The Lemon Fool

I have a most peculiar drink beside me. A near-white colour, and a slightly-bitter flavour. Drinkable, but not something I'll be keen to repeat. It's the result of, I guess, a senior moment.

The story: I made myself a cuppa green tea. It being a hot day, I made it in the kind of pint mug I usually use for black tea. Or herb teas, though those are usually my bedtime drink.

Went to the fridge for a spot of lemon, but ended up putting milk in it instead. Realised as soon as I saw the novel colour: whoops, it's done now! Tried it, decided it'll do as a one-off, though it tastes surprisingly more bitter than either of the standards - green tea with lemon or black tea (builders or otherwise) with milk!

Any 'interesting' results of a moment of absent-mindedness? I'm not recommending this one, but perhaps you have something that turned out great?

We had a man in helping with some building work a few years ago. I made a dinner for him and gave him a black coffee he said he'd like. Conversation was easy with him as he had some great tales of the time he worked in Wales and of the rogue builders there who'd hired empty warehouses and filled them up with illegal waste. He cleared his plate but I wondered how he drank all his coffee so quickly. Turned out he thought it was gravy and didn't bat an eyelid. Not sure I'd recommend this substitution though.

My wife is quite fond of those lemon and ginger teabags - for some reason, the Twinings stuff doesn't taste nearly as good as the own-label from Sainsburys or Tesco. Anyway, one afternoon she asked me to make her a mug of same while she was working in the garden, and I somehow managed to double-dose the brew by adding a conventional breakfast teabag. With milk.

The resulting brew was exceedingly pleasant! Refreshing yet still substantial. So much so that the hybrid tea (geddit?) has become a gardening fixture. Mind you, it's a bit too strong unless you thriftily make a pair of teabags last for two afternoons. Which is all to the good of the household budget, even though neither of us is from Yorkshire.

BJ

In the summer I'm rather partial to a Brown ale shandy.

On a visit to Dublin, one of those bars with a long mahogany counter, knowing that Brown ale was unlikely to be forthcoming I asked for a Guinness shandy.
The wife afterwards commented 'I can't believe you did that'.

V8

88V8 wrote:In the summer I'm rather partial to a Brown ale shandy.

On a visit to Dublin, one of those bars with a long mahogany counter, knowing that Brown ale was unlikely to be forthcoming I asked for a Guinness shandy.
The wife afterwards commented 'I can't believe you did that'.

V8

I know of a worse abuse of Guinness than that

Years ago in France, I came across Biere Tango (beer + Grenadine). Pink beer. Can't say I was over-enamoured by it, so asked the waiter what else they had. He suggested Biere Valse (beer + syrup of mint). Green beer..... I'll have a go at that. Rubbish!

Some years later, in Fife, we had a shindig at a local village pub, and in a drunken haze, I talked of the green beer, and a few of us wondered if putting Creme de Menthe in Guinness might result in a green head on the Guinness. It didn't, it looked like a normal Guiness. And it tasted foul!

--kiloran

kiloran wrote:Some years later, in Fife, we had a shindig at a local village pub, and in a drunken haze, I talked of the green beer, and a few of us wondered if putting Creme de Menthe in Guinness might result in a green head on the Guinness. It didn't, it looked like a normal Guiness. And it tasted foul!

--kiloran

I believe Blue Bols works better (also makes a pint of Fairy Liquid if you mix it with snakebite)

Only way I've ever managed to drink Creme de Menthe is with Kahlua and Baileys: tastes like an after-eight mint.

- sd

An accidental mixing of cointreau and sloe gin.

Tasted by everyone pronounced successful and was the digestif of choice for the girls

Memories are hazy

todthedog wrote:An accidental mixing of cointreau and sloe gin.

Tasted by everyone pronounced successful and was the digestif of choice for the girls

Memories are hazy

Now that sounds like a combination that could easily feature on a cocktail menu. Good that you stumbled on it accidentally!

UncleEbenezer wrote:

todthedog wrote:An accidental mixing of cointreau and sloe gin.

Tasted by everyone pronounced successful and was the digestif of choice for the girls

Memories are hazy

Now that sounds like a combination that could easily feature on a cocktail menu. Good that you stumbled on it accidentally!

Cointreau was a popular digestif when I was a nipper in the 70s. Every middle class family had to have a bottle in their cabinet.... somewhere.

I think it goes with lots of mixers and of course it's part of a Magharita - with lime and tequila, though I usually use vodka, and without the awful salt around the rim!

Try it with ice-cream!

Steve

stevensfo wrote:I think it goes with lots of mixers and of course it's part of a Magharita - with lime and tequila, though I usually use vodka, and without the awful salt around the rim!

Most recipes for a margarita that I have seen use either Triple Sec, Grand Marnier or Cointreau. All are orange-based, which is the point presumably. By trial and error I have come to prefer Cointreau.

I don't mind some salt but avoid anything that makes it sweeter than it needs to be - the curse of most cocktails these days, sadly.

Lootman wrote:

stevensfo wrote:I think it goes with lots of mixers and of course it's part of a Magharita - with lime and tequila, though I usually use vodka, and without the awful salt around the rim!

Most recipes for a margarita that I have seen use either Triple Sec, Grand Marnier or Cointreau. All are orange-based, which is the point presumably. By trial and error I have come to prefer Cointreau.

I don't mind some salt but avoid anything that makes it sweeter than it needs to be - the curse of most cocktails these days, sadly.

True, but sweetness seems to be thrust upon us, whether we want it or not. When I was younger, even cans of peas and carrots had sugar added! I used to pick peas to earn money as a teenager, and the delicious taste of boiled fresh peas (or raw) is hard to forget! These days, it's very hard to find anything that hasn't got sugar, aspartame or saccharin added.

Time for some more cointreau?

Steve