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Post by helrunar on Aug 15, 2021 18:49:40 GMT
Thanks, Sam. That's interesting to learn about. Hard cider (from apples) is also in the midst of an extensive revival here, and I think there may be a pear variety... I might be confusing it with pear sake, though. Embarrassingly for someone interloping in a Working Men's Club, I only very seldom drink anything alcoholic and I'm pretty uninformed about these things.
Fair enough that mead isn't your brew. We get a Danish mead here that is really quite good. One of my all time favorite meads is Lurgashall, which is brewed in the UK, but it's been years since I last saw it. So smooth and light and yes, it does make me tipsy because in some ways I'm just a pixilated old lady disguised as a chubby old man.
cheers, H.
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Post by ripper on Aug 15, 2021 19:08:08 GMT
Babycham I associate with Christmas, as there was always a big advertising campaign on TV. Very popular with the ladies in the 70s and 80s. It definitely had the image of a drink for girls, whereas Pomagne was to my mind more for both sexes. I had my fair share of it at parties in the 70s. It was cheap and easy to buy as every supermarket and off-licence seemed to stock it.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 15, 2021 19:40:35 GMT
Yes, I remember Babycham too, it came in those tiny bottles. Another one I remember from that time was Snowball, which was a sort of premixed advocaat with lemonade and lime - again, in tiny bottles, and aimed at the ladies.
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Post by ripper on Aug 15, 2021 19:50:03 GMT
Yes, snowball in those little bottles, but most times we would make it ourselves, lime juice being often omitted as we didn't have any.
How about Pink Lady, which, I believe, is made from pear perry and rose wine. That was another popular 70s party drink, though as it had 'lady' in its name I used to shun it for Pomagne. I remember my teenage cousin getting very merry on it at one Christmas Eve party in the late 70s and singing Dancing Queen at the top of her lungs.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 15, 2021 20:51:13 GMT
I don't remember Pink Lady. But I do remember the bottle of advocaat that sat at the back of my parents' drinks cabinet for years, slowly curdling away until it had to be carried at arm's length to the bin. Alcoholic custard, who'd have thought of it?
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 15, 2021 20:55:49 GMT
I don't remember Pink Lady. But I do remember the bottle of advocaat that sat at the back of my parents' drinks cabinet for years, slowly curdling away until it had to be carried at arm's length to the bin. Alcoholic custard, who'd have thought of it? My mom used to love Advocaat; it tasted like egg yolks to me rather than custard. Yeech! I looked around in recent years to get her some for Christmas or a birthday present & couldn't find it for sale. I wonder why
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 16, 2021 13:00:54 GMT
It may be worth saying that Babycham was a perry (that is, a pear cider rather than an apple one), but of a particular type: sparkling, light and very sweet. The apple cider equivalent was Pomagne (beloved of partying 14 years olds in the 70s). For those who remember it, Babycham has a particular cultural significance. The perry mentioned in Dorthy Sayers will be the more traditional pear cider and should you be visiting these shores I would recommend you try it. Having almost died out, it is experiencing a small scale revival, as are craft ciders. Cold perry is very refreshing, though after one pint you may wish to switch to the less sweet apple cider. It is a much nicer drink than mead, which many of us will have bought a pint of in a very traditional pub, thought, 'hmmm that's not bad', but then been quite happy if we could finish it and move on. Thanks, Sam. That's interesting to learn about. Hard cider (from apples) is also in the midst of an extensive revival here, and I think there may be a pear variety... I might be confusing it with pear sake, though. Embarrassingly for someone interloping in a Working Men's Club, I only very seldom drink anything alcoholic and I'm pretty uninformed about these things. Despite the name, I'm not much of a beer drinker. However, I'm a big fan of the hard cider revival. I like both apple and pear. I do recommend the dryer varieties, as the other kinds can be overwhelmingly sweet.
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Post by samdawson on Aug 16, 2021 14:05:00 GMT
Despite the name, I'm not much of a beer drinker. However, I'm a big fan of the hard cider revival. I like both apple and pear. I do recommend the dryer varieties, as the other kinds can be overwhelmingly sweet. Me neither on the beer. Have you tried elderflower cider - not the supermarket kind but from a craft beer/cider shop? Absolutely lovely and, like perry, seems palatable to women in way that many ciders aren't I am going to go out on a limb and speak in defence of advocaat. It occurs in lots of countries, not just the Dutch variety (Bols or Warninks, under no circumstances buy the one sold by Lidl) which usually goes on sale at Xmas, but also eierlikor in Germany and as traditional egg flip and egg nog in Britain and beyond. I buy a bottle at Xmas, make a few snowballs for other family members (though can't always get the maraschino cherries that used to be served with it pubs way back in the day when I had a girlfriend who used to drink it), then polish off the rest over the 12 days, when everyone else has gone to bed Last year, having been encouraged into foraging during lockdown and making country wines by my eco-daughter I even made my own, which meant I got through two bottles (I am still trying to lose the weight I put on).
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 16, 2021 19:32:07 GMT
Me neither on the beer. Have you tried elderflower cider - not the supermarket kind but from a craft beer/cider shop? I've tried pineapple cider (okay), mango cider (not bad), and guava cider (excellent), but I've never seen elderflower cider. If I do, I'll try it! And I definitely stick to the craft stuff.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 16, 2021 20:43:30 GMT
Well, if we are pitching obscure drinks than I'd recommend the leann fraoch (heather ale) from Williams Brothers of Alloa, Scotland. They claim that leann fraoch has been brewed in Scotland since 2000 BC, but I have no idea what the evidence is for that. It's slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and goes surprisingly well with a curry.
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 16, 2021 20:48:55 GMT
This isn't bad - from Wikipedia
Caribou is a sweet French-Canadian alcoholic beverage composed of red wine and a spirit (usually rye whisky) (mixed 3 parts to 1), and maple syrup or sugar.[1][2][3]
Caribou can be made at home but is now available as a premixed beverage by the Société des alcools du Québec. It can be consumed hot or cold depending on the weather and served with citrus and cinnamon in the manner of mulled wine. Cloves and nutmeg are also commonly added to flavour the drink.
The drink has been traditionally served at the Quebec Winter Carnival.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 16, 2021 21:46:16 GMT
Mixing red wine with whisky sounds... adventurous.
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Post by ripper on Aug 17, 2021 9:43:09 GMT
How about some food to line our stomachs...
A 70s and 80s party was not complete without cocktail sausages, cubes of cheese and cubes of pineapple stuck on cocktail sticks. We would then wrap an orange in silver paper and impale said orange with the sticks.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 17, 2021 11:15:34 GMT
How about some food to line our stomachs... Prawn cocktail, in that fluorescent pink "marie rose" sauce. And served in a cocktail glass for added sophistication. Actually, maybe not - I had a horrific experience with a takeaway baked potato topped with prawn cocktail after a night out drinking in Edinburgh in the early 80s. It was many years before I could even look at a prawn again.
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Post by ripper on Aug 18, 2021 13:15:06 GMT
My dad had a similarly bad experience with 'crab sticks' bought on holiday a couple of decades ago. He has steered clear of crab ever since.
A dessert popular in the 70s was syllabub. My mum used to make it quite a bit back then, though I can't say that I enjoyed it particularly. The top layer was okay but below it was almost pure wine. As I never had it anywhere else I don't know if that is how it is supposed to be. I don't think I have tasted any in nearly 40 years, and that's okay with me.
Another alcohol-soaked dessert was rum baba. We used to buy them frozen from an independent freezer shop. They were for special occasions and I really liked them. Again, I haven't had one for over four decades.
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