I’ve been invited to a birthday party for a legendary party animal. I want to give him, as a gift, a liquor he’s never heard of. Secondary characteristics include (1) comedy and (2) drinkability, which may or may not be mutually exclusive, but primarily I’m looking for something unusual.
And I mean really unusual. Just because my mother and stepfather had never heard of Goldschlager (“Wow! Are those really gold flakes?”) doesn’t mean it qualifies.
My best thought right now is something I saw in a movie from Iceland called “Black Death,” but I imagine it’s hard to find in these parts. I also know I could just go down to the liquor shop and browse around, but I figure I’d toss an inquiry out to my hard-drinkin’ Doper buddies.
“he’s got a master plan. yeah, he’s gonna make a fortune, panning gold out of a bottle of goldschlager, shot by shot by shot.”
sorry, had to do that. it’s from a song.
no ideas though.
well, you could make up your own. get a nice glass bottle, remove the label and contents. make new label on your pc, attach to the bottle (sticker paper). put water or something in the bottle.
Absinthe. Always wanted to try it myself, but mostly it’s illegal because it contains THC. I’ve only heard of one brand that removes the THC, called Versinthe. Hey, got for either. It’s strong stuff, and it’s neon green!
One of my closest friends is turning 43 this year, so I’m giving him a bottle of Licor Cuarenta y Tres, a Spanish gem I discovered in one of the great restaurants in Newark’s Ironbound section.
It’s incredible. And it’s pretty obscure outside Spanish communities.
Black Death is uncommon but not impossible to find, it’s a vodka which is supposedly high in alcohol content and/or extremely smooth. We have a bottle in our liquor cabinet, got it in a well-stocked liquor store in the suburbs of Chicago.
Perhaps a bottle of Limoncello, a lemony liqueur from Italy? Or amaro, a digestif from there? I’d describe the taste of the latter as Dr. Pepper or another cola, but concentrated into a strong alcohol. Might be an acquired taste.
Oh, more about the Black Death - for comedy aspect, there’s the smiling skull in a top hat (IIRC) on the label. For taste, I can’t comment, I’m not much of a vodka fan. My husband didn’t really prefer it among the vodkas he’s tasted, and tends to go for various Polish vodkas.
And of course of I’d noticed yer damn question…:). I missed your post as I searched around for a site that would describe the stuff well. I know I can’t, without making it sound like a Creamsicle.
How old will he be? Old enough to know better, not old enough to actually stop. You know the drill.
Seriously, he’s in his early 30’s. My Spanish is rudimentary, but I get the “cuarenta y tres” thing. I might go for that anyway, despite the mismatched age; it sounds tasty. Hell, I might get one for my own cabinet. :scribbling note to self:
And re the microbrews or other beer/ale ideas: This guy’s an alcohol connoiseur; anything less than 50 proof would just be, oh, so pedestrian, y’know?
Really, it’s got to be the hard stuff, the odder and/or more uncommon the better. I was considering a nasty-ass white tequila I had inflicted on me a few years ago, but I decided I want to retain his friendship.
Keep the recommendations coming; I knew I could count on you guys. Thanks, y’all!
Well, I tried posting this before but the Board is playing tricks on me, so I’ll put it here to second the OxyMoronic nomination:
Two of the more obscure ones which I have are Raki (sp?), a Turkish liquor that I think is similar to Ouzo, and a Polish “herb vodka” that I picked up in Warsaw. I forget the name but it’s a strange color, like grass soaked in vodka, with a buffalo or something like that on the label (I can check when I get home if you wish).
But personally I’d go for 43 (Quarenta y tres). I think this is a Spanish liquor. It has a fairly unique flavor and is not something you find everyone’s liquor cabinet.
The Black Vodka has been on the market for about two years, and is called Blavod. Not bad, but it’s a novelty drink.
How about a bottle of Redrum? Yes, it is actually red.
Or there’s a black Scotch called Loch Dhub, which is actually pretty good.
Any of the Italian aperitifs, like Cynar or Fernet Branca are interesting and make good gifts. Fernet Branca is also made from artichokes, which makes it more interesting.
Apart from that, try cachaca or cacique, both sugarcane spirits from Brazil and Costa Rica, respectively. Don’t taste like much, but they’re both eighty-proof and will knock you on your ass bacause you can’t really taste how strong they are. A good brand of cachaca is Pitu.
Aguardiente is good, too–kind of like Pernod in that it’s liquorice-flavoured, but it can be up to 100 proof. The preferred method of drinking it is to do straight shots, chew sour oranges as a chaser. Then when your face gets numb, spit/blow it towards a candle flame and pretend you’re Godzilla.
–False_God (who is drinking Bacardi and Coke at his desk because he has to work on his birthday)
Oddly enough, there’s a booze here in the VileOrb/Nymysys household that many are fond of named Liquor 43. It’s not a schnapps, but just a vanilla flavoured liquor and yummy as the day is long. Could it be the same thing?
I, too, thought of Black Death Vodka when I saw this thread.
The ChiDopers are also rather fond of Stroh rum. It’s not real funny, but it will land you on your ass posthaste. 160 proof and, even to a non-rum drinker, tastes like smooth butterscotch.
I second the notion that if you’re going for giggles, check out microbreweries. There’s some beer names out there that will assure you the CEOs are heavily sampling their own product.
I forgot to put after my question to Oxy.