, <a href="https://opbrewco.com/portfolio/cherry-pie-pop-kettle-sour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oak Park Brewing Cherry Pie Pop Kettle Sour</a>, <a href="https://lonepinebrewery.com/beers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lone Pine Brewing Company Raspberry Sparkler</a></p><h2>Wheat Beer</h2><div type="image" title="A pint of beer sitting on a wooden fence post with a beautiful rolling mountainside in the background" height="1352" width="1802" msid="85258549" hostid="261"></div><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>4 - 7%</p><p><strong>Appearance:</strong> Pale yellow to straw. Slightly cloudy.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Low</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Medium-light bodied, high carbonation, and creamy with a slight malty sweetness. Citrusy with very little hops and distinctive flavors of banana and clove.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>While wheat beer as it's known today is usually traced back to Bavaria, archaeological finds have suggested that it first appeared at least 6,000 years ago in what is now known as Southern Iraq.</p><p><strong>Description:</strong> This style encompasses any beer that uses at least 50% wheat in the brewing process, such as German hefeweizens and witbiers. Common adjuncts in this category are orange, lemon, and coriander.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://www.harlembrewing.com/renaissance-wit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harlem Brewing Company Renaissance Wit</a>, <a href="https://www.allagash.com/beer/white/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Allagash White</a>, <a href="https://www.hopriverbrewing.com/our-beer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hop River Brewing Harrison St. Wheat</a></p><h2>Saison</h2><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>4.4 - 8.4%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Gold to light amber. Slight haze.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Low</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Subtly sweet, often with spicy and fruity characteristics.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>The name comes from the French word for "season," as this beer originated in the French-speaking region of Belgium, where it was brewed during the cooler months and then stored for drinking in the summer.</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>Also known as a farmhouse ale, this beer is known for having high levels of carbonation. Specialty ingredients - such as ginger, coriander, and other spices - are often added. Belgian Saisons are sometimes enhanced with a sour mash or certain bacteria to boost the acidity. American Saisons can range significantly and are very much open to interpretation.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://www.urbanrootsbrewing.com/beer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Urban Roots In &amp; Out Of Focus</a>, <a href="https://togo.holymountainbrewing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Holy Mountain Brewing Witchfinder</a></p><h2>American Pale Ale</h2><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>5 - 6%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Orange-gold to copper. Clear to slightly cloudy. </p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Medium to high</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Medium-light bodied. Toasted maltiness with citrus, pine, and/or floral hop aromas and bitterness. </p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>As the name suggests, "pale ale" is an English-style beer that looks paler than other ales due to the different way of toasting malt. American Pale Ales began to emerge around 1980 when American hop varieties were added to the already popular pale ale style.</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>Thanks to the use of American hops, especially Cascade hops, these pale ales are characterized by a citrusy punch. They feature a more even balance of malts and hops than India Pale Ales (IPAs).</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://soulmega.com/the-beer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soul Mega Worldwide</a>, <a href="http://www.18thstreetbrewery.com/flagship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">18th Street Brewery Candi Crushable</a>, <a href="https://www.unioncraftbrewing.com/beer/duckpin-pale-ale/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNION Craft Brewing Duckpin Pale Ale</a></p><h2>IPA</h2><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>6 - 8%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Gold to chestnut. Typically clear, but cloudiness is present in some.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>High</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Medium-bodied, strong floral and/or tropical fruit flavors from the hops. More bitterness than American Pale Ales.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>English brewers formulated this beer with additional hops, which were known to act as preservatives so that it would survive the journey to British-occupied India in the late 18th century.</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>Double (or Imperial) IPAs have a higher ABV (7 - 9%), more hops, and higher levels of bitterness. Session IPAs have a lower ABV while still maintaining strong hop characteristics. New England (or "hazy") IPAs are typically cloudy, juicy, less bitter, and heavy-handed on fruit-forward hops. West Coast IPAs usually incorporate hops with resinous and pine-forward aromas.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://lordhobobrewing.com/beer/boomsauce/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lord Hobo Boomsauce</a>, <a href="https://treehousebrew.com/full-beer-directory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tree House Brewing Company Haze</a>, <a href="http://www.finbackbrewery.com/ales.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Finback Rolling In The Clouds</a>, <a href="https://cloudburstbrew.com/beers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cloudburst Brewing Cosmic Lust IPA</a></p><h2>Amber</h2><div type="image" title="Two pints of amber ale with a head of foam" height="1500" width="2000" msid="85258550" hostid="261"></div><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>4.5 - 6%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Amber to copper to slightly reddish. Clear.</p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Medium</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Malty sweetness with caramel and nutty notes. Light-medium hop presence. Crisp mouthfeel with medium body.  </p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>This American Pale Ale spinoff was created and popularized in California and the Pacific Northwest during the 1980s when the method of roasting the malt changed, resulting in lighter amber-colored brews,</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>Aromatic and easy-drinking, amber ales are well balanced but lean toward being malt forward.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://www.cigarcitybrewing.com/our-beers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cigar City Brewing Tocobaga Red Ale</a>, <a href="https://bearrepublic.com/products/red-rocket-ale%C2%AE?variant=40200705048727" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bear Republic Brewing Company Red Rocket Ale</a></p><h2>Porter</h2><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>5 - 7%</p><p><strong>Appearance: </strong>Dark brown to black. Clear when held up to light. </p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Medium</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>The roasted malts in this style drive the nutty flavor, with notes of coffee, chocolate, and toffee.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>The porter first appeared in the early 1700s - legend has it that a London brewer named Ralph Harwood created it by blending an older and newer brew together in a barrel, thus creating a beer that was affordable but also had depth of flavor. As it became the go-to workingman's pint, it's believed to have been named after the porters who delivered it to the local pubs (and frequently drank it). </p><p><strong>Description: </strong>Roasty and toasty, but not heavy or thick. Many porters are brewed with adjuncts - like coffee, coconut, or cocoa - to enhance the flavor.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://www.trilliumbrewing.com/beers/pot-kettle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trillium Brewing Company Pot &amp; Kettle</a>, <a href="https://funkybuddhabrewery.com/beer/maple-bacon-coffee-porter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Funky Buddha Brewing Maple Bacon Coffee Porter</a>, <a href="https://512brewing.com/menu/512-pecan-porter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">(512) Brewing Company Pecan Porter</a></p><h2>Stout</h2><div type="image" title="Two pints of stout beer next to a bowl of pretzels" height="1412" width="1883" msid="85258551" hostid="261"></div><p><strong>Type: </strong>Ale</p><p><strong>ABV: </strong>5.5 - 8%</p><p><strong>Appearance:</strong> Very dark brown to black. Opaque. </p><p><strong>Bitterness: </strong>Medium to high</p><p><strong>Taste: </strong>Similar roasty notes as a porter but with a creamier mouthfeel and fuller body. Very low hop flavor, if any.</p><p><strong>Origin: </strong>Stouts began as "stout porters" - porters brewed with less water to make them stronger, maltier, and darker. When black malt became available in the early 1800s, brewers swapped it in for brown malt to create a drier beer with a richer taste and smoother mouthfeel.</p><p><strong>Description: </strong>With intense flavors of chocolate and toasted nuts, stouts are a popular cold-weather beer. Many stouts are aged in barrels that previously contained whiskey or bourbon, lending dessert-like notes of vanilla, oak, and spice. Others are brewed with adjuncts, such as oatmeal stouts. Imperial stouts have an elevated ABV (9%+), and milk stouts are sweeter and creamier due to the inclusion of lactose in the brewing process.</p><p><strong>Examples: </strong><a href="https://www.mainebeercompany.com/mean-old-tom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maine Beer Company Mean Old Tom</a>, <a href="https://www.montclairbrewery.com/tap-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Montclair Brewery Jamaican Me Crazy</a>, <a href="https://fatorangecatbrewco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fat Orange Cat Brew Co. All Cats Are Gray In The Dark</a></p><h2>Insider's takeaway</h2><p>The mouthfeel, alcohol content, appearance, and flavor of a beer can vary vastly within each style depending on the brewer's methods and chosen ingredients. Still, knowing whether a beer is an ale, lager, or hybrid can tell you a lot about its characteristics.</p><p>Those who prefer lighter, crisper brews may appreciate pilsners and wheat beers, while fans of darker and richer suds may gravitate toward porters and stouts. Spicy Saisons, malt-forward amber ales, and hoppy pale ales all fall somewhere in between.</p><a data-type="5eac5daf3dac9a175f6b4b32">The best places to buy beer online, from local delivery services to monthly subscriptions</a><a data-type="6042572ddaf40c54e4376964">A beginner's guide to nonalcoholic beer</a><a data-type="605a329ef952ef42ce0ab151">5 healthier alcoholic drinks to have instead of beer and sugary cocktails</a><a data-type="61097986ef8e7903c8610394">How to make a Manhattan and all its variations</a>

10 common beer styles all drinkers should try, from pilsners to porters

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-143708548/stock-photo-roast-beef-and-yorkshire-pudding.html?src=O3ww6KCjuehMi6JDwELCfg-1-23">Photoed/Shutterstock</a></span></p><p class="caption">A traditional Sunday roast topped Groupon's list of the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>'s favourite meals.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The Sunday roast is Britain's most iconic dish. It's a great way to relax with family at the weekend with <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/how-to-pair-wine-with-classic-british-foods-2016-9" target="_blank">a glass of wine</a>, and everyone has an opinion on the best way to make one.</p><p>Groupon recently released a survey of 5,000 people in the UK, asking them what their favourite meal is.</p><p>Overall, the nation's favourite dish was a Sunday roast dinner, with 75% of regions putting it at the top spot.</p><p>As part of Groupon's campaign, Sunday Brunch co-host Simon Rimmer has created three original recipes that are free to use on the firm's <a href="https://www.groupon.co.uk/landing/lip-smacking-london" target="_blank">website</a>.</p><p>He told Business Insider that making a perfect roast isn't as simple as it looks, and it's not all just about the meat.</p><p>Here are a few of Rimmer's best tricks to use when preparing a Sunday meal.</p><h3>Perfect roast potatoes.</h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-210406747/stock-photo-catering-background-of-delicious-golden-roast-potatoes-in-a-hot-roasting-pan-fresh-from-the-oven.html?src=8Zs3LSrFWubhTJfTY4e-nw-1-83">Stephen Gibson/Shutterstock</a></span></p><p class="caption">Cooking potatoes in an extremely hot fat gives them their great taste.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Rimmer said that when it comes to this classic British dish, "the potatoes are the key for me."</p><p>After peeling and rinsing the spuds, Rimmer parboils them first, before draining them and dusting with flour to make sure they crisp up in the oven.</p><p>"When they're still warm give them a little bit of a shake around in the pan with just a spoonful of plain flour." Adding the flour before they go back into the oven breaks up the sharp edges that can make roast potatoes become hard and difficult to eat, and allows them to absorb plenty of oil to achieve the perfect crunch.</p><p>Next, Rimmer cooks them in a roasting tin, using a fat that is "on the brink of setting itself alight." He suggests using duck fat for this, as it provides the best flavour.</p><p>While they're cooking in the oven, turn them over twice, "so you get really nice crispy edges, and then the middle is quite beautifully fluffy."</p><h3><strong>Rest your meat.</strong></h3><h3><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-231495574/stock-photo-homemade-grass-fed-prime-rib-roast-with-herbs-and-spices.html?src=4KCUQtcMo0tbwsn_x1_3Mg-1-19">Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock</a></span></p><p class="caption">Rest your meat for half the time it takes to cook to make it soft and tender.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></h3><p>Of course, it wouldn't be a Sunday roast without meat. According to the celebrity chef, the one mistake everyone makes when they're roasting their meat, especially beef, is not resting it.</p><p>"It's something that we don't do enough of," he said. "Some people will cook their beef for two hours and then carve it straight away."</p><p>Instead, Rimmer recommends that, depending on how long you cook a piece of meat for, you should rest it for 50% of that time so that the connective tissues can relax and the meat becomes tender.</p><p>"Let's say you're going to have a really hot bath," he said, "think how your body feels. If you go straight to work after coming out of a hot shower or bath it's the worst feeling."</p><p>So, if a joint of beef will take two hours to cook, rest it for one.</p><p>"You want to relax when you come out of a hot shower, and it's the same for the meat. "Then all the connective tissues can relax and soften, so you get a much nicer texture."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/essential-advanced-knives-for-chefs-cooks-collection-block-2015-5">Must-have knives for everyone who loves cooking</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="95OGY2dTrhljsOts2FZAT13S7cLsApnN" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

How to cook the perfect Sunday roast, according to Channel 4 chef Simon Rimmer

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/strelka/32746424104/">Evgeny Belikov/Strelka Institute/Flickr</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Frequent <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/social-media">social media</a> use and screen time have been portrayed as universally bad for our health.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>However, a lot of research on this phenomenon has been characterized by poorly done studies and bad <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>The vast majority of evidence suggests that our smartphones are not uniformly harmful, and in some cases, they may be a force for good.</strong></li></ul><p><br />True story: I once walked headfirst into a pole on my way home from work.</p><p>I can't blame the darkness (the sun had only just begun to set), and I can't blame my vision (I'd recently gotten new glasses). But I can blame my iPhone, whose vibration had lured me into staring at its crisp bright screen. The text I was responding to was not worth the heart-shaped bruise that I shamefully covered in makeup the next day.</p><p>Until my ridiculous injury, I had laughed at stories about the dangers of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apps-and-street-signs-to-get-people-to-stop-texting-and-walking-2016-2">"walking while texting."</a> I'd eye-rolled at reports of painful <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphones-are-ruining-our-posture-and-mood-2015-12">"iPhone neck"</a> from leaning over tiny screens. And I'd never taken the idea of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-addiction-may-explain-the-link-between-social-media-and-depression-2016-4">social media addiction</a> seriously.</p><p>But that evening, I started to wonder if maybe our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-parents-raising-their-kids-tech-free-red-flag-2018-2">generation <em>was</em> screwed</a> - and maybe our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/qa-stanford-apple-iphone-less-addictive-2018-3">smartphones were to blame</a>.</p><p>So I did some digging: I pored over scientific studies and talked to researchers who specialize in psychology, sociology, addiction, and statistics. A few experts were emphatic that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-parents-raising-their-kids-tech-free-red-flag-2018-2">social media addiction is real</a> and should be added to the DSM IV, long considered the diagnostic bible for psychologists. Others hedged their bets and said more studies were needed.</p><p>But the conclusion I gathered was the opposite of what I've been hearing in the news. Social media and smartphones are not ruining our brains, nor will either become the downfall of a generation.</p><p>The vast majority of the large and well-designed statistical studies on smartphones and the brain actually suggest these technologies are having little to no effect on our health and well-being. And in some cases, the availability of social media and phones may be a power for good.</p><h2>'The lowest quality of evidence you could give that people wouldn't laugh you out of the room'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley/Shutterstock.com</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Most of the headlines about social media - the ones that warn us about <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/">smartphones destroying a generation</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphones-are-ruining-our-posture-and-mood-2015-12">ruining our posture and mood</a>, and <a href="https://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/smartphone-addiction/">eroding our brains</a> - are simply "a projection of our own fears," <a href="https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/andrew-przybylski/">Andrew Przybylski</a>, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, told Business Insider.</p><p>That's because most existing studies on social media's effects suffer from the same problems that have plagued the social science field for decades.</p><p>For one thing, many of the studies are too small to carry a lot of statistical power, Przybylski said. Researchers also often go into a study with an agenda or hypothesis that they hope their study will support.</p><p>Take, for example, the claim that because <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/">teen depression and iPhone ownership have been rising at the same time</a>, they must be connected. This is a classic example of <a href="https://www.fastcodesign.com/3030529/hilarious-graphs-prove-that-correlation-isnt-causation">correlation, not causation</a>: our phones are not necessarily to blame for cases of depression. </p><p>Przybylski has attempted to replicate some of the studies that suggested there's a strong tie between social media use and depression. When he used larger sets of people in a more well-controlled environment, he failed to find the same results. Instead, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797616678438?journalCode=pssa">he's found</a> either no link or a very, very small one.</p><p>"People are making expansive claims about the link between well-being and tech use, but if this was displayed on a Venn diagram, the circles would overlap one quarter of one percent," Przybylski said. "It is literally the lowest quality of evidence that you could give that people wouldn't laugh you out of the room."</p><p>Last year, Przybylski co-authored a study <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797616678438?journalCode=pssa">published in the journal Psychological Science</a> in which he examined the effect of screen-time on a sample of more than 120,000 British adolescents. The researchers asked teens how much time they spent streaming, gaming, and using their smartphones and computers. After running the data through a series of statistical analyses, it became clear to Przybylski that screen-time isn't harmful for the vast majority of teens. In fact, it's sometimes helpful - especially when teens are using it for two to four hours per day.</p><p>"Overall, the evidence indicated that moderate use of digital technology is not intrinsically harmful and may be advantageous in a connected world," Przybylski wrote in the paper.</p><p>Even when it came to those positive results, however, Przybylski said the significance of the effects they observed was tiny.</p><p>"If you're a parent and you have limited resources, the question becomes: which hill are you going to die on? Where do you want to put your limited resources? Do you want to put it into making sure your kid has breakfast or gets a full night's sleep? Because for those activities the effects are three times larger than they would be for screen-time," Przybylski said.</p><h2>Seeing problems everywhere</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/8485596201/in/photolist-dVQU7M-6NbQH1-dsKZo1-omtqsq-fgwbXQ-dpSDqy-o8BGGB-bwyuCG-a8wdVc-5Q9vpY-5Q9vSS-dsB2Y9-4zV17D-6b9aN3-jC6RoT-5Q9vVL-5Q9uTS-jmCc6N-npAE5a-nNu7sP-7SLQGz-58hFYL-sZomP-bntvfq-683Nv-o7wbn9-74WiNV-8KAEAZ-7Se6fK-jmziQT-8V8tAB-bDxPxR-6BVufY-cAQAqd-7ztVjs-65aek1-6N8gc1-a29zn6-dHiK4q-o8BGUa-9tQFx2-okNoMa-5c57BW-6YzqVs-8vHsBS-jh5h7L-a8uNkS-nvyFDn-aeHcud-bCUWtR">Flickr / Robert Couse-Baker</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Many parents fear that using social media is universally bad for teens. They get <a href="http://time.com/4974863/kids-smartphones-depression/">distracted by text messages</a> during class; they miss out on family time because they're <a href="https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/compulsive-texting-takes-toll-on-teenagers/">texting at the dinner table</a>; they <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-07/instagram-addiction-rising-issue-in-australia/9024890">scroll through Instagram</a> instead of going to sleep.</p><p>Once you see a few examples of phone-obsessed behavior - a whole family staring silently at their phones while eating a restaurant, say - you tend to notice it more wherever you go.</p><p>This may be partially a result of the phenomenon known as confirmation bias. Essentially, you see one event that supports an idea you already have, then because you are hyper-aware of these types of activities, you find more examples that appear to confirm that idea.</p><p>It's a bit like when you begin shopping for a certain kind of car - a Honda Civic, let's say - then suddenly notice that everyone appears to be driving a Honda Civic. In reality, that model hasn't gotten more popular overnight; you're simply primed to notice them.</p><p>"A lot of the research is bound up in these problems," Przybylski said. "Our concerns or panic about a new thing" - in this case, social media - "guide how we do the research and interpret the results."</p><p>Distorted, negative viewpoints have likely influenced the research on a host of new inventions and activities throughout history.</p><p>Unfortunately, paying attention exclusively to social harms makes us blind to the ways a new technology may be help us. In the case of social media, such biases can take attention away from other more serious problems.</p><p>"It's important to think about all the things we're <em>not</em> talking about here. We don't talk about things like privacy, advertisements, who owns your data, and all this stuff that's actually important. So actually it serves the interest of larger companies to be debating things like screen time and usage. When you bring it all together you have a big dog and pony show," Przybylski said.</p><h2>When social media may help, not harm</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://socialecology.uci.edu/faculty/codgers"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Lucas Jackson</span></p></a></div><p></p></div></div>Candice L. Odgers, a professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California Irvine, specializes in studying new technologies and adolescent development. She told Business Insider that social media may be having some positive effects on teens and young adults, but many people are not paying attention to that research.</p><p>"The digital world hasn't created a new species of children. Many of the things that attract them to things about social media are the same things that attract them to other activities," Odgers said. "There are a lot of good things that are happening with social media use today and there's been a really negative narrative about it."</p><p>A <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40894-017-0059-y.pdf">large review of 36 studies published in the journal Adolescent Research Review</a> concluded that instead of feeling hampered by their screens, teens are chiefly using digital communication to deepen and strengthen existing in-person relationships. The authors concluded that young adults find it easier to display affection, share intimacy, and even organize events and meet-ups online.</p><p>Similarly, the authors of a <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/925-how-does-the-time-children-spend-using-digital-technology-impact-their-mental-well.html">2017 review of literature on social media and screen time published by UNICEF</a> concluded that "digital technology seems to be beneficial for children's social relationships" and that most young people are using it to "enhance their existing relationships and stay in touch with friends."</p><p>Kids who struggle to make friends in person may even use digital tools to "compensate for this and build positive relationships," they said. A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcx144/4803282?redirectedFrom=fulltext">small 2018 study of British teens in foster care</a> supports that idea - it suggested that social media helped young people maintain healthy relationships with their birth parents, make new friends, and ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.</p><p>Other research, including a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15551393.2017.1388701">small 2017 study of Instagram users aged 18-55, </a>suggests that teens also turn to platforms like Instagram as a means of exploring the world and dreaming up potential adventures - a category of people the researchers classified as "feature lovers."</p><p>"Feature lovers want to see something that's exotic or unique; they're looking at Instagram and they're thinking, 'take me to China or Alaska or some place I can't afford to go,'" <a href="https://journalism.missouri.edu/doctoral-student/t-j-thomson/">T.J. Thomson</a>, the lead author of the study, told Business Insider.</p><h2>You're probably not 'addicted' to Facebook or Instagram</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The researchers behind these studies emphasized that social media and smartphones are not so much an "addiction" as a novel, attention-grabbing platform for enhancing existing activities and relationships.</p><p>In other words, social media has similar impacts on the brain as lots of other types of activity - too much or too little can be linked with negative impacts, while moderate use can have positive results.</p><p>"Claims that the brain might be hijacked or re-wired by digital technology are not supported by neuroscience evidence and should be treated with skepticism," the authors of the UNICEF review <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/925-how-does-the-time-children-spend-using-digital-technology-impact-their-mental-well.html">wrote</a>.</p><p>Addiction is a complicated but serious problem that neuroscientists have yet to fully understand. It typically stems from a cache of interconnected factors that include our environment and our genes. As a result, classifying our nearly-universal reliance on digital tools as an "addiction" simply isn't fair to the people whose lives have been torn apart by things like alcoholism or drug use.</p><p>A chief characterizing factor of addictive behavior is that use of a given substance interferes with daily activity so much that people can't function normally. Studies suggest that social media, by contrast, is often used to enhance existing relationships, and does not decrease real-world interactions or cause uniform harm.</p><p>Research does indicate, however, that people who may already be predisposed to depression and anxiety <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-your-smartphone-is-doing-to-your-brain-and-it-isnt-good-2018-3">could suffer more as a result</a> of using these types of "compare-and-despair" platforms.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1430162">series of studies published this month in the journal Information, Communication, and Society</a> found that while people's Facebook use had no impact on their social interactions later that day, scrolling through the platform did appear to be linked with lower feelings of well-being if the person had been alone earlier in the day.</p><p>"People who use social media alone likely aren't getting their face-to-face social needs met," Michael Kearney, a co-author of the study, <a href="https://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2018/0301-social-media-does-not-decrease-face-to-face-interactions-mu-study-finds/">said in a statement</a>. "So if they're not having their social needs met in their life outside of social media, it makes sense that looking at social media might make them feel even lonelier."</p><p>There are plenty of simple, healthy ways to address these risks without resorting to harsh measures like breaking up with your smartphone. I, for one, no longer text when I walk.</p><p>It's a small change, but my forehead is grateful.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://read.bi/next-smartphone"></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donating-my-body-science-when-i-die-2018-3">Here's why I'm donating my body to science</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Claims of social media 'addiction' are full of bad science - its real impact might be more positive than you think

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/strelka/32746424104/">Evgeny Belikov/Strelka Institute/Flickr</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>At this week's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-io-live-blog-updates-coverage-2018-5">Google I/O</a> event, the company unveiled an initiative targeted at addressing what many call "tech addiction."</strong></li><li><strong>The initiative includes a handful of new features that the company says are designed to help people keep track of their digital time.</strong></li><li><strong>Scientists who study smartphone and social media use say tech addiction isn't the real and concrete enemy that some are making it out to be, however.</strong></li></ul><p><br />True story: I once walked headfirst into a pole on my way home from work.</p><p>I can't blame the darkness (the sun had only just begun to set), and I can't blame my vision (I'd recently gotten new glasses). But I can blame my iPhone, whose vibration had lured me into staring at its crisp bright screen. The text I was responding to was not worth the heart-shaped bruise that I shamefully covered in makeup the next day.</p><p>Until my ridiculous injury, I had laughed at stories about the dangers of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apps-and-street-signs-to-get-people-to-stop-texting-and-walking-2016-2">"walking while texting."</a> I'd eye-rolled at reports of painful <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphones-are-ruining-our-posture-and-mood-2015-12">"iPhone neck"</a> from leaning over tiny screens. And I'd never taken the idea of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-addiction-may-explain-the-link-between-social-media-and-depression-2016-4">social media addiction</a> seriously.</p><p>But that evening, I started to wonder if maybe our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-parents-raising-their-kids-tech-free-red-flag-2018-2">generation <em>was</em> screwed</a> - and maybe our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/qa-stanford-apple-iphone-less-addictive-2018-3">smartphones were to blame</a>.</p><p>At this week's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-io-live-blog-updates-coverage-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google I/O</a> event, the search giant's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-io-live-blog-updates-coverage-2018-5"> annual developer conference</a>, Google unveiled a <a href="https://wellbeing.google/#_ga=2.179902180.1735966381.1525880046-112300203.1475248017">"Digital Wellbeing"</a> initiative that it claims is aimed at curbing the phenomenon. Google said the plan would focus on fostering what it calls "JOMO," the <em>joy</em> of missing out, a clever play on FOMO, the fear of missing out. The initiative includes a handful of new features that the company says are designed to help people keep track of their digital time.</p><p>But the reality is that "tech addiction" - at least as a real, full-blown dilemma that causes clinical levels of impairment or distress - may not exist. In fact, some scientists who study the issue believe that tech companies like Google are focusing on a fake problem to avoid addressing issues like privacy and data ownership.</p><p>"It serves the interest of larger companies to be debating things like screen time and usage. When you bring it all together you have a big dog and pony show," <a href="https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/andrew-przybylski/">Andrew Przybylski</a>, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-iphone-facebook-instagram-addiction-2018-3">told Business Insider</a> in March.</p><h2>'Helping people with their digital well-being is more important to us than ever'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Stephen Lam/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Google CEO Sundar Pichai.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Google said at the conference that it wants to help people better track how frequently they use their devices so that they can spend more time doing other things.</p><p>"Helping people with their digital well-being is more important to us than ever," Google's vice president of product management Sameer Samat said this week.</p><p>That includes new features like "Dashboard," which shows you how often you're using an Android smartphone or tablet.</p><p>Importantly, the company isn't using the word "addiction" anywhere in its plan.</p><p>That's probably a good thing, Przybylski said. Addiction is a real disorder, and one that's already heavily stigmatized. Exaggerated claims about the problems that result from using our devices only makes it worse.</p><p>Still despite Google's avoidance of the word "addiction," the company's new initiative leans heavily into the idea that by better using our time on devices, we can be happier, better people.</p><p>The hard research suggests that this is an exaggerated problem with a fake solution. In reality, all of the headlines that warn us about things like <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/">smartphones destroying a generation</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphones-are-ruining-our-posture-and-mood-2015-12">ruining our posture and mood</a>, and <a href="https://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/smartphone-addiction/">eroding our brains</a> are simply "a projection of our own fears," Przybylski said.</p><h2>Small studies, big problems</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The existing body of research on "tech addiction" suffers from several big problems.</p><p>Most are too small to carry statistical power. Many are written by researchers with a clear agenda. And the majority don't even establish that a device is causing a problem, merely that it could be contributing to an existing one.</p><p>Take, for example, the claim that because <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/">teen depression and iPhone ownership have been rising at the same time</a>, they must be connected. This is a classic example of <a href="https://www.fastcodesign.com/3030529/hilarious-graphs-prove-that-correlation-isnt-causation">correlation, not causation</a>: our phones are not necessarily to blame for cases of depression.</p><p>Przybylski has attempted to replicate some of the studies that suggested there's a strong tie between social media use and depression. When he used larger sets of people in a more well-controlled environment, he failed to find the same results. Instead, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797616678438?journalCode=pssa">he's found</a> either no link or a very, very small one.</p><p>"People are making expansive claims about the link between well-being and tech use, but if this was displayed on a Venn diagram, the circles would overlap one quarter of one percent," Przybylski said. "It is literally the lowest quality of evidence that you could give that people wouldn't laugh you out of the room."</p><p>Last year, Przybylski co-authored a study <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797616678438?journalCode=pssa">published in the journal Psychological Science</a> in which he examined the effect of screen-time on a sample of more than 120,000 British adolescents. The researchers asked teens how much time they spent streaming, gaming, and using their smartphones and computers. After running the data through a series of statistical analyses, it became clear to Przybylski that screen-time isn't harmful for the vast majority of teens. In fact, it's sometimes helpful - especially when teens are using it for two to four hours per day.</p><p>"Overall, the evidence indicated that moderate use of digital technology is not intrinsically harmful and may be advantageous in a connected world," Przybylski wrote in the paper.</p><p>Even when it came to those positive results, however, Przybylski said the significance of the effects they observed was tiny.</p><p>"If you're a parent and you have limited resources, the question becomes: which hill are you going to die on? Where do you want to put your limited resources? Do you want to put it into making sure your kid has breakfast or gets a full night's sleep? Because for those activities the effects are three times larger than they would be for screen-time," Przybylski said.</p><h2>Seeing problems everywhere</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/8485596201/in/photolist-dVQU7M-6NbQH1-dsKZo1-omtqsq-fgwbXQ-dpSDqy-o8BGGB-bwyuCG-a8wdVc-5Q9vpY-5Q9vSS-dsB2Y9-4zV17D-6b9aN3-jC6RoT-5Q9vVL-5Q9uTS-jmCc6N-npAE5a-nNu7sP-7SLQGz-58hFYL-sZomP-bntvfq-683Nv-o7wbn9-74WiNV-8KAEAZ-7Se6fK-jmziQT-8V8tAB-bDxPxR-6BVufY-cAQAqd-7ztVjs-65aek1-6N8gc1-a29zn6-dHiK4q-o8BGUa-9tQFx2-okNoMa-5c57BW-6YzqVs-8vHsBS-jh5h7L-a8uNkS-nvyFDn-aeHcud-bCUWtR">Flickr / Robert Couse-Baker</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Many parents fear that using social media is universally bad for teens. They get <a href="http://time.com/4974863/kids-smartphones-depression/">distracted by text messages</a> during class; they miss out on family time because they're <a href="https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/compulsive-texting-takes-toll-on-teenagers/">texting at the dinner table</a>; they <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-07/instagram-addiction-rising-issue-in-australia/9024890">scroll through Instagram</a> instead of going to sleep.</p><p>Once you see a few examples of phone-obsessed behavior - a whole family staring silently at their phones while eating a restaurant, say - you tend to notice it more wherever you go.</p><p>This may be partially a result of the phenomenon known as confirmation bias. Essentially, you see one event that supports an idea you already have, then because you are hyper-aware of these types of activities, you find more examples that appear to confirm that idea.</p><p>It's a bit like when you begin shopping for a certain kind of car - a Honda Civic, let's say - then suddenly notice that everyone appears to be driving a Honda Civic. In reality, that model hasn't gotten more popular overnight; you're simply primed to notice them.</p><p>"A lot of the research is bound up in these problems," Przybylski said. "Our concerns or panic about a new thing" - in this case, social media - "guide how we do the research and interpret the results."</p><p>Distorted, negative viewpoints have likely influenced the research on a host of new inventions and activities throughout history.</p><p>Unfortunately, paying attention exclusively to social harms makes us blind to the ways a new technology may be help us. In the case of social media, such biases can take attention away from other more serious problems.</p><p>"It's important to think about all the things we're <em>not</em> talking about here. We don't talk about things like privacy, advertisements, who owns your data, and all this stuff that's actually important," Przybylski said.</p><h2>When social media may help, not harm</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://socialecology.uci.edu/faculty/codgers"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Lucas Jackson</span></p></a></div><p></p></div></div>Candice L. Odgers, a professor of psychology and social behavior at the University of California Irvine, specializes in studying new technologies and adolescent development. She told Business Insider in March that social media may be having some positive effects on teens and young adults, but many people are not paying attention to that research.</p><p>"The digital world hasn't created a new species of children. Many of the things that attract them to things about social media are the same things that attract them to other activities," Odgers said.</p><p>"There are a lot of good things that are happening with social media use today and there's been a really negative narrative about it."</p><p>A <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40894-017-0059-y.pdf">large review of 36 studies published in the journal Adolescent Research Review</a> concluded that instead of feeling hampered by their screens, teens are chiefly using digital communication to deepen and strengthen existing in-person relationships. The authors concluded that young adults find it easier to display affection, share intimacy, and even organize events and meet-ups online.</p><p>Similarly, the authors of a <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/925-how-does-the-time-children-spend-using-digital-technology-impact-their-mental-well.html">2017 review of literature on social media and screen time published by UNICEF</a> concluded that "digital technology seems to be beneficial for children's social relationships" and that most young people are using it to "enhance their existing relationships and stay in touch with friends."</p><p>Kids who struggle to make friends in person may even use digital tools to "compensate for this and build positive relationships," they said. A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcx144/4803282?redirectedFrom=fulltext">small 2018 study of British teens in foster care</a> supports that idea - it suggested that social media helped young people maintain healthy relationships with their birth parents, make new friends, and ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.</p><p>Other research, including a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15551393.2017.1388701">small 2017 study of Instagram users aged 18-55, </a>suggests that teens also turn to platforms like Instagram as a means of exploring the world and dreaming up potential adventures - a category of people the researchers classified as "feature lovers."</p><p>"Feature lovers want to see something that's exotic or unique; they're looking at Instagram and they're thinking, 'take me to China or Alaska or some place I can't afford to go,'" <a href="https://journalism.missouri.edu/doctoral-student/t-j-thomson/">T.J. Thomson</a>, the lead author of the study, told Business Insider in March.</p><h2>You're probably not 'addicted' to Facebook or Instagram</h2><p>The researchers behind these studies emphasized that social media and smartphones are not so much an "addiction" as a novel, attention-grabbing platform for enhancing existing activities and relationships.</p><p>In other words, social media has similar impacts on the brain as lots of other types of activity - too much or too little can be linked with negative impacts, while moderate use can have positive results.</p><p>"Claims that the brain might be hijacked or re-wired by digital technology are not supported by neuroscience evidence and should be treated with skepticism," the authors of the UNICEF review <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/925-how-does-the-time-children-spend-using-digital-technology-impact-their-mental-well.html">wrote</a>.</p><p>Addiction is a complicated but serious problem that neuroscientists have yet to fully understand. It typically stems from a cache of interconnected factors that include our environment and our genes. As a result, classifying our nearly-universal reliance on digital tools as an "addiction" simply isn't fair to the people whose lives have been torn apart by things like alcoholism or drug use.</p><p>A chief characterizing factor of addictive behavior is that use of a given substance interferes with daily activity so much that people can't function normally. Studies suggest that social media, by contrast, is often used to enhance existing relationships, and does not decrease real-world interactions or cause uniform harm.</p><p>Research does indicate, however, that people who may already be predisposed to depression and anxiety <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-your-smartphone-is-doing-to-your-brain-and-it-isnt-good-2018-3">could suffer more as a result</a> of using these types of "compare-and-despair" platforms.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1430162">series of studies published in the journal Information, Communication, and Society</a> found that while people's Facebook use had no impact on their social interactions later that day, scrolling through the platform did appear to be linked with lower feelings of well-being if the person had been alone earlier in the day.</p><p>"People who use social media alone likely aren't getting their face-to-face social needs met," Michael Kearney, a co-author of the study, <a href="https://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2018/0301-social-media-does-not-decrease-face-to-face-interactions-mu-study-finds/">said in a statement</a>. "So if they're not having their social needs met in their life outside of social media, it makes sense that looking at social media might make them feel even lonelier."</p><p>There are plenty of simple, healthy ways to address these risks without resorting to harsh measures like breaking up with your smartphone. If Google's latest initiative can help with that, then I'm all for it. But it's important to remember that these initatives do not erase larger concerns around privacy and data ownership.</p><p>I, for one, no longer text when I walk. But I'm still actively monitoring what I share with Google, Apple, Instagram, and Facebook.</p><p>It's a small change, but my forehead - and my sense of "digital well-being" - are grateful.</p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Google stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/GOOG-Quote"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-never-release-pet-goldfish-into-wild-2018-4">Why you should never release your pet goldfish into the wild</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Google has announced it's taking major steps to curb 'tech addiction' - here's the reality

<p>Going to a party tonight? There will probably be drinks. If you're a gin fan, here's what we suggest.&#xa0;</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.twistednose.co.uk/">Twisted Nose</a></h3>
<p>This London Dry gin combines traditional distillation methods with watercress and New Forest Spring water, which the company says creates a light and peppery finish.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/winchester-distillery/twisted-nose-winchester-dry-gin/">Price: £32.83 </a></p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container"><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.cotswoldbrewing.com/cotswold-gin">Cotswold Gin</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.cotswoldbrewing.com/buy-direct-retail"> Price: £37</a></p>
<p>Better known for its beers, Cotswold Brewing Co. also makes gin, featuring flavours like coriander and oris root (the perfumed root of the iris flower) found nearby. It's a 100% traditional grain gin and works particularly well with elderflower. How very British.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.pickeringsgin.com/">Pickering's</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.pickeringsgin.com/product/pickerings-gin/"> Price: £29.50 </a></p>
<p>Based on an original Bombay recipe, supposedly handwritten on a fragment of paper dated July 17, 1947, it's been a secret for over 66 years, resurfacing only in 2013. Today the nine botanicals have been tweaked for contemporary palates, and the gin is made in an old copper still.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.annodistillers.co.uk/content/our-gin">Anno </a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.annodistillers.co.uk/shop/">Price: £34.95</a></p>
<p>Venture deep into rural Kent and you'll find Anno, a gin made with a secret blend of local hops, lavender, and other botanicals. Its most unusual ingredient, however, is samphire - more often found in fish dishes.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.southwesterndistillery.com/">Tarquin's </a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.ginfoundry.com/gin/tarquins-gin/">Price: £36</a></p>
<p>Next we turn to Cornwall, to an independent, family-run company that handcrafts its bottles in tiny batches. It's a modern take on a classic London Dry, making use of fragrant Devon violets and orange zest.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container"><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.sacredspiritscompany.com/">Sacred</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.sacredspiritscompany.com/"> Price: £30.33 </a></p>
<p>Remarkably, Sacred Gin is so small it's made in a microdistillery in Highgate, north London, in someone's home. Made of 12 botanicals, it is created using vacuum distillation, which is set at a lower temperature than others.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.littlebirdgin.com/home.php">Little Bird</a></h3>
<p>Price: £20 from Maltby Street Market in Borough</p>
<p>This new London Dry is also made in London, but south of the river in Peckham. It's big on citrus, notably grapefruit, which makes it refreshing and good in a Negroni.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></p>
<h3 id="yui_3_17_2_1_1415982684143_270" data-content-field="title"><a href="http://www.damhile.co.uk/">Da Mhile</a></h3>
<p>Price: £30</p>
<p>This Welsh seaweed gin launched on St David's Day and is designed to complement seafood. Alongside regular perfumes, it's infused with fresh seaweed from the Newquay coast for three weeks.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.berkeleysquaregin.com/">Berkeley Square</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/berkeley-square-gin/">Price: £29.89</a></p>
<p>Berkeley Square Gin is made by hand in Warrington using a bouquet garni distillation method with botanicals wrapped in muslin.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container"><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.cornishgin.co.uk/">Elemental</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.drinkfinder.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=elemental+gin">Price: £31.75</a></p>
<p>Back to Cornwall, home of Elemental Cornish Gin. Inspired by the artisan producers of London, the business makes use of local herbs and a copper distilling process.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.whitleyneill.com/">Whitley Neill</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=2640">Price: £21.67</a></p>
<p>This relative newcomer uses the idea of adventure, and a big batch of aromatics, as the basis for its gin. It's also made by Johnny Neill, a descendant of Thomas Greenall (if necessary, see <a href="http://www.greenallsgin.com/">Greenall's</a> gin).</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.burleighsgin.com/our_gin.php">Burleigh's</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.burleighsgin.com/our_gin.php">Price: £32.50</a></p>
<p>Burleigh's comes from Leicester, which is unusual as the town isn't famed for its breweries or distilleries. The distillery says it's crisp, complex, and has a piney, citrus finish. It's good as a collins, or served long with Parma violet liquor.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></span></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.liverpoolgin.com/">Liverpool Gin</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.liverpoolgin.com/?post_type=product">Price: £48</a></p>
<p>Brand new and very exciting, Liverpool Gin is the work of the Liverpool Organic Brewery, which is hoping to breathe new life into a city that once boasted a flourishing gin trade. It's apparently often served with watermelon or mint leaves.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.sw4gin.com/">SW4</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/sw4/sw4-london-dry-gin/?srh=1">Price: £18.74</a></p>
<p>As the name suggests, SW4 Gin is another of London's offerings, made in Clapham - where gin flows as if water. SW4 (which is also the Clapham postcode) is described as clear and pure, which makes it nice in a martini.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.lakesdistillery.com/en/">Lakes Gin </a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.lakesdistillery.com/shop/category/gin/">Price: £29.95</a></p>
<p>The Lakes Distillery in Cumbria has managed to produce popular small-batch whisky and vodka, and it has now turned its hand to gin. This one is made in 1,000-litre pot stills and is served without any fruit or garnish.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.kingofsohodrinks.com/">King of Soho</a></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.kingofsohodrinks.com/buy/">Price: £34.95</a></p>
<p>As the name suggests, this gin hails from the heart of London, Soho. It's a typical London dry, hailed as smooth and full-bodied, but is set aside with additions like lots of angelica root and cassia.</p>
<p><span class="KonaFilter image-container"><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"></span><p></p></span></p>

16 Of The Best Artisan Gins To Try On New Year's Eve

<p class="source">
	<a href="http://www.proflowers.com/">Flickr/ProFlowers</a></p>
<p class="caption">
	Here's a parsley gin julep.</p>
<p> In the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> right now, it's all about gin. Especially in London, where the Negroni, a mix of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, has been<a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/bars/londons-best-alternative-negronis-9870856.html">named</a><a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/bars/londons-best-alternative-negronis-9870856.html"> the drink of the decade</a>. It would probably be elected to Parliament were it to stand.</p>
<p>
	Britian has a long obsession with gin. In the 1700s, 10 million gallons of the stuff was distilled in the capital every year during the so-called <a href="http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/18th-century-gin-craze">Gin Craze</a>. A century later, British citizens and soldiers in India <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/foreigners/2013/08/gin_and_tonic_kept_the_british_empire_healthy_the_drink_s_quinine_powder.single.html">mixed quinine, used to stave off malaria, with gin and tonic</a> to make the elixir more palatable. Gin lost favour in the mid-1950s when another clear spirit, vodka, entered the bar scene.</p>
<p>
	Today, <a href="http://www.ginvodka.org/factsheets/Gin_Market_Global_Picture.asp">Britain is the biggest exporter of gin in the world</a> but it is also experiencing a full-fledged renaissance at home. Sales of the tipple <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/22dde2d0-08e0-11e4-9d3c-00144feab7de.html#axzz3KNAecjlA">have increased by more than 25% since 2010</a> to £355 million. Some <a href="http://offlicencenews.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/14030/It_s_hip_to_sip.html">industry experts even think gin is on its way to overtaking vodka</a> as the country's favourite glass, largely thanks to artisan brands like Chase, Sipsmith, and Bloom that have helped to boost gin's image and make it more appealing to a younger crowd.</p>
<p>
	While established brands like Beefeater and <a href="http://www.diageo.com/en-row/ourbrands/categories/spirits/Pages/Gin.aspx">Diageo are still enjoyed by consumers</a> (sales of <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/22dde2d0-08e0-11e4-9d3c-00144feab7de.html#axzz3KNaFL5If">premium gin now account for 22% of the gin market</a>, according to the Financial Times), smaller craft producers are popping up everywhere. Last year alone, 11 started production and a projected 15 distilleries will be churning out the booze by the end of 2014, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/gin-on-the-rise-to-beat-vodka-as-spirit-of-the-age-9537131.html">according to The Independent</a>.</p>
<p>
	If you're thinking of jumping onto the gin trend, we've compiled a list of new and lesser-known varieties that are worth trying:</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.twistednose.co.uk/">Twisted Nose</a></h3>
<p>
	This London Dry gin combines traditional distillation methods with watercress and New Forest Spring water, which the company's says creates a light and peppery finish.</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/winchester-distillery/twisted-nose-winchester-dry-gin/">Price: £32.83 </a></p>

<p class="source">
	Twisted Nose</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.cotswoldbrewing.com/cotswold-gin">Cotswold Gin</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.cotswoldbrewing.com/buy-direct-retail">Price: £37</a></p>
<p>
	Better known for its beers, Cotswold Brewing Co. also makes gin, featuring flavours like coriander and oris root (the perfumed root of the iris flower) found nearby. It's an 100% traditional grain gin and works particularly well with elderflower. How very British.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.pickeringsgin.com/">Pickering's</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.pickeringsgin.com/product/pickerings-gin/">Price: £29.50 </a></p>
<p>
	Based on an original Bombay recipe, supposedly handwritten on a fragment of paper dated July 17, 1947, it's been a secret for over 66 years, only resurfacing in 2013. Today the nine botanicals have been tweaked for contemporary palates, and the gin is made in an old copper still.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.annodistillers.co.uk/content/our-gin">Anno </a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.annodistillers.co.uk/shop/">Price: £34.95</a></p>
<p>
	Venture deep into rural Kent and you'll find Anno, a gin made with a secret blend of local hops, lavender, and other botanicals. Its most unusual ingredient, however, is samphire - more often found in fish dishes.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.southwesterndistillery.com/">Tarquin's </a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.ginfoundry.com/gin/tarquins-gin/">Price: £36</a></p>
<p>
	Next we go to Cornwall, to an independent, family company that handcrafts its bottles in tiny batches. It's a modern take on a classic London Dry, making use of fragrant Devon violets and orange zest.</p>

<p class="source">
	Tarquin's Gin</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.sacredspiritscompany.com/">Sacred</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.sacredspiritscompany.com/">Price: £30.33 </a></p>
<p>
	Remarkably, Sacred Gin is so small it's made in a microdistillery in Highgate, north London, in someone's own home. Made of 12 botanicals, it's created using vacuum distillation, which is set at a lower temperature than others.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.littlebirdgin.com/home.php">Little Bird</a></h3>
<p>
	Price: £20 from Maltby Street Market in Borough</p>
<p>
	This new London Dry is also made in London, but south of the river in Peckham. It's big on citrus, notably grapefruit, which makes it refreshing and good in a Negroni.</p>

<p class="source">
	Little Bird</p>
<h3 data-content-field="title" id="yui_3_17_2_1_1415982684143_270">
	<a href="http://www.damhile.co.uk/">Da Mhile</a></h3>
<p>
	Price: £30</p>
<p>
	This Welsh seaweed gin launched on St David's Day and is designed to complement seafood. Alongside regular perfumes, it's infused with fresh seaweed from the Newquay coast for three weeks.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.berkeleysquaregin.com/">Berkeley Square</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/berkeley-square-gin/">Price: £29.89</a></p>
<p>
	Berkeley Square Gin is made by hand in Warrington, using a bouquet garni distillation method with botanicals wrapped in muslin.</p>

<p class="source">
	Berkeley Square</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.cornishgin.co.uk/">Elemental</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.drinkfinder.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=elemental+gin">Price: £31.75</a></p>
<p>
	Back to Cornwall now, home of Elemental Cornish Gin. Inspired by the artisan producers of London, the business makes use of local herbs and a copper distilling process.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.whitleyneill.com/">Whitley Neill</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=2640">Price: £21.67</a></p>
<p>
	This relative newcomer uses the idea of adventure, and a big batch of aromatics, as the basis for its gin. It's also made by Johnny Neill, a descendant of Thomas Greenall (if necessary, see <a href="http://www.greenallsgin.com/">Greenall's</a> gin).</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.burleighsgin.com/our_gin.php">Burleigh's</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.burleighsgin.com/our_gin.php">Price: £32.50</a></p>
<p>
	Burleigh's comes from Leicester, which is unusual as the town isn't famed for its breweries or distilleries. The distillery says it's crisp, complex, and has a piney, citrus finish. It's good as a collins, or served long with Parma violet liquor.</p>

<p class="source">
	Burleigh's</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.liverpoolgin.com/">Liverpool Gin</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.liverpoolgin.com/?post_type=product">Price: £48</a></p>
<p>
	Brand new and very exciting, Liverpool Gin is the work of the Liverpool Organic Brewery, which is hoping to breathe new life into a city that once boasted a flourishing gin trade. It's apparently often served with watermelon or mint leaves.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.sw4gin.com/">SW4</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/sw4/sw4-london-dry-gin/?srh=1">Price: £18.74</a></p>
<p>
	As the name suggests, SW4 Gin is another of London's offerings, made in Clapham - where gin flows as if water. SW4 (which is also the Clapham postcode) is described as clear and pure, which makes it nice in a martini.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.lakesdistillery.com/en/">Lakes Gin </a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.lakesdistillery.com/shop/category/gin/">Price: £29.95</a></p>
<p>
	The Lakes Distillery in Cumbria has managed to produce popular small-batch whisky and vodka, and has now turned its hand to gin. This one is made in 1,000-litre pot stills, and is served without any fruit or garnish.</p>
<h3>
	<a href="http://www.kingofsohodrinks.com/">King of Soho</a></h3>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.kingofsohodrinks.com/buy/">Price: £34.95</a></p>
<p>
	As the name suggests, this gin hails from the heart of London, Soho. It's a typical London dry, hailed as smooth and full-bodied, but is set aside with additions like lots of angelica root and cassia.</p>

<p class="source">
	King of Soho</p>

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