Allison, who’s reading the new compilation of Kingley Amis’ previously out-of-print essays on spirits in the material world, Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis, told me he mentions a drink called Evelyn Waugh’s Noonday Reviver. You will agree this is the best name ever for a cocktail; however, you may be in disagreement or disgust over its composition: gin, Guinness and ginger beer.
But it got me thinking: although the U.S. doesn’t savor beer-based cocktails, other countries do.
The one I always think of first is Mexico and its michelada, which is beer and tomato juice or Bloody Mary mix. These were popular among the young natives when I visited Mexico for my previous job a few times earlier this decade. Some of the guys there had even tweaked the recipe to pair beer with Clamato, a blend that Anheuser-Busch began distributing nationwide under the name Clamato Chelada early this year. But at the time, the guys I was with didn’t exactly have a name for it. I’ll never forget this exchange:
- Jason:
- What’s that?
- Mexican businessman:
- Beer and Clamato.
- Jason:
- What do you call it?
- Mexican businessman:
- [brief, thoughtful pause] Beer and Clamato.
I know in Europe, various shandys (beer and lemonade) are popular. Allison reports that there’s a radler (the general German name for shandy) that intermingles beer and 7UP (“disgusting”).
I also recall beer and cider as a popular combination, possibly in Ireland, unless I just made that up.
What other exciting beer combinations have you tried or heard of?