Drink Suggestions in English Pubs
 

DH and I are headed to London next week, first trip there for us both. I'm looking forward to the experience and atmosphere of the English pubs, but I am not a beer drinker. Any suggestions on other 'traditional English' beverages I can try?

Try a cider, you might really like that. They have wine and liquor there also.

You can order whatever you want. I'm not a beer drinker so I usually get a fizzy bottled water - or whatever they have that's as cold as possible - preferably both already cold and then on ice (beg for each cube).

But you can get cider (hard), sodas, lemonade or OJ or mixed drinks (although they may not have your brand or make thinks exactly the way you expect). I found out with one experiment at a gina and tonic that there was hardly any gin and the tonic seemed off.

Try Shandy - a mix of beer and some kind of lemonade - not sure but low in alcohol if that is your goal and not a beer taste at alll.

Ditto to the cider suggestions.

My wife doesn't like beer, no matter how hard I try, but she can put a good cider down. In Scotland they once to put a bit of currant juice in her cider. Don't know if that has a name or is a common practice, but it was pretty darn good.

I am not a beer drinker. Usually I get (hard) cider, but sometimes I'll have a glass of wine. I also love Pimm's, with herbs, when the weather is warm.

Not looking for non-alcoholic, definitely more the 'adult' beverage variety. Just wanting to know some traditional English options. I am a wine lover, so I'm sure I can find a good wine. Just want to drink like the Brits do. I like the cidar suggestions, so I will check that out.

>>Just want to drink like the Brits do<<

The Brits drink whatever you drink -- wine, beer, gin & tonic, cider (don't ask for 'hard' cider -- cider <i>is</i> hard).

Don't order a shandy -- if you don't drink beer you wouldn't want a shandy either.

When granddaughters and I went on the Literary Pub Crawl in Dublin they wanted to buy me a drink. I'm not fond of the taste of most alcohol but tried a shandy and enjoyed it.

<<In Scotland they once to put a bit of currant juice in her cider. Don't know if that has a name or is a common practice>>

It's called a cider and black, juice is probably too strong a word, its cordial, it used to be popular with the girlies. People also mix it with either lager or Pernod

Cider is probably the best option, especially if you can stay away from Bulmers Woodpecker or Strongbow as they are mass produced, instead try to find scrumpy cider which be warned can be a lot stronger than the taste suggests. Even deadlier is mixing cider with lager, its called a snake bite and a lot of bars used to refuse to mix / sell it

"In Scotland they once to put a bit of currant juice in her cider. Don't know if that has a name or is a common practice>>"

Many years ago (when I was a bit younger), we used to call it a "train smash", probably not very PC these days.

I've lived in the Uk all my life, only once had shandy (in Germany) and it was horrible. Cider drinker since 15. Loads of different ones, generally the "draught" ciders are like Budweiser "beer" S@@t, avoid the fruit (blackcurrent, plum, grape, etc) based ciders for kids still weaning and the Belgium fake cidre (sic) and focus on Organic bottled cider from the UK or Ireland (actually even this latter is a bit dull).

You may then start to see the differences between Somerset, Norfolk or Hereford ciders

Wine in British pubs, "much better than it used to be" is not really a claim to fame. Yes, there are pubs with a good wine list, approach all others with caution.

If a pub is not busy they may well let you have a taste of "bitter" for free and you can always try 1/2 a pint for £1.50 to £2.00 to see what it is about. Try to avoid pubs that cool bitter, it is not designed to be sold cold, it is designed to be sold at room temperature, however you will find some mass market bitters that need the cold to make them appear "star bright". Most mass market lagers are sold cold to make them appear star bright and to mask the taste.

I am a huge fan of real ale so what I do when visiting England or Scotland is to look for the Cask Marque plaque on the front of a pub and order whatever real ale they have on tap.

http://holtparktoday.com/wp-content/...que.emblem.jpg

I also drink cider (but I avoid Strongbow unless I really, really want a cider and there are no alternatives offered).

CAMRA signs are good too http://www.camra.org.uk/ tell you where and what

If you order a sodas you will get a "blank" look, soda used to be carbonated water out of a weird glass spray bottle, if anyone still does it I'd be amazed.

A bit of fun, ask "has the major been in?" there is some statistic that for 3/5 of pubs he has and 2/5 he is in.

If you don't like beer, or what the English call lager, you may still enjoy ordering "a pint of bitter, please", or a half-pint if you don't want that much. Otherwise, just order a glass of wine, which is very popular these days. There are even some very good English wines, but you may have a hard time finding somewhere that serves it by the glass.

Don't write off beer completely. I don't like the dark bitters that OH favours, but there are less hoppy, light golden ones and wheat beers that slip down a treat. I prefer wine in the evenings, and generally assume that if a pub offers several wines by the glass, it's probably ok. If they just have house wine by the glass, order something else. Gin, or any other spirit, is too expensive to drink in pubs, even with mixers. Small measures that are gone in a couple of sips whilst your companion has barely skimmed the top off his pint.

"If you order a sodas you will get a "blank" look, soda used to be carbonated water out of a weird glass spray bottle, if anyone still does it I'd be amazed."

Well "amazingly" you can still buy them, don't think I've seen one in a pub since the 70's.


http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/soda-syphon-19053963.jpg

Thanks for reminding me about CAMRA,bilboburgler. They are doing God's work.

It might not come in a funny bottle any more, but you can get soda water in every pub in the land.

Usually dispensed from the same "gun" that the syrup-based soft drinks are served out of (but also individual bottles in more pricey places) it's commonly available and usually used for making spritzers in the summer (white wine topped with soda) and vodka sodas, for people watching their calorie intake.

Another option for a non-beer drinker are the alcoholic ginger beers that are having a marketing push at the moment. Mind you, if you're on holiday, in a pub, you'll be having a good time no matter what you're drinking...

"you can get soda water in every pub in the land."

Yes. But the point being made was that "If you order a sodas you will get a "blank" look."

Which is sort of true: "a soda" in American means "a soft drink" in English. Ask for one without qualification and the assumption is you're trying to get a fizzy mineral water without paying for it.

When nytraveler referred to "sodas", I am pretty sure she meant Coke, Pepsi, etc, not the carbonated water sometimes added to whisky. Soda is the word used in some parts of the US for those drinks. Where I grew up we referred to them as "pop", another term that would probably get blank looks in the UK.

You type quicker than me, flanneruk!

I love ginger beer - think ginger ale with more ginger kick - and Fentimans has been my favorite since discovering it in the UK .. http://www.fentimans.com/soft_drinks

It's important to not that ginger beer comes in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic forms. Crabby's is the most famous alcoholic ginger beer (and tastes great with a shot of whisk[e]y added).

thanks flanner you got my point

Never really like those gun things, I've never seen them washed....

Try a Pimm's

A soda in many places in the US means a soft drink as well; and then there's "pop" on the west coast.

I am a bit confused by this comment from above:

"Gin, or any other spirit, is too expensive to drink in pubs,..."

As in how "too"????...does this mean overpriced or what?

I don't like beer or lager, but I very much like shandy, especially on a warm day. Not made with lager, though. Do try it, as well as the other suggestions.

I've looked at the Wikipedia page, but I'm still a little confused about Pimm's. Would you just order a "Pimm's", or do you need to specify what else you want in it?

Pimm's with lemonade (which is sprite in the UK). It comes usually topped with mint, strawberries, cucumber and/or assorted fruits.

If you order a "Pimm's" it will 99 times out of 100 come with all the trimmings; mint, strawberries, cucumber and sometimes a slice of orange and could be any possible combination of the above (plus lemonade of course).

If you ask for one and it's served without the usual accoutrements, it's a sign that the pub probably isn't a very good one.

One of the few drinks you can buy by the jug in pubs and a pretty good way to spend an evening.

Lemonade.

Needless to say there is high vol stuff that has never seen a lemon, there is branded lemonade, stuff called "cloudy" lemonade (which should have lemon bits in it) with and without sugar and even alcoholic lemonade which is lemonade with tots of nameless booze in it.

Pimms actually comes in a few varient bases (Vodka, gin etc) Gin is the most common, drunk cold with borage or cucumber and lemonade (concentration is the issue I find 50:50 is about right but in pubs you may get 10:90 if you are lucky) since you normally get a half or a whole pint the alcohol levels need to be watched.

I assume in dissolute London they add strawberries....

Except for cocktail bars, you need to tell the bartender what you want in the drink. They have gotten used to requests like a "Screwdriver" or a "greyhound", but it's best to ask for "vodka and orange" or "vodka and grapefruit".

Some of my favorite English girly girl drinks in pubs, at least during the early '80's were "vodka & black" which is vodka and ribina (black currant) or a snowball, which I'm sure they still have lying around in little bottles somewhere. Both on the sweet side, but never heard of either of these drinks outside of England.

Pimms is a summer drink, best served outdoors on a sunny afternoon. I don't think I would order one in the evening at a pub.

Just so others are aware in the US apple cider is non alcoholic - only hard cider contains alcoholic. Good to know wording in the UK is different.

I have tried to order wine in several random pubs and it has not been a success. But there are a lot of wines that I don't care especially care for. Can of course order wine in restaurants - but then usually only by bottle or half - in many the wines by the glass are not really drinkable (unless they specialize in a much larger offering).

What ever happened to the days when one would order a large pink gin in a London drinking establishment?


Thin

<<I am a bit confused by this comment from above:

"Gin, or any other spirit, is too expensive to drink in pubs,..."

As in how "too"????...does this mean overpriced or what?>>

I mean that a single gin & tonic will cost in the region of £3.50-£4.50 depending on the brand. That's around the cost of a pint, and you either use all the tonic and won't taste the gin at that strength, or you use a fraction of the tonic and it's gone in a few mouthfuls and you need a top up long before your drinking buddies. You need at least a double or triple to match what you'd pour at home, and that gets expensive.

I usually order cider because the wine glasses tend to be small and, as someone pointed out, my drink was long gone before my husband's pint. Ask if they have a good local cider (it's usually bottled).

I've never ordered Pimm's because I thought it always had gin, which I don't care for. Now that I know it can be vodka, I'll give it a try next time we visit the in-laws.