I seem to recall many years ago a consumer programme doing blind taste tests of beers. The response to (what turned out to be Budweiser) was "if you were given that in a hospital you'd ask what it was".
It is one of the few liquids to be able to pass completely unchanged through the human bladder.
Even in big grocers of vast selection, it's interesting. If you're into IPA's, there are far more than any reasonable person could try, even a reasonable person who enjoys IPA's.
I am a person who likes IPAs (or at least, who generally drinks IPAs when in America, because IPAs are basically the overlap between the set of beers I like to drink and the set of beers that are readily available where I live), and one of the challenge with the explosion of craft IPAs (and fake craft IPAs!) is that it has become harder to predict whether a particular IPA will be any good.
On the scale of problems, "I've got too much beer to choose from" isn't exactly a bad problem, though, and my experience in the grocery store generally ranges from "well, it's OK, but nothing to get excited about" to "that's really quite nice", with the occasional side trip to the land of "we couldn't work out how to get some flavor in here, so we just dumped three times the amount of hops in and hoped for the best", but the latter usually give you fair warning.
Many years ago I attended a food related conference at a UK university that had a small brewing plant. The legal and tax implications of this appeared to be covered by a stipulation that all product not required for scientific investigation had to be "returned to drain". I was informed that this condition was always met, but that it often reached this final destination via human kidneys.
I read somewhere about a man whose neighbour's garden had excellent roses growing in it. He asked the neighbour what the secret of his success was and was told that the roses were fed with stout. Only later did he discover that the stout had first been consumed at the local pub.
BTW I don't like beer. Cider, yes; wine, yes; beer - no thanks!
Even in big grocers of vast selection, it's interesting. If you're into IPA's, there are far more than any reasonable person could try, even a reasonable person who enjoys IPA's.
I am a person who likes IPAs (or at least, who generally drinks IPAs when in America, because IPAs are basically the overlap between the set of beers I like to drink and the set of beers that are readily available where I live), and one of the challenge with the explosion of craft IPAs (and fake craft IPAs!) is that it has become harder to predict whether a particular IPA will be any good.
On the scale of problems, "I've got too much beer to choose from" isn't exactly a bad problem, though, and my experience in the grocery store generally ranges from "well, it's OK, but nothing to get excited about" to "that's really quite nice", with the occasional side trip to the land of "we couldn't work out how to get some flavor in here, so we just dumped three times the amount of hops in and hoped for the best", but the latter usually give you fair warning.
I wouldn't mind if these craft ales didn't cost silly amounts. I'm not dropping the thick end of a fiver on a can that might taste like the beer equivalent of that coffee they make from beans that civets have already eaten.
One would assume that the budget for fitting out the coffee shop would have extended to an electric kettle.
The problem is that that would take time to boil, and you'd have to have a freshly boiled pot of water for many of your customers (you'd have to be pretty lucky to be able to make 3 or 4 cups for each boiling).
There are also on-demand boilers that produce a cup at a time, or ones (like my last staffroom had) which keep water "on the boil" for making hot drinks.
But a Proper Cup of Tea needs to be made with freshly drawn water.
Ah, yes. General terms. Like an event I went to many years ago where I went up to the bar and asked what beer they had, to be told that they had something Australian (Fosters or similar) or bottles of something very similar. So I asked if they had whisky and got told they had Southern Comfort. That hit a few "other wrong things" categories. Though they did go to the effort of redeeming themselves, as I left the bar empty handed muttering something about "real ale, single malt whisky" someone slipped out from behind the bar and returned 10 minutes later with a bottle of Glenfiddich.
Southern Comfort as an option for Whiskey? Argh - that hits the big red "Wrong Thing" button. I mean, it so completely isn't. And I like both.
I don't drink beer or related drinks so have totally kept out of that one. But if I want a cider and am offered Bulmers or strange fruit ciders I always have to pause. I have learned to ask for "any ciders on draught" which tends to let me know whether I am going to get something nice or not.
I don't drink beer or related drinks so have totally kept out of that one. But if I want a cider and am offered Bulmers or strange fruit ciders I always have to pause. I have learned to ask for "any ciders on draught" which tends to let me know whether I am going to get something nice or not.
I generally ask "what ciders do you have". Aspall's is always a good answer, whether it's in a bottle or not.
Even in big grocers of vast selection, it's interesting. If you're into IPA's, there are far more than any reasonable person could try, even a reasonable person who enjoys IPA's.
I am a person who likes IPAs (or at least, who generally drinks IPAs when in America, because IPAs are basically the overlap between the set of beers I like to drink and the set of beers that are readily available where I live), and one of the challenge with the explosion of craft IPAs (and fake craft IPAs!) is that it has become harder to predict whether a particular IPA will be any good.
On the scale of problems, "I've got too much beer to choose from" isn't exactly a bad problem, though, and my experience in the grocery store generally ranges from "well, it's OK, but nothing to get excited about" to "that's really quite nice", with the occasional side trip to the land of "we couldn't work out how to get some flavor in here, so we just dumped three times the amount of hops in and hoped for the best", but the latter usually give you fair warning.
Yeah, I feel that. I've been paying more attention at the store, and I think I must've seen...20 different types of IPA's at our local Jewel?
I appreciate variety, but how many variations can you possibly make? And since I don't drink heavily (maybe once or twice a week, one beer,) it feels like far more than I could ever need. And the problem of beers that are nothing but hops, which is disappointing.
A friend of mine IRL once quipped that Americans have this thing where they latch onto a flavor and just triple down on it...oak in whiskey, spiciness in certain foods, and hops in beer. And while I appreciate the strong flavors...yeah. At some point it feels like a perverse kind of showing off that undermines the experience.
But a Proper Cup of Tea needs to be made with freshly drawn water.
And leaves which have never seen the inside of a bag.
Don't ever order tea in a US restaurant - they almost never do it right. You get a wonky little pot of hot water that used to be the right temperature to make coffee with a tea bag alongside it - they don't even put the bag in before they put the water in the pot. Sometimes you get your choice of teabags, so the water cools further while you try to decide between a crappy brand of English Breakfast or some weird apple-orange thing that might or might not actually be tea.
Some of the local independent coffeehouses have loose tea and nice pots, but the water is never quite hot enough. Fortunately, one near me also sells the loose tea by the ounce -- that's harder to find in grocery stores here than it used to be.
Try getting hot tea at a McD in Tennessee ... it's on the menu, and everything needed to make it is there except any concept of what it is among the staff (no, not "regular iced tea" put in the microwave). Though, as that particular restaurant was employing college kids at night and college kids are supposed to be learning new things, this does present an opportunity to teach - with the aid of a translator for the differences between British English and Tennessee English.
But a Proper Cup of Tea needs to be made with freshly drawn water.
And leaves which have never seen the inside of a bag.
Don't ever order tea in a US restaurant - they almost never do it right. You get a wonky little pot of hot water that used to be the right temperature to make coffee with a tea bag alongside it - they don't even put the bag in before they put the water in the pot. Sometimes you get your choice of teabags, so the water cools further while you try to decide between a crappy brand of English Breakfast or some weird apple-orange thing that might or might not actually be tea.
Some of the local independent coffeehouses have loose tea and nice pots, but the water is never quite hot enough. Fortunately, one near me also sells the loose tea by the ounce -- that's harder to find in grocery stores here than it used to be.
And the pot was sitting somewhere cold before they put the water in it, so the water is only just above tepid by the time they finish pouring it in.
I don't drink beer or related drinks so have totally kept out of that one. But if I want a cider and am offered Bulmers or strange fruit ciders I always have to pause. I have learned to ask for "any ciders on draught" which tends to let me know whether I am going to get something nice or not.
I generally ask "what ciders do you have". Aspall's is always a good answer, whether it's in a bottle or not.
That is often what is offered. I think my question might indicate that I want something decent (and yes, Aspalls is a decent one).
Ah, yes. General terms. Like an event I went to many years ago where I went up to the bar and asked what beer they had, to be told that they had something Australian (Fosters or similar) or bottles of something very similar. So I asked if they had whisky and got told they had Southern Comfort. That hit a few "other wrong things" categories. Though they did go to the effort of redeeming themselves, as I left the bar empty handed muttering something about "real ale, single malt whisky" someone slipped out from behind the bar and returned 10 minutes later with a bottle of Glenfiddich.
Southern Comfort as an option for Whiskey? Argh - that hits the big red "Wrong Thing" button. I mean, it so completely isn't. And I like both.
I don't drink beer or related drinks so have totally kept out of that one. But if I want a cider and am offered Bulmers or strange fruit ciders I always have to pause. I have learned to ask for "any ciders on draught" which tends to let me know whether I am going to get something nice or not.
That's not necessarily safe. Both Woodpecker and Strongbow exist on draught.
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here. Mix that with the picture of a cheery woodpecker on the can and the inevitable happened.
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here. Mix that with the picture of a cheery woodpecker on the can and the inevitable happened.
I agree that, in general, draught cider is better than bottled (but make sure it isn't the appalling Magner's!). We used to live in Suffolk and liked Aspall's (they sometimes did small batches of "specials" for events such as the Suffolk Show or the Benjamin Britten centenary which were well worth trying). However I've gone off them a bit since they sold out to Coor's.
Two places where I've had excellent cider are the cellar bar in Llanthony Priory's - they do two local Herefordshire varieties; and an unnamed cider straight out of the barrel at a pub in Devon the night before my son's wedding.
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here.
At least in part of the US, “cider” or “apple cider” is the unfiltered and unsweetened juice of apples. It is not what one would expect to receive if one asked for “apple juice.”
But yes, cider with alcohol would be referred to as “hard cider,” though that is changing.
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here.
At least in part of the US, “cider” or “apple cider” is the unfiltered and unsweetened juice of apples. It is not what one would expect to receive if one asked for “apple juice.”
What would one expect to receive if one asked for "apple juice"?
I used to work in a cider pub in Bristol, and their rough cider was pretty rough . If any one asked for scrumpy, they got a lecture from the landlord
Another pub with rough cider was the (very weird IMO) Pig's Nose at East Prawle in Devon. Mind you, it was extremely refreshing after a hot walk up the cliffs!
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here.
At least in part of the US, “cider” or “apple cider” is the unfiltered and unsweetened juice of apples. It is not what one would expect to receive if one asked for “apple juice.”
What would one expect to receive if one asked for "apple juice"?
Filtered, pasteurized and possibly sweetened juice.
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here.
At least in part of the US, “cider” or “apple cider” is the unfiltered and unsweetened juice of apples. It is not what one would expect to receive if one asked for “apple juice.”
But yes, cider with alcohol would be referred to as “hard cider,” though that is changing.
We would probably call the unfiltered Apple juice Cloudy Apple Juice. Cider is always alcoholic.
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here.
At least in part of the US, “cider” or “apple cider” is the unfiltered and unsweetened juice of apples.
Oops. Realized that should have been “At least in my part of the US, . . . .”
I don't drink beer or related drinks so have totally kept out of that one. But if I want a cider and am offered Bulmers or strange fruit ciders I always have to pause. I have learned to ask for "any ciders on draught" which tends to let me know whether I am going to get something nice or not.
That's not necessarily safe. Both Woodpecker and Strongbow exist on draught.
Yes, but they will have said "Woodpecker", and I can look with disgust and order something else.
I get your point though. It gives me a second chance to refuse and tells them that I will probably not accept their piss.
I like Strongbow. But then, I'm now at the age when drinking something I don't like as much because it's cooler or more "authentic" is no longer very appealing.
Woodpecker is vastly over-sweetened pisswater, and Thatchers tastes like it's been consumed then regurgitated by a badger before being put in the keg.
I live in the land of Holt's Bitter and as long as that is to be had I can afford to laugh at lesser beers.
Robinson's is also tolerable, but sadly I know of only one pub where it is at its perfect best. And I ain't telling you lot as it's overly busy as it is.
A new wrong thing. My catering senses are screaming the current Fairy Washing Up Liquid add here in the UK. You should not wash crockery, cutlery and pans in cool water. You need hot water to sterilise the stuff. Anti Bacterial liquids do not do the full job. Avoid food poisoning, wash up in hot water.
Sorry to question this, but we lived in fairly primitive conditions. both urban and rural, in West Africa for five years. We never had hot water, and for three years had no running water; public health and hygiene were non-existent. Washing-up liquid was not available, so we washed crockery etc in cold water with OMO powder for soap - and with care! We did get "the runs" once or twice but no more than we might have in Britain. We were careful in our cooking (no raw food unless washed in filtered or sterilised water, meat quite often cooked in a pressure cooker, keeping kitchen clean) as we felt this was important.
Speaking of Wrong Things, of two pubs near me one no longer appears to have cask ale, and the other one doesn't include it on their "Meal and drink for £10 deal". "Selected" cask ales are included - not the one they've actually got on at the time.
Both have this new-fangled "craft" keg Neck Oil stuff which I have no intention of going within 100 yards of.
A new wrong thing. My catering senses are screaming the current Fairy Washing Up Liquid add here in the UK. You should not wash crockery, cutlery and pans in cool water. You need hot water to sterilise the stuff. Anti Bacterial liquids do not do the full job. Avoid food poisoning, wash up in hot water.
Temperature at which bacteria start to die: 65C
Recommended temperature of the hot water supply in domestic premises: 60C
Is the story about the Woodpecker cider and the mum true or urban legend. For those who don’t know the story goes thus. A family moved from the states to the UK and the mum sent the kid to school with a Woodpecker Cider in their lunch box. Cider here is hard cider over there and cider is apple juice over here. Mix that with the picture of a cheery woodpecker on the can and the inevitable happened.
Technically legal, I suspect, but
It would certainly be against school rules to bring cider with lunch. And also technically illegal - the law allows you to give your over-5-year old child alcohol in your home or another private space. Not to send them out in public with it.
Suspect it is Urban Legend. Since below the picture of cheery woodpecker it says '500 ml Alc 3.5% by vol'
On cleaning - I recall eating in a street restaurant in HK where the dishwasher was elderly Chinese lady with a plastic washing up bowl on the pavement. Mind you, we began by ordering tea and rinsing the delf and chopsticks in that.
So I asked if they had whisky and got told they had Southern Comfort.
I had an experience like that after cricket last season. We went to what turned out to be the sort of pub where if you drink outside the barman will eventually say "I'm going home, leave the glasses there when you are done, please". Anyway, much drink was taken, and I decided a single malt was in order (a surprisingly good way of drinking slowly, especially if you get a peat monster). The offeree of drink returned with about an inch and a half of red-brown liquid in a glass, and explained "They don't have any, but he hand-poured you a Southern Comfort"!!!! Trust me, neat, it's grim. Should it ever happen again, a tactical chunder may be a better option then drinking it.
On top of that someone, I suspect the local teenage drinkers, left half a bottle of it (and the remains of a bag of liquorice allsorts... what a mix!) on the grass outside ours the other day. I felt distinctly queasy at the smell just putting it down the drain.
Comments
It is one of the few liquids to be able to pass completely unchanged through the human bladder.
My understanding was that he subcontracted this task to a herd of horses.
I am a person who likes IPAs (or at least, who generally drinks IPAs when in America, because IPAs are basically the overlap between the set of beers I like to drink and the set of beers that are readily available where I live), and one of the challenge with the explosion of craft IPAs (and fake craft IPAs!) is that it has become harder to predict whether a particular IPA will be any good.
On the scale of problems, "I've got too much beer to choose from" isn't exactly a bad problem, though, and my experience in the grocery store generally ranges from "well, it's OK, but nothing to get excited about" to "that's really quite nice", with the occasional side trip to the land of "we couldn't work out how to get some flavor in here, so we just dumped three times the amount of hops in and hoped for the best", but the latter usually give you fair warning.
BTW I don't like beer. Cider, yes; wine, yes; beer - no thanks!
I wouldn't mind if these craft ales didn't cost silly amounts. I'm not dropping the thick end of a fiver on a can that might taste like the beer equivalent of that coffee they make from beans that civets have already eaten.
Southern Comfort as an option for Whiskey? Argh - that hits the big red "Wrong Thing" button. I mean, it so completely isn't. And I like both.
I don't drink beer or related drinks so have totally kept out of that one. But if I want a cider and am offered Bulmers or strange fruit ciders I always have to pause. I have learned to ask for "any ciders on draught" which tends to let me know whether I am going to get something nice or not.
A browner shade of pale?
Except they're not. These "Dark IPAs" are really quite dark. I too have inwardly railed against the logical silliness here.
And you'll have to remember the difference in boiling point as you climb.
I thought as much, I was just using the rare opportunity to make a pop culture reference-based joke.
And leaves which have never seen the inside of a bag.
I generally ask "what ciders do you have". Aspall's is always a good answer, whether it's in a bottle or not.
(Sadly, I don’t like it)
Yeah, I feel that. I've been paying more attention at the store, and I think I must've seen...20 different types of IPA's at our local Jewel?
I appreciate variety, but how many variations can you possibly make? And since I don't drink heavily (maybe once or twice a week, one beer,) it feels like far more than I could ever need. And the problem of beers that are nothing but hops, which is disappointing.
A friend of mine IRL once quipped that Americans have this thing where they latch onto a flavor and just triple down on it...oak in whiskey, spiciness in certain foods, and hops in beer. And while I appreciate the strong flavors...yeah. At some point it feels like a perverse kind of showing off that undermines the experience.
Yes its great. And it doesnt have caffeine in it.
Don't ever order tea in a US restaurant - they almost never do it right. You get a wonky little pot of hot water that used to be the right temperature to make coffee with a tea bag alongside it - they don't even put the bag in before they put the water in the pot. Sometimes you get your choice of teabags, so the water cools further while you try to decide between a crappy brand of English Breakfast or some weird apple-orange thing that might or might not actually be tea.
Some of the local independent coffeehouses have loose tea and nice pots, but the water is never quite hot enough. Fortunately, one near me also sells the loose tea by the ounce -- that's harder to find in grocery stores here than it used to be.
And the pot was sitting somewhere cold before they put the water in it, so the water is only just above tepid by the time they finish pouring it in.
That is often what is offered. I think my question might indicate that I want something decent (and yes, Aspalls is a decent one).
It’s a coffee shop - don’t expect tea! 😛
That's not necessarily safe. Both Woodpecker and Strongbow exist on draught.
Technically legal, I suspect, but
Two places where I've had excellent cider are the cellar bar in Llanthony Priory's - they do two local Herefordshire varieties; and an unnamed cider straight out of the barrel at a pub in Devon the night before my son's wedding.
It was tasty, but lethal.
But yes, cider with alcohol would be referred to as “hard cider,” though that is changing.
What would one expect to receive if one asked for "apple juice"?
Another pub with rough cider was the (very weird IMO) Pig's Nose at East Prawle in Devon. Mind you, it was extremely refreshing after a hot walk up the cliffs!
We would probably call the unfiltered Apple juice Cloudy Apple Juice. Cider is always alcoholic.
Yes, but they will have said "Woodpecker", and I can look with disgust and order something else.
I get your point though. It gives me a second chance to refuse and tells them that I will probably not accept their piss.
Woodpecker is vastly over-sweetened pisswater, and Thatchers tastes like it's been consumed then regurgitated by a badger before being put in the keg.
It's the mixed diet - weasels and ferrets are more carnivorous than badgers so a different range of flavours. I would surmise.
Robinson's is also tolerable, but sadly I know of only one pub where it is at its perfect best. And I ain't telling you lot as it's overly busy as it is.
Both have this new-fangled "craft" keg Neck Oil stuff which I have no intention of going within 100 yards of.
Clearly a catering situation requires greater stringency than a domestic one.
Temperature at which bacteria start to die: 65C
Recommended temperature of the hot water supply in domestic premises: 60C
Draw your own conclusions.
The kitchen sink is next to the
It would certainly be against school rules to bring cider with lunch. And also technically illegal - the law allows you to give your over-5-year old child alcohol in your home or another private space. Not to send them out in public with it.
On cleaning - I recall eating in a street restaurant in HK where the dishwasher was elderly Chinese lady with a plastic washing up bowl on the pavement. Mind you, we began by ordering tea and rinsing the delf and chopsticks in that.
I had an experience like that after cricket last season. We went to what turned out to be the sort of pub where if you drink outside the barman will eventually say "I'm going home, leave the glasses there when you are done, please". Anyway, much drink was taken, and I decided a single malt was in order (a surprisingly good way of drinking slowly, especially if you get a peat monster). The offeree of drink returned with about an inch and a half of red-brown liquid in a glass, and explained "They don't have any, but he hand-poured you a Southern Comfort"!!!! Trust me, neat, it's grim. Should it ever happen again, a tactical chunder may be a better option then drinking it.
On top of that someone, I suspect the local teenage drinkers, left half a bottle of it (and the remains of a bag of liquorice allsorts... what a mix!) on the grass outside ours the other day. I felt distinctly queasy at the smell just putting it down the drain.