Drink nicknames

[Strongers]

I found a little bottle of Black Absinthe a few days ago that was tucked away in a draw and it reminded me of the old clubbing days when I used to go to my local (yes the duke) where the governor would goad me and my pals into knocking back some green fairies. I think the name came from the wormwood (not included anymore) which gave hallucinations and green colouring.

I thought that it would be interesting to compile a list of drink nick/slang names and a history of where they arose from.

[Oggwyn Trench]

Back in my clubbing days (early 80s) pre vodka/red bulls we used to drink Spangles , Coke , Orange Juice and vodka , it looked awfull but tasted just like the old Spangle sweets you used to get .
Another one was Passion Flower , 1080 cider , stella and pernod and black , tasted like ribena .

[Strongers]

I remember drinking half stellas and Smirnoff Ice - Turbo Shandies they were called. It did start to get silly when the Watermelon Bacardi Breezer started to be used instead of the Smirnoff.

[NickDavies]

There's all the old ones of course: Bishop's Finger > Nun's Delight; Shepherd Neame > Shit'n'scream; Fuller, Smith and Turner > Fuller Shit'n'Turnips.

And so on.

[Farway]

Hardly original, but Federation Legend was always ordered as Leg End, it was funny after after a few of them

[Eddie86]

Half scrumpy, half ale, dash of blackcurrant = snakebite & black. Illegal to serve I think because it mixes cider with beer. That's what we used to get told at the pubs that wouldn't serve it too us...

[Maldenman]

Snakebite was just foul, a cloudy concoction just designed to get people drunk. A student fashion if I recall.

A lads holiday once in Cornwall, some locals pointed us towards rough scrumpy with a red wine top. It went down well, but came back up even more quickly!

[oldboots]

Round our way Snakebite was always made with lager rather than bitter. :sick:

Splits were still popular when I was a lad, Boilers (Brown & MILD), Black & Tan (Guinness and Bitter (?)) Granny split (can't remember ingredients), Light Split (Bitter & Light Ale), Of course part of the attraction was that the barmaid would usually pull more than a half into a pint glass and the bottle would be a half pint, our tight landlady always filled a half pint glass and tipped that into a pint glass :mad:

Poor Mans Black Velvet (Guinness and Cider instead of champange - allegedly invented to put the champange into mourning when Prince Albert died - :eek: oh there's another bit of slang.) Guinness put out some advertising in the mid 1970s showing various mixes using Guinness, we tried them all of course and they were mainly rubbish.

Cordials in beer had a fad, Guinness and Black, Lager and Lime, Bitter Top (or Bitter Dash) and Lager Top, you still see the odd L&L drinker but I haven't seen anyone drink Guinness and Black or any kind of top lately.

For an earlier generation there was "wallop" and "four-ale" meaning, I think, beer in general and MILD :notworthy: respectively.

[Soup Dragon]

I know locally Carling, Fosters, John Smiths and Worthington are known as pis*, does that count?

[oldboots]

I know locally Carling, Fosters, John Smiths and Worthington are known as pis*, does that count?

that reminds me Greenall Whitley was always known as .....guess what Greenall Shitley

[Oggwyn Trench]

Wifes cousin still drinks Guiness and black , Mild & Bitter was Mickey Mouse , a popular drink with the Grannies round here was Mackeson and Port cant remember what it was called

[Eddie86]

Guinness and black is still quite common around here. Bitter shandy is the one that makes no sense to me. Just have a half!

[Maldenman]

Guinness and black is still quite common around here. Bitter shandy is the one that makes no sense to me. Just have a half!

Whenever we go out as a bunch from work, one lad always starts with a pint of bitter shandy. Strangely he then moves on to proper pints and stays the distance with the rest of us. Perhaps its a thirst thing.

[Wittenden]

Whenever we go out as a bunch from work, one lad always starts with a pint of bitter shandy. Strangely he then moves on to proper pints and stays the distance with the rest of us. Perhaps its a thirst thing.

Ginger beer shandy-not lemonade-is definately very refreshing, but landlords don't like to serve it as it makes their beer look cloudy.

[arwkrite]

Half scrumpy, half ale, dash of blackcurrant = snakebite & black. Illegal to serve I think because it mixes cider with beer. That's what we used to get told at the pubs that wouldn't serve it too us...
Served freely up the road at Leominster but that aint any recomendation. Half cheap (?) lager, half of pump cider and a shot of blackcurrant (and apple perhaps?) The flatulence is terrible in all manner of ways.
In the 70s Guiness had an advertising campaign with all sorts of mixtures and fancy names. Posters were put near the bar to tempt you. Draught Guiness and port was OK but a fast way of getting drunk.

[Millay]

There was the ‘Man in a Box’ which was an alternative name for Sam Smiths Ayingerbrau lager, as that was what was on the pump. The name has now changed to Alpine lager and I think the man in his box has gone as well.

Newcastle Brown is often shortened to Newky Brown and is also known as Dog. I think the origins are from the claim “I’m just going out to walk the dog” meaning I’m going to the pub.

In Scotland you’ll often hear people ordering a ‘Pint of Heavy’ which is another term for a 70/- beer, up to 4% abv. An 80/- beer, up to 5.5% abv., is often called Eighty Shilling with the Caledonian Brewery one being referred to as Caley Eighty.

[NickDavies]

Whenever we go out as a bunch from work, one lad always starts with a pint of bitter shandy. Strangely he then moves on to proper pints and stays the distance with the rest of us. Perhaps its a thirst thing.

It's sometimes useful if you need to kickstart the system when a lunchtime session is required on top of a late evening. A pint of bitter first off can be a struggle. The sweetness takes the edge off things and gives you time to get up to speed, indeed it needn't be as dilute as shandy, bitter top will do the trick.

[Mr Lloyd Evans]

Brain's SA AKA Skull Attack

[aleandhearty]

Tetley Bitter = Tetty Bitty
Stones' = 'The Yellow Peril', from its reputation for causing hangovers.
Stella- Although almost universally known as 'Wifebeater', quite a few people up here still call it 'Tortoise' Don't know how common that is in other parts of the country?

More generally, it's quite common for a pint at lunchtime to be called 'a glass sandwich'. I rather like that. :)

[NickDavies]

Tetley Bitter = Tetty Bitty
Stones' = 'The Yellow Peril', from its reputation for causing hangovers.
Stella- Although almost universally known as 'Wifebeater', quite a few people up here still call it 'Tortoise' Don't know how common that is in other parts of the country?

More generally, it's quite common for a pint at lunchtime to be called 'a glass sandwich'. I rather like that. :)

I wonder how much have they spent over several years now to to try to get rid of the 'beater image in the UK? I suspect their only way out is to rename it, which wouldn't go down too well in Belgium and France.

Never heard 'Tortoise' round here though I do say it inwardly sometimes.

You don't hear Lowenbrau = Lousy Brew so much these days.

Greene King > Greedy King is common, pretty obvious really.

[Conrad]

Reminds me of a friend of ours round here who seems to take great relish in ordering Butt Comb (Butcombe), oddly the relish gets greater as the night goes on. Never heard anyone else use that one though.

[Farway]

How about "cooking" which was not brewer related but was just the cheapest bitter in any pub.

[ROBCamra]

How about "cooking" which was not brewer related but was just the cheapest bitter in any pub.

Similar idea round our way. A pint of sluch was the cheapest beer. I still hear it occasionally in our JDW when one of the older clientle orders a JS smooth.

[Oggwyn Trench]

In the Station in Oakengates last night , there are 3 chalkboards one has beers due on , one has whats on now the other normally has tasting notes for the beer of the week plus some sarcastic note aimed at the regulars , but last night it read
Back by popular Demand
Ansells Mild £2
Manns £1.30
Black & Tan £2.50
Bitter & Mild £2.30
Mixed £2.05
Light & Bitter £2.10

Looks like the old drinks are making a comeback

[Crossste]

An old mate of mine used to drink a bottled Guinness with a coke in it. I found it used to be a good reviver in a two session day, before all day opening. Funnily enough it didn,t taste bad. Don,t think it had a name.

[Maldenman]

Some, alright then, many, years ago I was doing a stint behind the bar when a student. This guy walks up and asks for a glass of "mud". I had no idea what he meant, so asking him, he explained, Coke and milk. I thought he was either taking the P or mad, but he insisted. It looked terrible, but he drank it.

[NickDavies]

I remember someone who liked that, sometime around the end of the 70s. He called it a 'brown cow'

[Eddie86]

My old barman has half pepsi half fresh orange juice in the morning after a night out. Swears by it, but I'm not going to try it

[Conrad]

My old barman has half pepsi half fresh orange juice in the morning after a night out. Swears by it, but I'm not going to try it

I think that is the one I have been trying to remember, a couple of the lasses on my A-Levels used to drink it and I have been desperately trying to remember the name, best I have come up with so far is Thames Mud.

[arwkrite]

My old barman has half pepsi half fresh orange juice in the morning after a night out. Swears by it, but I'm not going to try it

I can understand the orange juice as it helps to boost the vitamin C level that the alcohol depletes . What the Pepsi would do don't bare thinking about.:cheers: :( :sick:

[Oggwyn Trench]

Flat Coke is good after a heavy night

[oldboots]

I can understand the orange juice as it helps to boost the vitamin C level that the alcohol depletes . What the Pepsi would do don't bare thinking about.:cheers: :( :sick:


Flat Coke is good after a heavy night


It's the caffine

[NickDavies]

It's the caffeine

And the sugar. Your blood sugars are likely to have gone through the floor and something like Coke will send them through the roof in five minutes flat and you'll feel lots better. A cup of tea with two sugars does the same job. But if the only solids you've managed to get down are a couple of aspirins it'll rebound in an hour or two and you'll soon feel dreadful again.