Monday, August 25, 2008

To Seek Out New Libations


Our friendly neighborhood silver smith and Violet Femme, The Purple Pigeon, is quite the fan of a beverage known as Strongbow. As she dwells far away and over the sea in Jolly Old England I did not imagine that I could sample said fermented delicacy here in the US of A. Imagine my surprise when, on a mission of great import to Mrs. Marius who needed a disposable baking pan for her pot-luck breakfast on the morrow, I spied a six-pack of Strongbow in amongst the more mundane lagers and pilsners in the cooler. Swiftly I pounced upon the unsuspecting bottles and after a brief pause to pay for them, absconded with my loot and came home to sample. My first misconception about this particular libation is that it is a beer. Au contraire, it is a hard cider. Imagine apple juice with a kick. It took some getting used to, as it tastes very much like Champagne, which I care not for, but it is sweeter. I have imbibed two bottles this eve, and I cannot say that I am a fan...yet. But I do know that oft times the palate must needs be trained to like a new sensation, and I am willing to give this one its due.

I'll keep you posted.

Toodle pip!
Marius

9 comments:

Purple Pigeon said...

What? me? I only occasionally drink it, much like a grandmother sampling a sweet sherry only at christmas time....

I am very much pleased!! It took me a while to get used to it, but stick with it, the rewards are great!

Welcome to the Strongbow Club. Here is you sticker, and your sash, and a complimentary bag of Salt and Vinegar Real McCoys Crinkle Cut Crisps, which you may find yourself craving after a while.

Alysoun said...

*love* hard ciders, but I agree with Purple Pigeon - it's not an everyday thing.

Jonesing for a London pubcrawl is,
Alysoun

stinkypaw said...

I hope you didn't forget the Mrs' pan in your excitement! ;-)

Despite its taste do you enjoy its effects, if any on your strong body?

Purple Pigeon said...

if i could drink it everyday, i would, but i fear that would be a slippery slope and would end up living on the streets, tugging the tweed coats of the posh people and asking them to spare me ten pence to go towards my next 'bow fix!

Unknown said...

It is interesting, Mdme. Paw, how different alcoholic beverages seem to have different effects, since the underlying chemical, ethyl alcohol, is the same thing. The Strongbow did not give the same quick buzz I associate with beer, and it also seemed to give me a bit of a headache. However once I felt the effects, they lasted longer. I'm still not sure if I like it or not. I'm going to continue the experiment this evening as I am going to attempt for the first time to make mashed potatoes from scratch.

Turtle said...

Seeing how long it took to get you to drink beer...

Strongbow is an acquired taste, and sometimes you just don't acquire it.

Personally, I can't stand the stuff, but that's me. I don't tend to like the hard ciders, especially not the drier ones.

Tastes differ, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Anonymous said...

Not a fan,
but Rob likes it a lot. Discovered it at a marvelous little pub down here called The Icehouse, very sporty, and serves several types of cider, and a few flavored beers, chocolate, coffee, berry etc. And of course the necter to the gods themselves, my personal favorite after thousands sampled, Newcastle Brown Ale, on tap. Yall will have to come down soon and check it out in person. (thats an open invite btw)

Turtle said...

Even after all these years, I am continually amazed, Duke. The similarities between us are damn well frightening. We share a fav beer and fav liquor.

Unknown said...

Pidgey: I have decided that while it's a bit too costly to be a regular menu item, it has certainly been added to the 'splurging' list.
:-)

Alysoun: Agreed.

Duke: Now that gas prices have come down a bit, and I know that your young'n gets along ok with mine(I know mine could drive the Pope to drink) I shall definitely take you up on that.

Turtle: I liked it a lot more the second night than the first, so I guess my taste acquisition powers have increased. ;-)