Drink and be Merry

Some friends were having a Covid-Clearout (ranks along side Sourdough Making, Banana Bread and Daily Walks as regards lifestyle changes) and they decided they no longer wanted the contents of their drinks cabinet.

What possessed them?

Mainly because many of the bottles had remained unopened since they bought them, at Christmases or on holiday. They simply sat and gathered dust. So they gave them to us. Not ‘US’ as in individuals, but ‘US’ as in a cafe. Must admit that many of them I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole, although some are handy for cooking (and cleaning stubborn stains.)

There were some absolute classics among them, which sent me down memory lane, musing how over the decades tastes have changed.

On a daily basis these days people ask for Craft Beers, Guinness, Wine, Flavoured Ciders, Prosecco and Aperol Spritzes.

Aperol being an Italian bitter aperitif made from Gentiana roots, rhubarb, and cinchona tree bark, among other ingredients. The name comes from the French slang word for aperitif, which is Apero.

Aperol (and Martini) now a firm fave thanks to AMM - Photo © Rob Jones

But looking back, some names came to mind…

Sixties

Along with your Cheeses and Pineapple on sticks, cocktail sausages, Devils on Horseback, grapefruit and cherry, prawn cocktail, duck a' l’orange and black forest gateau, you might have had Babycham, Cinzano, Dubonet, Harvey’s Bristol Cream, a cognac or a port.

Seventies

Dining out at a Bernie Inn, you might order a Watney’s Red Barrel, Double Diamond, Mateus, Blue Nun and Martini, Valpolicella, Croft and Domecq, Bols Advocaat.

Eighties

A good night out was Lager, Lager and Lager - with ad slogans like:

• Hofmeister - if you want great lager, follow the bear

• Foster's - the Australian for lager

• I bet he drinks Carling Black Label

• Australians wouldn't give a Castlemaine XXXX for anything else

• Stella Atrois was 'Reassuringly expensive' from 1982

Nineties

We were all trying to be a little more sophistcated and trendy - hence: Alcopops, Malibu, Archers, Pimms, Whisky

Noughties

Cheap Cider, Bacardi Breezers, Absinth. Coffee Culture.

2010s

European beers, Bacardi, Absolut, Bombay Saphire Gin, Falvoured Vodkas. Tea Culture.

What next I wonder.

RJ