My favourite drink as a child was tea. I started on it so young I might as well have been drinking it from the bottle. And I don’t mean milky tea; I mean a proper builder’s cup of tea. I grew up in Essex and some of my earliest and happiest memories are drinking tea and having a natter with my nan who lived nearby. In my book, when you have a cup of tea the world feels like a better place.
Now I’ve matured, my first drink of the day is coffee rather than tea. Every morning I’ll have two cups of black coffee. My wife bought me one of those fancy bean-to-cup machines for my birthday, so I can make a decent cup in the comfort of our Lincolnshire home.
I had my first pint of beer much too young to admit. My uncle Greg and Auntie Daph owned pubs, and my favourite to go to was The Cricketers in Woodford, East London. My uncle would get me a pint of real ale and I’d sit there drinking and chatting. I don’t want to get my uncle sent to prison, but it was definitely before I’d reached my teens!
Adam’s ideal drinking companion would be architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the ‘mind-blowing’ Fallingwater
The way people thought about alcohol when I was younger was much different. My nan saw Scotch as medicinal and, from when I was about seven, she would put a drop in my tea in the morning if I was snuffly. Also sometimes before school she’d make me eggnog: egg, sugar, milk and a dash of whisky. It was a different mentality.
I’m still a big real ale fan, but I also love a glass of red wine in the evening. We’ve got an Adnams Brewery shop where I live with my wife Sulina, and we love to look around and find something nice to share. They have the best array of wines, and I’ll move from Italian to French to New World reds constantly. I’ll go in and spend hours chatting. I’m definitely one of their best customers.
My most memorable drinks are the first pints I’ve had after the Chelsea Flower Show. I’ve been lucky enough to win seven gold medals there, and it takes so much planning and effort from a whole team of people to create something so memorable. Sometimes I’ll go for a drink at a Chelsea pub with fellow gardeners, but I’m very partial to a quiet drink on my own. Often, in summer, I’ll take a glass of red out and have ten minutes to myself while I look around my garden.
After a few drinks, I’ll start belting out Glen Campbell’s ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’. I feel the lyrics tell my story. It’s about a slightly naughty boy who somehow makes it big and has this bonkers life. That’s what I feel happened to me. It makes me smile.
If I could have a drink with anyone alive or dead I’d pick the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He was this insanely talented and equally arrogant creative who in the early 20th century designed the most amazing buildings completely interwoven with their surroundings. My favourite is Fallingwater, a Pennsylvania home and now museum he completed in 1937, that has a waterfall flowing through it. It’s mind blowing.
At my funeral I want Adnams real ale to be served. I’ve always told my sons Jacob and Oakley they should hire a local boozer, and their job is to deal with the barrels. I’m such a real ale fanatic and I’ve converted all my family. When I met my wife she wouldn’t touch a beer, and now she’ll happily come to a beer festival with me. My daughters Abi-Jade and Amber-Lily are ale fans too. So at my funeral I’ll have paid for the barrels for them to enjoy – and nobody can leave until they’re empty!
Adam Frost will be on tour 14 March to 8 April and again in the autumn; tickets at fane.co.uk/adam-frost
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Gardener’s World host ADAM FROST: ‘I’m partial to a quiet glass of red in the garden’
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