Shout About Alcohol

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 20

There seems to be a pattern emerging when you look at what’s happening to certain drinks in the alcoholic beverage industry… Apparently, the Chancellor announced a 50% duty reduction on beers of 2.8% volume or less last March. This is news to me, but some of the larger breweries have since been trying to develop weaker beers they will be able to sell more cheaply.

Research appears to show that people would opt for the cheaper and weaker beer if the taste remained the same. It could also mean a potential reduction of 50p per pint, which I suppose is a good thing.

The problem that breweries have to get round is the malt content. Malt provides the alcohol content, but it also gives beer its flavour. If the malt content has to be reduced in order to make the beer less alcoholic, the breweries risk ending up with a beer that has no taste at all…

There’s still a little way to go before this ‘weak’ beer is available at the bar. The duty reduction will come into force in October this year.

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 11

If there are any wine-lovers amongst you who like to have a small stock of the stuff to show off to friends and family, then you should start saving your pocket money now. The rumours are that this year should produce a bumper crop of outstanding wine in France.

Experts are suggesting that a hot, dry spring followed by plenty of rain in July will result in early crops that will deliver in terms of quality and quantity. The harvests could take place as much as 30 days earlier than usual, unless some major and unexpected weather conditions hit between now and September.

Apparently the dry spring conditions accelerated grape growth, while July’s rain fell at just the right time to make them nice and plump. The weather conditions also helped by reducing both the occurrence of disease and the need for chemical treatments.

So, unless France experiences frost and torrential rains between now and harvest, 2011 bottles should be worth a taste. Experts predict that this year’s crop will provide something special, although not a s exceptional as 2009.

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 6

With Heston Blumenthal making experimental cooking fashionable, it now seems that the cocktail is next in line for a make-over.
The US industry magazine Nation’s Restaurant News has reported on the emerging cocktail trends that are sure to end up here if they become popular over there. The first trend is the use of herbs, which, let’s face it, doesn’t seem too outlandish. Mint, basil, thyme and rosemary are all making it into cocktails to add a bit of a difference. Salt, too, is being added to drinks in the same way it is used in cooking to make flavours pack a punch.

So far, so good, however the magazine also mentions the use of flavoured vinegars as a replacement of lemon and lime, which I don’t find too appealing. I am quite sure that the next time I have a cocktail in my hand, I am unlikely to go for the savoury choices. Especially when I see recipes like the one for The Decoy, which has appeared in Washington, and includes the following ingredients:
Fleur de sel, duck fat-infused mezcal, Cointreau, orange and sage. Not quite my cup of tea…

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 4

An Australian wine producer thinks it has spotted a gap in the market, and is getting ready to launch a new range of low alcohol wines in the UK.

The new range has been baptised ‘Beachcomber’, and includes white, red and rosé wines with only 5.5% alcohol. Compared to the typical 11-14% usually found in wine, this makes a significant difference to the alcohol content. Some wines can even have 18% adv, although this is not common.

While this is big part of their marketing strategy, McWilliams (the producer) is also keen to point out that they haven’t reduced the alcohol to the detriment of taste, and that they have developed a high quality drink that will easily find its place in the market.

The bottles should be on the shelves in Tesco by the end of this month, so keep your eyes peeled and give it a go. It’s not going to revolutionise your life, but if it does mean you can enjoy a couple more glasses without getting drunk, then it can only be a good thing, right? I suppose it aims for the market at the other end of the spectrum from those who aim to get as drunk as possible as cheaply as possible…

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 3

With such a large proportion of the population struggling to make ends meet at the moment, the UK National Lottery is as popular as it’s ever been, as more and more people are filling out those lottery tickets, keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that their funds will be treated to a boost.

Years ago, when the National Lottery was unleashed to the nation, just one draw per week took place- on Saturday night. However, as the lottery proved more and more of a success, further draws were introduced, and at present you have several chances a week to win big, so you don’t have to sit around and wait for the weekend to arrive.

Even some of those who are up on all of the latest developments within the UK National Lottery still don’t realise that there’s a lot more choice than this though, and that as well as taking part in the UK lottery, they can also participate in lotteries in other countries.

Brazilian, Canadian and American lotteries are a small selection of your options, with American lotteries in particular presenting you with a lot of choice. Many states within America hold their own lotteries, so you’re not confined to one big draw. This means that you can give yourself several chances of success.

Are you wondering how you can take part in lottery draws overseas without getting on a plane and flying over there? If so, wonder know more, as you can purchase your ticket and then check your lottery results via the internet. It couldn’t be any more straightforward or less time consuming.

Why give yourself such a small chance of success when there is so much more choice out there? As well as enhancing your chances of success, taking part in overseas lotteries can be a great deal of fun too- so start placing your new lottery bets today.

Check out the Alottery.com web site if you are looking to buy lottery tickets for the Florida Lottery.

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Mar 17

I seem to have spent most of my morning killing time, and surfing aimlessly round the web. Just found one article on the BBC website from about 6 years ago that caught my attention and reminded me a bit of Wallace and Gromit.

A 23 year-old Scottish ‘inventor’ from Glasgow came up with the idea of having vending machines in pubs and clubs that could sell bottled booze… He reckoned that his invention would reduce queuing time at the bar, and could even reduce binge drinking (although I’m not quite sure how he worked that one out…).

Everyone got quite excited about this and started saying that this law student would make millions – a Japanese company made a deal to manufacture it and it looked like the idea was really going to take off.

I have to say, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in the last 6 years, and I’m not sure I’d want to, even though it can be a nightmare when you have to wait for ages to get served. Imagine, all you could choose would be alcopops or bottled beer, you’d get no banter at the bar, and there’s always be some wally who would try and rock the machine to get something out for free…

Either that or you’d just be queuing to get something from a vending machine. Maybe that’s why it never really caught on. I wonder whether the inventor’s still trying to sell it?

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 23

To get a party started try some of these shots:

Bailey Boo:
Malibu, baileys Irish cream

Bling Bling Shaker:
Chambprd, Cointreau, line juice, cranberry juice

BMW:
White Creme, Malibu, baileys irish cream

Cherry Bliss:
Vodka, cherry liqueur

Chocolate Cake:
Frangelico, Vodka, brown sugar

Face-off:
Tia Maria, Amaretto, cointreau

JagerShock:
Jagermeister, ref aftershock

Lazy Boy:
Amaretto, tia maia, baileys irish cream

Lindsey Lohan:
Jagermeister, peach schnapps, cranberry juice, coke

Mint Shit:
Crème de menthe, vodka

Passion Night:
Maple syrup, dark rum, tequila

Redback Shooter:
Advocaat, black sambuka

Rusty Nail:
Drambuie, jack daniels

Sex on the beach:
Vodka, Chambord, peach schnapps, cranberry juice

Smarties Pants:
Tia Maria, orange juice

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 22

I was at a BBQ recently and the wine, cocktails and beer was flowing aswell as hyper children intrigued by what we was drinking and constantly asking to try some. After much frustration we decided the best way to fool the kids was to make a non alcoholic cocktail and wow it worked a treat!

All we did was mix pineapple juice, grape juice, lemonade and some sugar syrup into a large bowl chopped up some fruit and ice and left it on the table. The children were instantly put off by what we were drinking and happily sat serving themselves “alcoholic” drinks, well that’s what it was in there eyes anyway!

So next time your going to a party and you have children pestering to sample your drink then try this trick, you will not be disappointed!

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 21

Everyone i speak to at the moment seems to be on a dreaded diet!

I have done nearly every diet in the book so i no that i have to be very careful when it comes to having a night on the tiles and deciding what drink to stick to for the night.

If you are watching your calories and don’t want to be bloated then stay away from beer for the night, when i drink beer i get a belly that pops out and looks full and feel really sluggish and tired. My advice is to drink diet coke mixed with vodka or gin and slim line tonic. These drinks only have 55 calories per one shot and do not make you feel bloated throughout the night. Do try and stay away from the sugary drinks to such as Malibu and coke and sweet alcopop drinks.

posted by Jodie Alcopops on Aug 20

Have you ever wondered just how many calories you are drinking when you go to the bar and buy an alcopop drink?

Personally I am not a huge fan of alcopops I find them to sweet and it brings back horid memories of when I used to drink them when I was younger.

Here is a list for you so you no exactly how many calories you are pouring down your neck with each bottle:

B Breeer Cranberry – 160
B Breeer Diet Lemon – 96
B Breeer Lime – 182
B Breeer Watermelon – 148
Caribbean Twist Pina Colada – 226
Chekow Ice Blue – 198
Chekow Ice Tropical – 182
Red Square Blueberry Ice – 218
Red Square Ice – 187
Red Square Irn-Bru Ice – 195
Red Square Reloaded – 214
Reef Apple & Mango – 184
Reef Orange & Passion Fruit – 179
Smirnoff Black – 176
Smirnoff Ice – 176
VK Apple – 65
VK Blue – 61
VK Cherry – 65
WKD Alc Iron Brew – 228
WKD Blue – 228