Alcopops - Classic or Dud

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Scourge of the Daily Mail in 1996, scourge of pubs now. It started so innocently with Two Dogs and Hooch and their alcoholic lemonades. It spiralled into a nightmare of flavours like Red and Woody's Blue Shit not to mention WKD (short for wankered) Alcoholic Irn Bru. Then it got all poncey with the Bacardi Breezers - and the uber dominance of the Smirnof Ice.

So Alcopops - nice flavoured drinks which get you twatted or Satan's own piss.

― Pete, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Dud, the cloying sweetness, I can't take. Someone gave me some reef on sun day morning and I couldn't take more than a mouthful cos it was so sweet. Alcopops only exist because british barmen/maids can/will not or will not mix cocktails beyond spirit and a splash, without looking at you as some kind of deviant. whereas a bacardi breezer is OK

Also has ruined an great national tradition of kids outside spar shops drinking white lightning and 20/20 and demanding passers by to go in and buy them more booze and fags

― Ed, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I always thought Castaway was the original alcopop - it was around for a while before Two Dogs and Hooch, wasn't it? Fancy an evening recreating the joys of a teenage boozefest? Did anyone else drink Blastaways? Pour a bottle of Castaway and a bottle of Diamond White into a pint glass. Drink quickly. Repeat ad nauseam.

Alcopops serve their purpose, I think. There comes a point in the evening when my tummy just can't take any more lager and the thought of a whisky makes it churn, so a watermelon bacardi breezer, even if it does taste like scratch 'n' sniff, does the trick nicely.

― Madchen, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

That should have been "Drink quickly through a straw"

― Madchen, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

If we're talking alcopop prototypes, can I remind you all of 20:20 in those squarish (quarter bottle of spririts) style bottles. They were occasionally known as "Mad Dogs" in Bolton, and that's generally who drank them. Oooh bitch. If alcopops had been around when I was a youngster, I may never have needed to endure the horror that was ordering a round consisting "Taboo and Lemonade", "Blue bols and lemonade" and "Gin and bitter lemon". I do stand by the latter though, especially when feeling bitter.

― Kate, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

when I started going to pubs I ordered bitters and guiness as this was obviously the manly thing to do. I, luckily perhaps, quickly devloped a taste for it and used to sneer at the phases people went through, southern comfort and lemonade, hooch, two dogs, mrs smucker's.

― Ed, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

How I love my alcopops. Wine gets me too messy too fast. Regular spirits make me stroppy and headachey (before the hangover). Beer makes me spend too much of the evening pissing. And is too heavy to carry and difficult specially if you are dancing. Thus alcopops fit the bill perfectly. I am sorry for boys who cannot drink them cos they are too girlie and have to drink beer whilst muttering about sickly sweet alcopops.

Classic alcopops: Bacardi Breezer orange or pineapple; Smirnoff Ice

Dud (relatively) alcopops: Bacardi Breezer Cranberry; Smirnoff Mule (as I once food poisoned myself while drinking it and it gives me flashbacks of great illness).

― Emma, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

oh my, blastaways, they lead to a few teenage vomits :-( and led to the creation by me and my mates of the infamous wino shandy, a bottle of Castaway and a bottle of holsten pils in a pint glass. I believe that they are the reason I wear glasses.

The worst though was the attempt to get into the market by Thunderbird wine. I only saw it once and of course I had to try ....Cola flavoured thunderbird!! After trying it I realised why I never saw it in any shops, possibly the most minging drink ever.

― cabbage, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

That reminds me of the infamous reverse shandy. A bottle of Lemon Hooch and a bottle of Kaliber non-alcoholic beer. It was foul - but interesting.

― Pete, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Recently I got so I'll after two bottles of CHampagne. I thought it was supposed to be a sissy drink! I have oft declared such fruity alcho sweets as the perfect corrupting agent for those who say (Americans only) "I just dont like the TASTE of alcohol. " I once mixed Godiva CHocolate Liquer, Creme De menthe and Kahlua in hopes of a yummy confectionary treat but I didn't know how to make drinks in those days so it was like three shots of each in a bigt glass, all concentrated and syrupy. Got it was awful, as was my stomach.

― Mike Hanle y, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Last night due to the awful draught beer in Club Lat we ended up on an alcopop bender. "That'll do bad things to your stomach" I was warned as I cracked open yet another Smirnoff Ice. But did I listen? DID I HELL. And now I regret it. Dud.

― Tom, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

They're good, of course, because you can drink them and they make you drunk. Some are better than others. Smirnoff Ice is less sweet than some, but who would have thought that Lemon Hooch would eventually be one of the sharper brands on the market? Dud: Breezer, Mule, Vodka Source, Reef (unless it's really cheap). Oh, classic because people think you're really out there: that blue WKD. Even classicker: me walking round the other night with a bottle of Lee & Perrins to see if people would notice. In fact, it worked better: they thought it was a cool new student drink.

We did the 'ardkore Shandy too: half of premium lager in a pint glass plus one lemon alcopop/Smirnoff Ice. Nice.

Champagne always leads to a fun night in/out. And then a fun three days in bed.

― Greg, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

What I can't figure out about alcopops, what little I know of them, is that they seem to have little to no difference to the basic principle of wine coolers out here, and that whole thing went through its American rage fifteen years ago. So what, are you people behind the times or something? ;-)

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I think the difference is that wine coolers involve wine. Alcopops in their posh moments are just fruit mixes with spirits (not wine). In their finest moments they are just sickly fruit drinks with industrial strength alcohol added (WKD Blue in particular).

― Pete, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Interesting factoid: most things that the European folks are describing as "alcapops" are actually flavored malt liquor over here. Whee!

― Dan Perry, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Irn Bru + liquor = wrong

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Dud with a capital D. Last one I tries was "Metz". Tasted like vodka-ish alcohol with just enough addes sugar that there weren't crunchy bits @ the bottom. I nearly *puked*, & thought I could feel my teeth rotting as I drank the stuff. Having paid for it, of course, I drank it all. (me=idiot) have tried other alcoplops in the past (forget which) and they were similar.

xoxo

― Norman Fay, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I cannot do alcopops, they really make me ill. In fact, I'm often hungover before I even finish drinking them. I've tried mixing Bacardi Breezers with more alcohol, but I'd rather just have a real drink, thanks. Alcoholic Irn Bru is an abomination. However, Irn Bru with alcohol in = DRINK OF THE GODS!!!

I have to ask- Kate McGee, are you actually a real person, or is this actually just yet another incarnation of doomintroll?

― masonic boom, Friday, 6 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I only really drink Smirnoff Ices, but they're classic! They taste nice, they get you drunk, and best of all you can dance while drinking them! The only down side is that horrible stickiness in your mouth that won't go away, but I try to ignore that and enjoy looking like a big girl.

― Ally C, Saturday, 7 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Classic, obviously.

Duh, they taste like fizzypop but (and here's the clever bit) contain booze. How can that not be a good thing?

Smirnoff Ice is without doubt the king of the alcopop. In fact it's probably King Booze. Vodka and coke comes close but it has the downside of easy spillage. Bottles y'see, harder to spill.

What I'm really waiting for is the day someone invents alcoholic Dr Pepper. Then I'll be the happiest boy alive (though if alcoholic Dr Pepper did exist, then I probably wouldn't be alive for long)

― jamesmichaelward, Saturday, 7 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Someone who knows I like Dr. Pepper, told me that Amaretto and Coke tastes remarkably like it. I keep forgetting to give it a try tho.

― Kim, Saturday, 7 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

There is a "cocktail" (i.e. the type you buy in rubbish clubs, not the type that should actually be called cocktails) which is called a Dr Pepper. It's pretty realistic and surprisingly enough it's based around a half of lager with a mixed shot dropped in (still in the glass, obviously). I can't remember what's in the shot now. virtualbar.com suggests either coke, lager and amaretto or lager, rum and amaretto or coke, vodka and amaretto or lager, amaretto and grain liqor or grain liqor and Dr Pepper (erm...) but none of those is the one that I know. Must remember.

― Greg, Saturday, 7 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

you people are all sick. Amaretto and coke?

― Ed, Sunday, 8 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Kate McGhee is indeed a real person - as hers and Emma's magical rendition of Uptown Top Ranking proved on Friday night in the KoC. And the Chilli her and her good husband cooked me on Saturday also proves.

― Pete, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Yes, yes, I exist. However, my mispronunciation of "wind" in Uptown Top Rankin as "wind" as in breeze/guff, rather than "wind" as in "wind-up the clock" or indeed "wind up me waist" is a little galling. Back to the point, whilst in the states, I drank a bottle of "Mike's Hard Lemonade" - a much funnier brand than Hooch, owing to the health-warning "Don't drink and drive, or Mike will kick your butt". Well, quite funny.

― Kate, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Woo! Yes, Castaway was to Hooch what Dimension was to Wash & Go. I love my shampoo trivia. Aldi had a budget version of Castaway in about 1992. I forget the name. But they also had a budget Diamond White rip off, so you could make really cheap Blastaways with a better alchohol for pence ratio than the false economy of Gold Cap bitter (99p for 4 cans, but only 2% abv). Ah, halycon days.

― Nick, Monday, 9 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

two months pass...

I tried a new one but it is mixed with beer, it is a tequila flavoured beer and i was quite impressed it is excellent and it does not taste tequila, the name is desperados; the best thing i have ever drunk.

― yannick, Thursday, 13 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Desperados is really top drawer stuff. I buy it if I'm in France its too pricey over here though. As for alcopops they're all sickening and rot your teeth, except smirnoff ice which is obviously meant for mixing with normal smirnoff.

― Ronan, Thursday, 13 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

As i have said elsewhere, Desperados is absoutely vile and the two above are obviously mixing it with crack.

― Nick, Thursday, 13 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I'm mixing it with lots more desperados and whatever else I happen to drink on a given night out. That does tend to dull the taste.

― Ronan, Thursday, 13 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Yuk, an absolute abomination. The human spirit has found various delicious ways of making alcoholic drinks: Wine, Beer, Spirits, various cocktails and liquors. And now 'Alcopops', sickly sweet concoctions tasting of vomit, directly marketed at binge-drinking kids. A sad indictment of both a fucked-up attitude to alcohol and a wretched lack of style in how its served. Decline of Western Civilisation part #1023.

― stevo, Thursday, 13 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Power shandies power shandies power shandies!

― Sarah, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Power shandies simply being a half of Becks mixed with a half of Smirnoff Ice. At first I was scared. And then I tasted the beautiful nectar. It's now my new favourite drink. RickyT, join me in the power shandy love!

― Sarah, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

POWER SHANDY = lager (indie) + alcopops (pop) -> Club Sussed in drink form.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I wuv my power shandies.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Except that if you drink the draught lager at Sussed you have bought yourself a one-way ticket to SUFFERATION.

― Tom, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

But the canonical power shandy is made with bottled products, so no worries there.

― boyofbadgers@yahoo.com, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

AH I see Scarth earlier on has beaten us to this. But he didn't call it THE POWER SHANDY so huzzah me still best!

― Sarah, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I will always call it the wino shandy, just as I did over ten years ago Starry! It has a better ring of desperation to it ;-)

― cabbage, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

in the grapes (probably the pub that inspired moe's in the simpsons "but moe, you can't get rid of the dank etc) the other day i saw a guy take a bottle of watermelon breezer, and a can of red bull and POUR THEM INTO THE SAME GLASS AND DRINK IT, and he was on his own, not even goaded into it by mates or anything...

― carsmilesteve, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I meant to tell you all, Joei was so inspired by the alarming rate at which y'all downed yer alcopops that she attempted to do the same thing with .4 and .5 liter steins of beer in Germany. She was not a very happy Joei the next morning. (In retrospect, making her trudge the streets of Hamburg for hours the day after may not have helped.)

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....boooze i luv it all

― richard chattaway, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Dan, that reminds me of something that occured to me when walking past the KoC the other day. You did realise, when you were down the front giving it up for the ILE massive, that the pub you were in was Tom Baker's old boozer, didn't you?

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Gaaaaaaaah.........

Clearly I didn't realize that, as you didn't see me geeking all out of control, forcing Joei to hide her face in an effort to distance herself from me. Oh, that's so COOL.

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

four months pass...

the poinT is that taste like shite.They are consumed as a status symbol , proudly held aloft alonside the wanky dolce and gabbana jumper , similar to the peacocks tail it is used by young spiky haired ejits to symbolise their coolness , and if they drank lager (apart from the fact the glass might be to heavy) there is a risk they may spill it on the old alligator skin shoes ...DISASTER!

― sean hanson, Sunday, 27 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

alcopops a status symbol????

― N., Monday, 28 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Now rebranded as FFABs

― Ed, Monday, 28 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

two months pass...

Well, there seems to be an awful lot of "Alcopop" haters around here. (That phrase cracks me up!). I guess I'm just a dumb American with no taste for good liquor. Over here, we have a pretty good Hard Lemonade called "Mike's." Doc Otis sucks. Bacardi Breezer's are pretty dang good too. Course, give me a shot of Jameson and Ginger and I'll be just as happy too :) Cheers!

― Josh H. Behn, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

two months pass...

yoyo i know this seems to be an ongoing argument so hey, why not express my opinion! yeh i reckon alcopops aint bad at all, i guess i have a sweet tooth but they're quick and easy to drink, make you nicely drunk in a happy 'enjoy the evening' way and come in cool li'l bottles! yeah well thats my thoughts and i know im still gonna be buying alcopos even if they do 'corrupt the meaning of alcohol'. keep drinking guys lol xxx

― charlie adam, Saturday, 29 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

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