Everyday Drinking_ The Distilled Kingsley Amis - Kingsley Amis [2]
—ED.
best bitter: a middleweight division of the pale ales, which also include the weaker “session” or “ordinary” bitter (at up to 4.1 percent alcohol) and the more forceful “premium” or “strong” bitter (at a serious-minded 4.8 percent or more)
bibber: see sod
Black Velvet: a cocktail made from stout and sparkling white wine, traditionally Guinness and champagne
blower: telephone
bob: a shilling; that is, twelve pence, or one twentieth of a pound
Bovril: a traditional British beef-flavored concentrated yeast extract, served spread on toast or mixed with hot water as a beverage
brace cold snipe: one pair of room-temperature cooked birds
castor sugar: very finely granulated sugar
Chambéry: a raspberry (framboise) liqueur; substitute Cham-bord
champagne cider: an effervescent fermented cider produced using a method similar to the one used for champagne
chaptalization: a method of fortifying wine by adding sugar to the unfermented grapes
claret: Any of the wines of Bordeaux. The British affinity for these wines may be traced to the Middle Ages, when the area containing the region was held by the Norman crown. After King John granted the region tax exemptions in hopes of shoring up shaky loyalties, Bordeaux became a main source of wines (including its typical clairet) for England.
cobbler: a tall drink involving lemon, soda, sugar, and some kind of alcohol, notably gin, bourbon, or sherry
crown-cork opener: Neither cork nor crown, the crown cork is what we think of as the ordinary top of a glass beer bottle. The opener, originally manufactured by the Crown Cork & Seal Company, is the typical piece of bar apparatus.
Darby and Joan Club: a senior citizens’ social club
dipsography: writing about drinking (typically refers to literary writing, not bar tabs, public-indecency citations, and the like)
Double Diamond: a bitters-style beer brewed by Carlsberg UK, reviled by some and fiercely loved by others
elevenses: a small midmorning meal, much like afternoon tea but typically eaten around 11:00 AM
extract spread and tablets: Marmite and its hideous kin of yeast extracts, unaccountably enjoyed by the British and Australians as a spread on toast
fruit machine: a slot machine
GLC: Greater London Council, the administrative body that served the city area from 1965 to 1986
hock: Any of the white wines produced along the German Rhine. The name derives from the Rheingau village of Hochheim. Think Riesling, if it’s for you, or liebfraumilch, if you’re serving company.
Husband’s Scotch: a whiskey (like J & B) whose light color makes it appear more watered down than it is
local: neighborhood pub
look a charley: appear foolish or tasteless
long drink: a highball; opposed to short drink
Malvern water: English spring water, a traditional favorite of royalty and the ideal accompaniment to good scotch
mean: stingy; ungenerous; cheap; sensible
Montilla: a fino sherry, named after the Spanish town of Montilla-Morales, where it is produced
Moselle: a wine from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer area of Germany
off-license: a shop licensed to sell liquor to be consumed off the premises; the term may be applied to ordinary liquor stores, areas within supermarkets, or (praise God) spirits shops attached to a pub
old stager: a veteran or old hand; in this context, presumably a longtime bibber, sod, toper, or slag
peach wine: Typically chardonnay wine with peach flavoring, this is still widely available and a favorite of avowed non-connoisseurs. Once described as “the perfect wine for sitting in front of the TV with.”
Pimm’s: a maker of alcohol, known for Pimm’s No. 1, a gin-based drink
piss-up: a drinking bender
plonk: cheap alcohol
poteen: An aggressive species of Irish moonshine made from potatoes or, less often, from barley and yeast. It was outlawed by the English in 1670, with much the same effect that prohibition had in the United States. Despite