Welcome to The Pellicle Mixtape, a monthly feature where I (Pellicle co-founder Jonathan Hamilton) will be asking people from across the food and drink industry to create a playlist set to a theme of their choosing.

The hope is to gain a small insight into that person and their place of work through not only their song choices but also the thought process and level of obsessiveness they put into their mixtape. I’ll also be asking them what they’ve been enjoying eating and drinking recently, and finding out what else has been exciting them in the world of food and drink.

This month’s mix was meant to be from someone else—and will come out in a couple of weeks—but with the country going into lockdown this past Monday, and with many working from home for the last few weeks already, I knew we were going to need something different for this one.

And so, I called in a last-minute, socially-distanced favour with my pals at Pressure Drop Brewing in London to make us an extra-special self-isolation mixtape filled with positivity and fun vibes for your weekend of webcam parties, sourdough bread baking, board gaming, and government-mandated exercise.

Why did I turn to these two in times of need?

Back when I was just a lad (2016), I moved to London to work for a little-known brewery called Beavertown, alongside Clare, as part of what was then a very small team. I would make frequent visits from the production floor to the sales and marketing office, especially on a Friday afternoon—just before the basketball would come out and hours of drinking would commence as if we didn’t have homes to go to. It was clear that Clare was the driving force of fun in the office. We’ve remained close friends ever since and she has always been a source of laughter, positive vibes and sage advice, with a fair amount of sass thrown in for good measure.

A few summers ago Clare made the decision to leave Beavertown and endure an additional minute of London commuting to work for the excellent Pressure Drop Brewing, conveniently located on the same industrial estate in Tottenham. I think it’s fair to say that Clare found her equal in office fun times with Sienna at Pressure Drop. Calling around to visit the team there was always a good time, whether it was to borrow brewing ingredients, swap beers, or just to try and get an invite to their staff BBQs.

And so, they answered the call and came up with this—the first Pellicle Mixtape double-bill. I’ve been informed that Sienna is the playlist queen of the office so she was left in charge of what I can attest is a mix of absolute tunes which will help you get through your Friday of working from home and in the mood for a weekend of good old-fashioned stay indoors fun.

Over to you, Sienna!

Volume 7 — Pressure Drop Brewing Sales and Marketing Manager Sienna O'Rourke

I made this playlist on the first day of WFH [working from home] enforcement. I was feeling kind of down in the dumps (weren’t we all) and I wanted to put together a playlist to send to my pals that would take us through to lunchtime feeling a bit better than before.

I'm usually the one who ends up being the office DJ. I like to play a mix of relaxing tunes and sing-along bops, and no one has complained so far. Except maybe when I’ve played Phil Collins...we aren’t allowed to play Big Phil [this is a travesty—beer & cider ed].

When “The Dads” are out of the office Clare and I usually crank some cheesy pop—Ariana Grande/Lizzo/Dua Lipa—total guilty pleasures. This mix doesn’t quite go that far, but it's a crowd-pleasing, genre-hopping good time.

What have you been drinking recently?

Clare recently taught me that you can draw a smiley face in the head of a pint of Guinness and now my life is 100% more joyful. When it comes to ‘real beer’ the Howling Hops Push Push is a treat (hello Sabro) and anything by Deya is a winner in my book. But let's be realistic, I’m mostly drinking Pressure Drop staffies [can of staff beer—ed], and I am grateful every day for how delicious our beer is and how I get to drink it for free.

Out in the real world (ahh memories) I love to drink wine that someone who knows what they are talking about has chosen for me—the gang at my local, Nobody Asked Me picked me a real winner last time I was there—Christoph Hoch Hollenburger—a gloriously peachy skin contact Riesling. Tart, funky and full-on. It was perfect.

Last night Tim (my husband) started fermenting a batch of Skeeter Pee [fermented, alcoholic lemonade it would seem—ed], so I’ve got that to look forward to in the coming weeks. Could Skeeter Pee be the new hard seltzer?

Where/What have you been eating recently?

Supa Ya Ramen for the most flavourful broth you’ve ever tried. Seriously, so good! Luke just upgraded from his Instagram supper club to a real bricks-and-mortar joint on Hackney Rd. I’ll be visiting for sure once this lockdown is lifted.

I nabbed a whole pork belly from the butchers at the start of the lockdown life, made this all-belly porchetta from Serious Eats. We roasted half and froze the other for cooking later. I'm feeling quite smug about it.

My pal Terri makes the most amazing ice cream sarnies—if you could package happiness then Happy Endings ice cream sandwiches would be it.

What have you been reading recently?

I’m hoping to get started on some ferments in this downtime so I have been reading the Bar Tartine cookbook. I’ve had this book for the last 3 years and I’m yet to attempt any of the complicated and time-consuming recipes.

Ed from Square Root Soda and I started a cookbook club last year, and we only managed to do one cookbook (shout out to Lucky Peach) because Bar Tartine was suggested as the 2nd and it was just far too complicated. Now that I find myself in isolation with a lot of time on my hands, I’m ready to give it another go.

Pressure Drop Brewing Sales Coordinator Clare Doherty

What have you been drinking recently?

I had been trying to cut down on having beer in the house, so had really been enjoying a Lidl gin & tonic of an evening. I haven’t been able to get to Lidl in these trying times, so we’ve been on a big wine tip from The Little Wine Shop off Church St. A chilled Gamay, that’s a winner. They also do a lovely generic Spanish white wine for £8.50, been ploughing through that bad boy.

We got a bottle of Woodford Reserve for Christmas that probably won’t make it out the other side of these socially distant times.

My last pint in a pub was Deya’s Steady Rolling Man in The Axe in Stoke Newington, which is a pretty ideal pint memory to carry in my heart until doors open again, at which point I intend to move into the Chesham Arms and drink Pale Fire & [The Kernel] Table Beer for three weeks straight. Suitably pickled, it’ll be on to a Rail & Sail back to Roscommon for a pint with my dad in JJ Harlow’s.

Where/What have you been eating recently?

I have been thinking a lot about where to go for my First Meal of Freedom. Currently, Singburi in Leytonstone is top of my list. The egg-fried rice alone is a thing of pure beauty.

Last time I was in Dublin to see The Girls, we went to Sprezzatura and I need to go back and eat everything on the menu. Then, if I’m in Dublin, a trip to M&L is in order, where I will make myself a house of their stir-fried green beans and then I will eat that house.

I love cooking, and I love cookbooks. You know those people who love riffing and being creative in the kitchen? Cancel that. My inherent Teacher’s Pet is all about following those instructions and getting those instructions right. I’m trying to go easy on ‘isolation projects’, but I am hoping to cook as many recipes from Claudia Roden’s Book of Jewish Food as I can, so you can blame her if I come out of These Trying Times stuffing pigeons and making wildly intricate pastries.

What have you been reading recently?

My local bookshop, Stoke Newington Bookshop is currently closed, but I believe that they are offering local deliveries. The libraries have closed now too. I had only recently re-discovered how great libraries are, possibly as a result of spending too much money in the bookshop.

I recently read Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder & Memory in Northern Ireland, and it was one of the most engaging, gripping and well-written books I have read in a very long time. Not necessarily an upbeat choice, but like many Irish people living in the UK I am constantly shocked at how little people understand about this region—if anyone wanted to rectify that, this book is the place to start.

For a feel-good read, I read Mr Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo this year and it is fabulous, and set in Stoke Newington (this may only be a plus to me). A truly flawed character, but ultimately a story about love <3.

Also, I like jigsaws.