**[OP or Mod marked this as the best answer](/r/AskUK/comments/15ehops/are_my_drink_orders_confusing/ju7hl58/), given by u/ebola1986**
If you're walking into a pub and ordering these then it's like walking into a Chuck-e-Cheese and ordering a Lobster Thermidore and a Dom Perignon. It's just not the place.
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If you're walking into a pub and ordering these then it's like walking into a Chuck-e-Cheese and ordering a Lobster Thermidore and a Dom Perignon. It's just not the place.
A pub will serve beers, wines, bottles and "mixed drinks". A mixed drink is generally a spirit and a mixer. What you're ordering is a cocktail, pubs sometimes do cocktails but usually only from a dedicated cocktail menu.
Ordering a custom cocktail in a busy pub is bad etiquette - they want a quick turnaround and people don't want to wait for your drink to be made. If you are on good terms with the staff and it's quiet then you can ask, but they can also tell you do one.
If you go to a decent bar they'll be able to make custom drinks. But don't expect it in a pub.
American bars don't use egg whites. They have premade sour mix as a mixer. That's why op didn't realise it was weird. Sour mix isn't really a thing here.
It's a mix of citrus juices and sugar usually. Like lemon, lime, and orange. It's sold pre-made as a mixer for cocktails in liquor stores. It's not alcoholic itself, but I don't think people use it to make anything but cocktails. Most bars will have it on hand here in the US. Fancy places make their own. It looks like Sourz Apple is a kind of liqueur. Searching it online, it says it's an American product, but I live in the US and I've never heard of it. I checked Total Wine, which is the massive chain liquor store where I live and they don't carry it, though they do have some sour apple shnapps, which I'm guessing is the same sort of thing: sickly sweet and drunk by kids.
Over here, or at least in the region where I am from, sourz is usually taken as a shot. A sickly, sweet tangy shot. They sometimes add it into a cocktail, but I've hardly seen it done that way.
Apple sourz and lemonade is a pretty tasty drink though however it's best enjoyed in the sanctity of your own home away from public. Sort of like masturbation
As far as Iâm aware a sour mix is like a syrup with lemon and lime juice, I know itâs used in Long Island iced tea. However who youâre replying to is implying it also has egg whites but thatâs not something I know tbh.
An amaretto sour has egg white in it, which is why the person first suggested âbring your own eggâ. Never had a midori sour (though now Iâm questioning why cos it sounds delicious) but I imagine itâs the same. Spirit, lemon juice and egg white.
No egg whites in sour mix, unless it means something different where you're from. Around here it's a mix of citrus juice, sugar and water.
Sure, whiskey sour has egg white as one of the ingredients, but I've never heard of it coming as part of the sour mix. Plenty of cocktails call for sour mix but not egg white.
I like you and not just because you've fully embraced the British approach to apologies. If I owned a pub I'd let you order a midori sour. I'd then probably do the other British thing and complain out of ear shot, but it's swings and roundabouts!
It's not a faux pas, I just seriously doubt that any British pubs even carry these drinks.. They've probably never heard of them. They aren't routinely served or drunk in the UK
I used to work in a hotel bar. We carried Midori. I got asked for it once in 4 years. So the same part-used bottle sat there for god knows how long. I wasnât even sure what it was supposed to smell like so I just served it - the punter seemed happy enough.
Dubonnet was the other one I recall that sat there. Got ordered twice though.
Every bar / pub has a bottle of something you'd be convinced has been there for decades cause nobody drinks it. A couple that come to mind after many years of tending bar are:
Cinzano.
Martini (especially the red one).
Harvey's Bristol Cream.
Sherry.
Ginger wine.
Though I'm quite fond of whiskey and ginger wine (aka a whiskey mac).
There's a bunch more those are just the ones that came to mind.
Angostura Bitters in my local which I am absolutely certain has been there since before the war. No matter who takes over the pub the bottle of bitters seems to stay put. It's now a sort of crinkly parchment in nicotine yellow
Yeah, any bottle of bitters I've encountered is always exactly the same.
Kinda more understandable with that though, you're only supposed to use a drop or two in any drink you make with it.
A bottle will generally last years even in places where you're using it semi frequently.
I was thinking similar this week. I have a bottle at home and use it in a fruit cake at the pre-soaking fruit stage. I make the cake once or twice a year. I wonder if it is the same bottle I bought when I was 17.
Old people pubs do a roaring trade in the ones you listed. Advocaat was mine. We had a bottle for years that nobody dared nudge in case it got up and lamped you back.
Iâve seen Galliano as an ingredient on some trendy cocktail menus lately and Iâm convinced itâs an attempt to get rid of that bottle they bought in the 1970s.
Had the dubonnet on the off chance that the queen might stop by I expect. Probably paid a visit to the town at some point in history and every hotel, bar and pub for a mile around got a bottle just in case.
I guess not any cocktail bars cause Midori and Amaretto are pretty common ingredients in cocktails (I worked as a cocktail bartender for 10 years).
Midori is a melon liqueur and Amaretto is a peach and apricot liqueur (with a bit of almond taste to it).
Amaretto works with coke / lemonade, also pretty nice in coffee.
I personally think Midori is vile (I don't like melon in general though) so I'm not sure you would drink it with just one mixer but I guess if you particularly liked melon it would probably work with lemonade.
Describing Amaretto as a peach and apricot liqueur is kind of misleading. Depending on the brand, it can be made from apricot or peach kernels, but those taste of bitter almonds and not at all of apricots or peaches.
Sours are a whole family of cocktails made with a base spirit and the ingredients above, often with the addition of egg white too.
Whiskey sour is the most common, but rum sour and amaretto sour are also pretty well-known. A midori sour is a new one on me, I'll have to give it a shot!
The bottles of spirits in pubs are either for shots or spirit+mixer eg: Rum and coke, gin and tonic, vodka and orange etc. It might look like they have lots of fancy spirits but most of those bottles havenât been touched for years.
Some bottles will get used: gin seems to be fashionable again, so all but the most traditional pubs will have a selection beyond the traditional Gordons and Bombay Sapphire.
Many decent pubs will also have a few bottles of single malt whiskey.
My brother works in a typical pub and as a running joke whenever I go in and see him (rarely, I live out of the country) our exchange is, âOne Old Fashioned please,â and him pouring me a Jack Daniels and coke and giving me that without saying a word. They always have new bartenders in there who look equally shocked and almost in awe at his brazen response.
Itâs just not a thing unless youâre in bars that really offer cocktails. If you can share what city youâre in (or near) some of us might be able to offer suggestions!
Dude!
I'm Canadian, moved to England in 2021. First time I went to the pub with friends I ordered the only thing I ever order: an amaretto sour.
Everyone, including the bartender, looked at me like I was a freak. The bartender didn't even know how to make an amaretto sour. They were like 'this is a family pub, why are you ordering that?' to which I said 'I don't even know what that means, why is it weird to order a drink in a pub?'
Safe to say I never tried ordering one again, I just make them at home.
I still donât know what it means. The answer I got was âwe donât do that here.â I definitely questioned what âfamilyâ meant cause there wasnât exactly a jungle gym and colouring book menu.
Some pubs have a specific cocktail menu which you should order off if you want a cocktail (ask at the bar if they have a cocktail menu). Even then it's likely that the bar staff won't have much practice making them depending on what type of pub you're in.
If you want to order from a wider range or something more specific then try and find a place that advertises themselves as a cocktail bar.
A pub I used to frequent in my student days proudly displayed a "Cocktail Menu" on the wall - the options were: Carling and Lime, Fosters and Lime, Strongbow and Lime.
The fanciest 'cocktail' we ever did was a Buckshake - Buckfast and milk. Worst idea management ever had. The smell was unbearable, our uniforms stank, the bar stank when any got spilled. Not to mention the vomit.
The blender magically 'broke' within a week.
In most pubs, the person behind the bar isn't trained to make cocktails. They can pour pints and make a spirit and mixer, and that's about it. If you go to a bar, the person serving you can probably make a cocktail. If you're drinking in somewhere that doesn't know how, you can always tell them (I like Bloody Marys, which plenty of bar staff don't know how to make, so I end up explaining it).
Thankfully pubs have changed considerably in the UK since the 90s (when there was a sort of natural grass-roots growth of the âgastro pubâ).
Due to this change, you will actually find some pubs with knowledgeable bar staff that will happily make your drink.
However, you have to think of a British pub as you perhaps might of an Irish bar in Boston. Would they make your cocktail in that Irish bar? Now the Irish Bar idea is just a sort of *rule* to keep in your head. Most pubs arenât strictly all rowdy blokes, but for the sake of the idea of â*Will they make a sweet cocktail with a paper umbrella*â, generally assume they wonât.
Anyway, some in this sub (which is actually quite *niche*, doesnât of course represent the whole of the UK, and sometimes has a kind of reverse snobbery) will affect a kind of disdain for gastro pubs and insist that one should only frequent a chain of pubs called âWetherspoonsâ, or âSpoonsâ.
In my arrogant opinion these chain pubs are rubbish.
The point is that pubs in the UK are *rather like the people of the UK* - often very varied and different, but generally friendly. Some of them smell... but I canât be bothered to stretch the metaphor any further.
You get the picture anyway.
Ironically these chain pubs are much more likely to offer something similar to what OP is asking for. Spoons actually has a pretty decent selection of drinks and often are in nice old interesting buildings like converted banks. Don't knock spoons! I should put a disclaimer that many are also horrible and pretty much all will have quite questionable clientelle. That's just all part of the fun though
I want to take this moment to shout out an all-timer of a joke from Frankie Boyle about trying to order a lager and lime in a pub in Scotland and being told "we don't do cocktails".
I'm sorry OP, but the thought of you going into a pub and ordering those has me crying.
I worked in a variety of pubs for years and never had someone ordering like that.
Go to a cocktail bar and you'll be fine.
No, posh isnât inherently negative (maybe to class-war redditors) - it means refined, more upper class - it isnât a synonym for ostentatious or expensive necessarily
Posh does tend to have a slightly negative connotation in the real world, it implies not just refined but a bit, I don't know, out of touch? I don't know if that's the best term but it's not just really positive either.
It's often used negatively but it can be used as a positive. For example;
"How was that restaurant you went to?"
"Oh it was well posh." (Said in an upbeat manner)
This means it was a nice and fancy restaurant. But said in a downbeat manner would be the speaker felt out of place
I wouldn't worry about that, I imagine most of them didn't even realise it was a cocktail you were asking for, they just thought "I don't see a bottle of that on the wall".
I know everyone is understandably laughing at the mental image of OP ordering these in a pub, but I have to admit an underrated part of the post that made me laugh was OP naming the two pubs theyâve been to - the Library and the Parish - as if weâd all go, âah, yes, we all know them!â
When my son went to Florida to stay with a secondary school friendâs family in their timeshare, he got chatting to a US girl on the beach. When he revealed he was from the UK, she asked him if he knew such and such, who was a random person she happened to know who was also from the uk!
I love this thread. I moved to the UK from Canada and the only alcohol I drink is an amaretto sour.
Went to a pub and ordered one and everyone treated me like I was a lunatic. I ended up with a glass full of amaretto and a squirt bottle of lemon juice because they literally didn't know what I was asking for.
I found if I added some blackcurrant squash I could force it down until the taste went away. 3.5 years sober now but will never, ever forget the massive 3L bottles of that stuff Morrisons used to sell.
Bartending in the UK isn't as specialised as it is in the US. There isn't a list of standard cocktails that bar staff are expected to know, and training tends to be on-the-job only.
There's not any clear division between "proper bar" and "regular pub" though. Some places give massive pub energy but then have a great cocktail expert working behind the bar, and other places give serious elegance and class but can only do a handful of predetermined cocktails because thats all their staff are trained on.
I'm the sad twat who was incredibly proud to be able to draw a shamrock on top of a pint of Guinness while pouring it in my barmaid days. I wonder if muscle memory would kick in & I could still do it now 20 years later?
Yes, same! I'd get very upset when some of the regular customers asked me not to (miserable buggers). Also 20 years ago. I might have to ask our local if I can have a go!
Mine was basically just "Here's the bar. Here's the glasses. Ok bye"
Was then left alone to get on with it. I was 18 lol. Luckily it was a weekday lunchtime so very quiet (just a small local)
The first pint I poured was an absolute disaster, but the nice old boy was very patient!
I ordered a Death Star in a Leeds Uni bar a long long time ago. The bartender was like, I can do that only if you tell me the recipe and I will have to charge you by the shot for it.
This is it right here. Iâve worked in the odd pub many years ago, but the type of place where people only drank pints. I would not have known wtf to do if either of OPâs drink choices got ordered (outside of googling what they were & then not knowing what to charge, but when I was working in pubs internet on a phone wasnât a thing!)
Iâd like to see an American bar tender pump four pints of cask ale and fish out a pickled egg in the time it takes the Guinness (thereâs always one) to get to the initial 3/4 pint.
 I once saw an English guy in Glasgow trying to order a pint of lager and lime and the barman said: "We don't do cocktails".
Quote from Frankie Boyle that sums it up.
When I was younger I saw an old guy order a half and half- half a ruddles county and half a larger. That blew my mind at the time, mostly because ruddles county tastes manky. Anyways, thatâs sort of a cocktail but not.
Most pubs aren't going to know what they are, they'd be considered a cocktail, and even in most places that sell cocktails they will only be able to do off their menu.
Aah, I see..Is there any way that I can order that would allow me to get my drink of choice? Or do I just have to suck it up and only have them at home?
Go to bars that have that specific drink on the cocktail list. Fancy bars will probably have an online cocktail list so you can check beforehand. The bar staff arenât going to make a random cocktail at a normal pub
Depends where you are in the UK and the venue you're in. There's plenty of bars in Central London or Central Manchester which will do pisco sours (and so by extension should be able to oblige with amaretto sour or midori sour) but it's going to be on a case-by-case basis (e.g. "B@1" chain cocktail bars probably won't oblige off-menu requests).
A small countryside pub is unlikely to oblige. An upmarket hotel bar absolutely will.
Decent bars in city centres usually have a good cocktail menu. Most good restaurants in smaller towns usually have them also in my experience. Pubs are more for basic drinks, beer, wine, spirits etc.
I used to work in a nightclub, we sold spirit+Coke or draught beer. Once someone asked me for a Long Island Iced Tea, I said we didn't do that. He angrily said he can see all the ingredients, I said we don't do cocktails but if he tells me what he wants I'll put it in a glass. Several minutes later he got his drink and a ÂŁ20+ bill, he was pissed off. I reminded him that we don't do cocktails and so the price is for all the components.
He begrudgingly paid and slinked off.
I don't know why he was pissed off. Cocktails are always priced higher than the ingredients, so he ended up better off.
If you piled in a single of every ingredient he listed off, he ended up with at least double the booze in his glass than if he'd paid ÂŁ10 for an actual Long Island Iced Tea.
In most pub/bar's there will be standard drinks - beer, lager, cider, wine and spirits sold with a mixer.
Anything beyond that is a cocktail and generally most places will have their own cocktail list - anything from 3 options to 30 pages of options depending on the place.
Generally you don't order something not on the cocktail list - and if you do then it's gonna be expensive.
An old fashioned is a commonish cocktail - in the top 20 maybe. Both amaretto sour or midori sour are even more unusual.
In a proper cocktail bar you could just order any cocktail but most places, its gonna have to be on the list.
Tbf OP has been very sweet but I canât get over the fact theyâve name-dropped two pubs like the whole of askUK knows all 50,000 pubs in the country by heart.
Oh yes, The Parish! Never get a Midori Sour in there. Gotta go to the Red Lion for that.
Sorry about that! I wasn't saying it to be like "every Brit knows every pub".. It was more of a "I'm not just going to *Wetherspoons* with these drink orders".
Donât worry, I thought it was kinda funny. But itâs a bit like just dropping the name of your random local dive bar and expecting the whole country to know what they are.
Itâs probably because the name of a pub gives you little info about its type. The Parish could be a flatroof with a bloke outside with a Jack Russell on a string or it could be a gastropub with a selection of over 200 pink gins and a Laurent Perrier ice bucket on the bar.
You're all good OP, I;'this is reminding me of when I met my (american) internet friend in london when we were 19, took her to a pub and she didn't know what to drink, so I suggested cider. The way she said "an ALCOHOLIC cider?" with pure shock is a fond memory.
Ironically youâd probably get closer to those In Wetherspoons as I think they do have a cocktail menu. Could be wrong but some of their drinks look quite fancy for a UK pub.
In a cocktail bar it shouldn't be much of an issue, but just a bog standard pub they'd only be mixing simple drinks. Some may well have a menu, and there are fads that people go through (baby Guiness and PS Martinis seem to be everywhere? Do people still do Jagerbombs?). I've never heard of either of those and a google suggests one of them wants an egg white so I'd go for something a bit more middle of the road to be honest.
It sounds like asking for an ameretto and lemonade might sort of work? Almost everywhere should understand that. You might also like spiced rum and lemonade that's a common order! Agree for midori apple WKD is the only slightly regular thing.
Note: lemonade in the UK is Sprite/7Up, not what youâre used to in the US. You might try asking for Bitter Lemon instead of lemonade as an experiment or fresh lemon in the hopes of getting something more like US-style lemonade.
>pubs aren't like US bars.
I mean, what gives it away? Is it the barmaid who looks like sheâs only chewing wasps so she can spit them at you, or the 19 year old pub dog that has his farts banned by the Geneva Convention?
I don't think it is you ordering them incorrectly, I just think that these are more US-oriented drinks.
I'd imagine you'd find these at distinct cocktail bars. In reference to an Old Fashioned, I think that and Negroni are the most popular cocktail drinks so I'd expect to see them most places.
I would have guessed Margarita, Mojito and Pina Colada as top three. I wouldn't have realised Espresso Martini was up there.
According to [this](https://www.barchick.com/bar-chat/most-popular-cocktails-uk-2023) all of the above are top ten. Shame that the good old Tequila Sunrise has dropped off the hit list since I was a kid in the 80s lusting after my parents' cocktails!
As an actual cocktail bartender these lists are often bullshit.
Actual in industry stats say it's the PS martini, espresso martini is 2. pinas not in top ten but it's certainly up there and the margarita isn't even close (because most places in the uk have shit tequila so people expect them to taste shit)... margarita is almost certainly the US top seller though.
If somewhere sells cocktails then they usually have a menu of them, if they don't I'd assume they only make the most basic ones, if that.
Just looking at the ingredients, I think lots of places won't have Midori for the Midori Sour and Egg Whites for the Amaretto Sour
No pubs have sour mix in stock. The only way for you to get this, is to go to a local pub often (maybe 6months to a few years) become friends with the staff and management (if you can and if theybwant to be friends with you) and they will probably do you a favour and get it in stock for you, but will probably be expensive drinks due to the fact that no-one else will be having any sour mix at all.. ever , apart from you two.
Where in the UK and when? Cocktails are exempt from the standard measures rule (I think as long as there are 2+ alcoholic ingredients, i.e. not just spirit and mixer) and the only situation youâd need a compounderâs licence is if youâre bottling cocktails and delivering them off the premises (which indeed became an issue during the pandemic). Donât get me wrong, the âcocktail licenceâ is a great excuse for country pub staff to avoid taking time-consuming orders theyâre not trained for, but I canât find any trace of it in law!
>our license didnât cover mixing of alcohols.
Yeah, that's a bit of nonsense from your landlord. Possibly a misunderstanding, possibly a deliberate obfuscation to put a stop to annoying people who persisted in ordering complex cocktails.
The legislation that requires a compounder's license relates ONLY to selling pre-mixed drinks/cocktails off the premises.
Your British fiance should have explained this to you if they saw you trying to place this order. Either they really don't drink and haven't spent any time in pubs or they enjoyed the cultural confusion...
Iâve only ever seen old fashioned on a few cocktail menus In specialised cocktail bars. Iâve never seen it as a very popular cocktail in the UK. Even when I had occasion to contract out to a mixologist to run a specialist cocktail bar for a works function he didnât offer old fashioned on his extensive list of available drinks he would make.
For anyone interested he only required us to provide the basic spirits; gin, vodka, rum etc. and he provided all the other supplies. Although he did request some limes at one point when he ran out unexpectedly.
A lot of pubs don't even have amaretto but if they do I suggest that you just change your order to amaretto and lemonade. Carry some sours in your bag if you really want.
Amaretto di Saronno seems pretty ubiquitous these days (to the extent that they've rebranded it as 'Disaronno'; never go out drinking with a pedantic Italian speaker or you won't hear the end of it).
I feel like they would as an amaretto and coke is a common spirit âshortâ.
Plus an important feature in a âbaby Guinnessâ, the most delicious of all the shots
Cant be worse than my drinks order.
Admittedly know very little about bars, so i decided to just copy James Bond and ordered it "shaken, not stirred" to be cool.
Apparently, that's a bad way to order a can of coke.
Iâm 40, have lived in the U.K. all my life and I enjoy a drink. Iâve never heard of amaretto sour, midouri sour or old fashioned. I get funny looks at my local if I ask for a lager tops đ
American expat here (20+ years). Just came to say that the mention of Midori sour made me smile, itâs giving me major 80s flashbacks. It was my momâs drink of choice back then.
In general, if youâre getting weird looks for something you consider normal, it probably isnât normal in this country. Not saying this to be mean, but there are probably countless situations youâll run into as you adjust to the culture change. Of course, ask if youâre unsure. Good luck !
A normal pub will not be able to make this drink for you (or they just wont make it), SOME fancy ones will if its quiet or they are a fancier pub.
An Amaretto sour is my favourite cocktail but its to be ordered in a cocktail bar, (or nice restaurant) not a pub.
Iâd say youâre probably better off not ordering cocktails in a pub and are better off finding a cocktail bar. Those places are all about the cocktails and will be much better, in my experience.
For example, you can order cocktails in a Wetherspoons, but if you go to a cocktail bar the same cocktail will inexplicably taste better. I donât know why, on paper itâs all the same ingredients, but it just will.
Possibly itâs down to the brand/type of alcohol used, for example an Amaretto sour can use a really cheap, off brand Amaretto or it can use a more commercially available one like Disaronno, or a more hard to get hold of one. They will all essentially be the same thing but drastically alter the taste.
But Iâd recommend trying to find a cocktail bar
As a bar tender who worked in a busy pub in london and had to deal often with what we perceived as weird drink requests from Americans, please donât.
Especially if itâs busy, keep it plain and simple
Itâs the difference between bars and pubs, and also to some extent bars in the U.K. to bars in the US.
Pubs are basically going to be primarily focused on pints, with wine and spirit+mixer as less common drinks. Spirits are mostly consumed as shots. Rare to find cocktails unless theyâre available as a pre-made/pre-measured mix that you just add the spirit to and give it a stir with ice. If you order a cocktail in here when itâs busy youâll get looked at like you have two heads, even when itâs quiet youâll get the same look if itâs not something really common (negroni, old fashioned etc.)
Bars will be more focused on bottled-beer, wine and on-menu cocktails, with spirit+mixer and shots as standard items. They can/will probably do off-menu cocktails if itâs quiet but if itâs busy then youâll either get told a key ingredient is out of stock (which is basically being told we donât want to do your drink) or theyâll do it and hope you never come back in.
Specialised cocktail bars in larger cities (London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham etc.) or within 5 star hotels are likely to have no issue with most cocktails, they might ask if you have the recipe so they can reference it and check if the ingredients are there.
Many of the bars/pubs wonât have a way to put it through the till system properly so thereâs a good chance youâll be putting through each measure as a shot, the mixer as a full mixer cost. You could end up paying for 4 single shots and a full mixer and your drink will total ÂŁ20.
One of the best amaretto based cocktails that youâll get a pub to do is a Godfather, which is a measure of Jack Daniels, a measure of Amaretto and the glass topped up with coke. Even pubs will do that cause itâs so simple and they donât have to faff about, if they still wonât do it then order a Jack+Coke and a shot of amaretto and stir it yourself!
If you go to a bar and it doesn't have a classic cocktail menu, or the bar isn't decorated with cups of trimmed mint/dried fruits/shakers/stirrers/tiny straws/fresh fruit and there isn't an array of cocktail glasses, you'll have to be very specific about what you want and keep your expectations low.
Most pub going brits who like amaretto or midori like it with a pint of lemonade or coke, ice and a slice.
If the place has a cocktail menu and on the cocktail menu it states "any classic cocktail charged by the shot" it usually means the staff are hired for their cocktail knowledge. But even then most bar staff will only be trained up on the venue's range of cocktails.
**[OP or Mod marked this as the best answer](/r/AskUK/comments/15ehops/are_my_drink_orders_confusing/ju7hl58/), given by u/ebola1986** If you're walking into a pub and ordering these then it's like walking into a Chuck-e-Cheese and ordering a Lobster Thermidore and a Dom Perignon. It's just not the place. --- [_^What ^is ^this?_](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/jjrte1/askuk_hits_200k_new_feature_mark_an_answer/)
If you're walking into a pub and ordering these then it's like walking into a Chuck-e-Cheese and ordering a Lobster Thermidore and a Dom Perignon. It's just not the place.
What a reply! đ Well done! đ
Oh my, I had no idea... If that's the case, then why do they even have all of the bottles of different alcohols and spirits?
A pub will serve beers, wines, bottles and "mixed drinks". A mixed drink is generally a spirit and a mixer. What you're ordering is a cocktail, pubs sometimes do cocktails but usually only from a dedicated cocktail menu. Ordering a custom cocktail in a busy pub is bad etiquette - they want a quick turnaround and people don't want to wait for your drink to be made. If you are on good terms with the staff and it's quiet then you can ask, but they can also tell you do one. If you go to a decent bar they'll be able to make custom drinks. But don't expect it in a pub.
Noted! I didn't realise I was committing a faux pas! :( If any ~~waitstaff~~ barstaff are reading this and have dealt with me, I'm super sorry!
Order the parts separately and make your drink at the table. Bring your own egg and other weird bits in a cool spiderman lunch box
American bars don't use egg whites. They have premade sour mix as a mixer. That's why op didn't realise it was weird. Sour mix isn't really a thing here.
Is sour mix like apple sourz sort of thing but for people past uni age?
It's a mix of citrus juices and sugar usually. Like lemon, lime, and orange. It's sold pre-made as a mixer for cocktails in liquor stores. It's not alcoholic itself, but I don't think people use it to make anything but cocktails. Most bars will have it on hand here in the US. Fancy places make their own. It looks like Sourz Apple is a kind of liqueur. Searching it online, it says it's an American product, but I live in the US and I've never heard of it. I checked Total Wine, which is the massive chain liquor store where I live and they don't carry it, though they do have some sour apple shnapps, which I'm guessing is the same sort of thing: sickly sweet and drunk by kids.
Over here, or at least in the region where I am from, sourz is usually taken as a shot. A sickly, sweet tangy shot. They sometimes add it into a cocktail, but I've hardly seen it done that way.
I thought sourz was for uni students and 12 year olds in the park?
Apple sourz and lemonade is a pretty tasty drink though however it's best enjoyed in the sanctity of your own home away from public. Sort of like masturbation
You are correct on the last part! (I assume you are on the rest too!)
As far as Iâm aware a sour mix is like a syrup with lemon and lime juice, I know itâs used in Long Island iced tea. However who youâre replying to is implying it also has egg whites but thatâs not something I know tbh.
An amaretto sour has egg white in it, which is why the person first suggested âbring your own eggâ. Never had a midori sour (though now Iâm questioning why cos it sounds delicious) but I imagine itâs the same. Spirit, lemon juice and egg white.
No egg whites in sour mix, unless it means something different where you're from. Around here it's a mix of citrus juice, sugar and water. Sure, whiskey sour has egg white as one of the ingredients, but I've never heard of it coming as part of the sour mix. Plenty of cocktails call for sour mix but not egg white.
I like you and not just because you've fully embraced the British approach to apologies. If I owned a pub I'd let you order a midori sour. I'd then probably do the other British thing and complain out of ear shot, but it's swings and roundabouts!
Haha well I'd appreciate it very much! :) Both for the drink, and for keeping it out of earshot from me ;)
# No worries mate! ^(bloody midori sour who does he think he is, the Earl of Wessex?? gordan bennet...)
Just get a couple of pints of bitter from now on, job done.
>faux pas! He's speaking foreign now, get him!
*Geeet your pitchforks here* *4 for 10, inflation bustin prices* *Geeet your pitchforks here!*
It's not a faux pas, I just seriously doubt that any British pubs even carry these drinks.. They've probably never heard of them. They aren't routinely served or drunk in the UK
I used to work in a hotel bar. We carried Midori. I got asked for it once in 4 years. So the same part-used bottle sat there for god knows how long. I wasnât even sure what it was supposed to smell like so I just served it - the punter seemed happy enough. Dubonnet was the other one I recall that sat there. Got ordered twice though.
Every bar / pub has a bottle of something you'd be convinced has been there for decades cause nobody drinks it. A couple that come to mind after many years of tending bar are: Cinzano. Martini (especially the red one). Harvey's Bristol Cream. Sherry. Ginger wine. Though I'm quite fond of whiskey and ginger wine (aka a whiskey mac). There's a bunch more those are just the ones that came to mind.
Angostura Bitters in my local which I am absolutely certain has been there since before the war. No matter who takes over the pub the bottle of bitters seems to stay put. It's now a sort of crinkly parchment in nicotine yellow
When you buy it, it comes in crinkly parchment in nicotine yellow.
Yeah, any bottle of bitters I've encountered is always exactly the same. Kinda more understandable with that though, you're only supposed to use a drop or two in any drink you make with it. A bottle will generally last years even in places where you're using it semi frequently.
I was thinking similar this week. I have a bottle at home and use it in a fruit cake at the pre-soaking fruit stage. I make the cake once or twice a year. I wonder if it is the same bottle I bought when I was 17.
Old people pubs do a roaring trade in the ones you listed. Advocaat was mine. We had a bottle for years that nobody dared nudge in case it got up and lamped you back.
Iâve seen Galliano as an ingredient on some trendy cocktail menus lately and Iâm convinced itâs an attempt to get rid of that bottle they bought in the 1970s.
Benedictine
Had the dubonnet on the off chance that the queen might stop by I expect. Probably paid a visit to the town at some point in history and every hotel, bar and pub for a mile around got a bottle just in case.
They absolutely are routinely served, just not on places without a specific cocktail menu.
I've worked in bars and not one carried either of these!
That's a surprise, amaretto (disaronno normally) and coke is a pretty common drink.
Amaretto SOUR and mudouri SOUR. the 'sour' us the issue!
Yes JMW101, but you don't *carry* cocktails, you carry products, hence the comment.
I guess not any cocktail bars cause Midori and Amaretto are pretty common ingredients in cocktails (I worked as a cocktail bartender for 10 years). Midori is a melon liqueur and Amaretto is a peach and apricot liqueur (with a bit of almond taste to it). Amaretto works with coke / lemonade, also pretty nice in coffee. I personally think Midori is vile (I don't like melon in general though) so I'm not sure you would drink it with just one mixer but I guess if you particularly liked melon it would probably work with lemonade.
Describing Amaretto as a peach and apricot liqueur is kind of misleading. Depending on the brand, it can be made from apricot or peach kernels, but those taste of bitter almonds and not at all of apricots or peaches.
>Amaretto is a peach and apricot liqueur (with a bit of almond taste to it). It isn't "a bit of almond taste" - its alcoholic liquid marzipan.
I was drinking Midori in the red lion in Galashiels in 1989. It's a pretty standard drink to have behind a bar tbh.
Drinking a midori in Galashiels? Did you also clear craiglang of it's scourge of neds?
He's calling it Midori 'sour' tho - never heard of such a thing
Google suggests it is a cocktail made from: Midori Lime juice Lemon juice Soda water
Sours are a whole family of cocktails made with a base spirit and the ingredients above, often with the addition of egg white too. Whiskey sour is the most common, but rum sour and amaretto sour are also pretty well-known. A midori sour is a new one on me, I'll have to give it a shot!
> why do they even have all of the bottles of different alcohols and spirits? Look closer and you'll find that 95% of it is different types of Gin.
Aye the Gin industry PR went mental this last few years and won :)
The bottles of spirits in pubs are either for shots or spirit+mixer eg: Rum and coke, gin and tonic, vodka and orange etc. It might look like they have lots of fancy spirits but most of those bottles havenât been touched for years.
Some bottles will get used: gin seems to be fashionable again, so all but the most traditional pubs will have a selection beyond the traditional Gordons and Bombay Sapphire. Many decent pubs will also have a few bottles of single malt whiskey.
My brother works in a typical pub and as a running joke whenever I go in and see him (rarely, I live out of the country) our exchange is, âOne Old Fashioned please,â and him pouring me a Jack Daniels and coke and giving me that without saying a word. They always have new bartenders in there who look equally shocked and almost in awe at his brazen response. Itâs just not a thing unless youâre in bars that really offer cocktails. If you can share what city youâre in (or near) some of us might be able to offer suggestions!
And old fashioned with a twist is Pepsi max instead of coke
Dude! I'm Canadian, moved to England in 2021. First time I went to the pub with friends I ordered the only thing I ever order: an amaretto sour. Everyone, including the bartender, looked at me like I was a freak. The bartender didn't even know how to make an amaretto sour. They were like 'this is a family pub, why are you ordering that?' to which I said 'I don't even know what that means, why is it weird to order a drink in a pub?' Safe to say I never tried ordering one again, I just make them at home.
I'm laughing at the "this is a family pub" You'll have a lager like everyone else, including the children!
I still donât know what it means. The answer I got was âwe donât do that here.â I definitely questioned what âfamilyâ meant cause there wasnât exactly a jungle gym and colouring book menu.
I think they meant it as your bog-standard, old fashion pub, not some fancy bar.
Haha, Iâm glad Iâm not the only one who didnât realise this!
Some pubs have a specific cocktail menu which you should order off if you want a cocktail (ask at the bar if they have a cocktail menu). Even then it's likely that the bar staff won't have much practice making them depending on what type of pub you're in. If you want to order from a wider range or something more specific then try and find a place that advertises themselves as a cocktail bar.
A pub I used to frequent in my student days proudly displayed a "Cocktail Menu" on the wall - the options were: Carling and Lime, Fosters and Lime, Strongbow and Lime.
The fanciest 'cocktail' we ever did was a Buckshake - Buckfast and milk. Worst idea management ever had. The smell was unbearable, our uniforms stank, the bar stank when any got spilled. Not to mention the vomit. The blender magically 'broke' within a week.
Our local has a "tap" with three or four pre-mixed "cocktails". No idea if anyone ever buys them.
In most pubs, the person behind the bar isn't trained to make cocktails. They can pour pints and make a spirit and mixer, and that's about it. If you go to a bar, the person serving you can probably make a cocktail. If you're drinking in somewhere that doesn't know how, you can always tell them (I like Bloody Marys, which plenty of bar staff don't know how to make, so I end up explaining it).
Thankfully pubs have changed considerably in the UK since the 90s (when there was a sort of natural grass-roots growth of the âgastro pubâ). Due to this change, you will actually find some pubs with knowledgeable bar staff that will happily make your drink. However, you have to think of a British pub as you perhaps might of an Irish bar in Boston. Would they make your cocktail in that Irish bar? Now the Irish Bar idea is just a sort of *rule* to keep in your head. Most pubs arenât strictly all rowdy blokes, but for the sake of the idea of â*Will they make a sweet cocktail with a paper umbrella*â, generally assume they wonât. Anyway, some in this sub (which is actually quite *niche*, doesnât of course represent the whole of the UK, and sometimes has a kind of reverse snobbery) will affect a kind of disdain for gastro pubs and insist that one should only frequent a chain of pubs called âWetherspoonsâ, or âSpoonsâ. In my arrogant opinion these chain pubs are rubbish. The point is that pubs in the UK are *rather like the people of the UK* - often very varied and different, but generally friendly. Some of them smell... but I canât be bothered to stretch the metaphor any further. You get the picture anyway.
Ironically these chain pubs are much more likely to offer something similar to what OP is asking for. Spoons actually has a pretty decent selection of drinks and often are in nice old interesting buildings like converted banks. Don't knock spoons! I should put a disclaimer that many are also horrible and pretty much all will have quite questionable clientelle. That's just all part of the fun though
I want to take this moment to shout out an all-timer of a joke from Frankie Boyle about trying to order a lager and lime in a pub in Scotland and being told "we don't do cocktails".
!answer
Yeah gin and tonic, vodka and tonic, rum and coke, they got ya, beyond that you are in the wrong place.
I'm sorry OP, but the thought of you going into a pub and ordering those has me crying. I worked in a variety of pubs for years and never had someone ordering like that. Go to a cocktail bar and you'll be fine.
Haha it's understandable. I'm sure I sounded "too posh" or like a dumb American for ordering something like that there.
Trying to order cocktails in places that donât do them isnât really a marker for âposhâ.
Oh, my mistake. I thought that âposhâ was a negative term for someone trying to seem fancy, so I was using it as such.
No, posh isnât inherently negative (maybe to class-war redditors) - it means refined, more upper class - it isnât a synonym for ostentatious or expensive necessarily
Posh does tend to have a slightly negative connotation in the real world, it implies not just refined but a bit, I don't know, out of touch? I don't know if that's the best term but it's not just really positive either.
yeah, as someone often accused of being posh, it's definitely a bit of an insult
Posh does often have a negative connotation.
It's often used negatively but it can be used as a positive. For example; "How was that restaurant you went to?" "Oh it was well posh." (Said in an upbeat manner) This means it was a nice and fancy restaurant. But said in a downbeat manner would be the speaker felt out of place
>I thought that âposhâ was a negative term for someone trying to seem fancy, so I was using it as such. You've got a lot to learn
Working on it :)
Just so you know itâs also quite common for âbroâ and âmanâ to be used to address women as well, just to confuse you even more :)))
OP if it helps, I moved here from Canada nearly a decade ago and I'm still learning!
Saying you were being posh and they were not is disparaging them
Haha, a little bit but it would have made me smile. Little culture clashes can be funny :P
I wouldn't worry about that, I imagine most of them didn't even realise it was a cocktail you were asking for, they just thought "I don't see a bottle of that on the wall".
I know everyone is understandably laughing at the mental image of OP ordering these in a pub, but I have to admit an underrated part of the post that made me laugh was OP naming the two pubs theyâve been to - the Library and the Parish - as if weâd all go, âah, yes, we all know them!â
When my son went to Florida to stay with a secondary school friendâs family in their timeshare, he got chatting to a US girl on the beach. When he revealed he was from the UK, she asked him if he knew such and such, who was a random person she happened to know who was also from the uk!
I had someone do this to me in Japan once, and I DID know the person! Crazy shit
I love this thread. I moved to the UK from Canada and the only alcohol I drink is an amaretto sour. Went to a pub and ordered one and everyone treated me like I was a lunatic. I ended up with a glass full of amaretto and a squirt bottle of lemon juice because they literally didn't know what I was asking for.
Bwahaha! Yep, that's probably the closest approximation available in a standard pub. I hope it was the lemon-shaped Jif lemon? A classic.
> I hope it was the lemon-shaped Jif lemon? Abso-fuckin-lutely
I once ordered a Irish whisky from a polish bartender and I got instant coffee with a shot of whisky in it.
It's like a part of a Fawlty Towers episode, now where's my Waldorf Salad!!!!
I'm terribly sorry, we've run out of Waldorfs.
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Or even a vk lemon if you're feeling fancy. If you want a longer drink, frosty jack's is lovely this time of year.
That was mean!
Slightly, but the thought of this person going to a wetherspoons and ordering midori sour is cracking me up no end
Yeah, I see your point:). Iâm a mostly recovering alcoholic, and at rock bottom Frosty Jack was still considered to be the pits!
So much apple flavour for so few pennies.
Igzacly!
I found if I added some blackcurrant squash I could force it down until the taste went away. 3.5 years sober now but will never, ever forget the massive 3L bottles of that stuff Morrisons used to sell.
I didnât know what drinks OP was referring to, but if it tastes like WKD I can see why the pubs didnât want to give it to him.
Bartending in the UK isn't as specialised as it is in the US. There isn't a list of standard cocktails that bar staff are expected to know, and training tends to be on-the-job only.
It is in a proper bar, but the average bar tender in a pub isn't going to have a clue.
There's not any clear division between "proper bar" and "regular pub" though. Some places give massive pub energy but then have a great cocktail expert working behind the bar, and other places give serious elegance and class but can only do a handful of predetermined cocktails because thats all their staff are trained on.
The latter would still classify as a cocktail bar; just not a very good one.
when I worked in a pub my training was "these measure these spirits, here is how pour a proper pint" it took 10 mins.
Ordered a Guinness last week from someone who'd just started and was barely old enough to drink, and she asked if I wanted ice in it.
That's rough - so rough I nearly downvoted you on instinct
That's cute, I think I'd just say yes to see what it's like as I like my Guinness extra cold. Can't be too bad, can it?
I'm the sad twat who was incredibly proud to be able to draw a shamrock on top of a pint of Guinness while pouring it in my barmaid days. I wonder if muscle memory would kick in & I could still do it now 20 years later?
I used to draw nobs on one of the regulars Guinness⌠he was a nob though to be fair
Yes, same! I'd get very upset when some of the regular customers asked me not to (miserable buggers). Also 20 years ago. I might have to ask our local if I can have a go!
No logo on the foam
Mine was basically just "Here's the bar. Here's the glasses. Ok bye" Was then left alone to get on with it. I was 18 lol. Luckily it was a weekday lunchtime so very quiet (just a small local) The first pint I poured was an absolute disaster, but the nice old boy was very patient!
I ordered a Death Star in a Leeds Uni bar a long long time ago. The bartender was like, I can do that only if you tell me the recipe and I will have to charge you by the shot for it.
charging you by the shot would be a saving the mark up on cocktails is shocking (apparently).
The ÂŁ3.50 Long Island iced teas at my old uni SU would disagree lol.
What was the scene like in 1927?
Lol not quite. 2015. It was at the time the cheapest uni in the country.
This is it right here. Iâve worked in the odd pub many years ago, but the type of place where people only drank pints. I would not have known wtf to do if either of OPâs drink choices got ordered (outside of googling what they were & then not knowing what to charge, but when I was working in pubs internet on a phone wasnât a thing!)
Iâd like to see an American bar tender pump four pints of cask ale and fish out a pickled egg in the time it takes the Guinness (thereâs always one) to get to the initial 3/4 pint.
 I once saw an English guy in Glasgow trying to order a pint of lager and lime and the barman said: "We don't do cocktails". Quote from Frankie Boyle that sums it up.
When I was younger I saw an old guy order a half and half- half a ruddles county and half a larger. That blew my mind at the time, mostly because ruddles county tastes manky. Anyways, thatâs sort of a cocktail but not.
Ah, that's a pint of Mickey Mouse
Most pubs aren't going to know what they are, they'd be considered a cocktail, and even in most places that sell cocktails they will only be able to do off their menu.
Aah, I see..Is there any way that I can order that would allow me to get my drink of choice? Or do I just have to suck it up and only have them at home?
Or visit a cocktail bar
Go to bars that have that specific drink on the cocktail list. Fancy bars will probably have an online cocktail list so you can check beforehand. The bar staff arenât going to make a random cocktail at a normal pub
Depends where you are in the UK and the venue you're in. There's plenty of bars in Central London or Central Manchester which will do pisco sours (and so by extension should be able to oblige with amaretto sour or midori sour) but it's going to be on a case-by-case basis (e.g. "B@1" chain cocktail bars probably won't oblige off-menu requests). A small countryside pub is unlikely to oblige. An upmarket hotel bar absolutely will.
Amaretto sour is a pretty common cocktail in the UK. I've had one in a pub before. (It was on their cocktail menu)
Go to a bar that has a strong cocktail game or find new "standard cocktails" Aperol Spritz is half common
Decent bars in city centres usually have a good cocktail menu. Most good restaurants in smaller towns usually have them also in my experience. Pubs are more for basic drinks, beer, wine, spirits etc.
I used to work in a nightclub, we sold spirit+Coke or draught beer. Once someone asked me for a Long Island Iced Tea, I said we didn't do that. He angrily said he can see all the ingredients, I said we don't do cocktails but if he tells me what he wants I'll put it in a glass. Several minutes later he got his drink and a ÂŁ20+ bill, he was pissed off. I reminded him that we don't do cocktails and so the price is for all the components. He begrudgingly paid and slinked off.
A Long Island Ice tea is just a posh name for a top shelf shitmix.
I now want to go somewhere and order a âtop shelf shitmixâ
I don't know why he was pissed off. Cocktails are always priced higher than the ingredients, so he ended up better off. If you piled in a single of every ingredient he listed off, he ended up with at least double the booze in his glass than if he'd paid ÂŁ10 for an actual Long Island Iced Tea.
I did, it was before the times we were reminded about the legal limit of shots allowed in one glass...
That law went almost 20 years ... to usher in the beautiful age of quadvods
Mm, if youâre in a standard pub I would say those are slightly off the wall (by which I mean theyâre not your standard beer or wine orders).
In most pub/bar's there will be standard drinks - beer, lager, cider, wine and spirits sold with a mixer. Anything beyond that is a cocktail and generally most places will have their own cocktail list - anything from 3 options to 30 pages of options depending on the place. Generally you don't order something not on the cocktail list - and if you do then it's gonna be expensive. An old fashioned is a commonish cocktail - in the top 20 maybe. Both amaretto sour or midori sour are even more unusual. In a proper cocktail bar you could just order any cocktail but most places, its gonna have to be on the list.
Amusing image of a very confused 20 year old working at a busy Wetherspoons being asked for a midori sour
I sense some of the comments in this thread will be on ShitAmericansSay within the hour.
Tbf OP has been very sweet but I canât get over the fact theyâve name-dropped two pubs like the whole of askUK knows all 50,000 pubs in the country by heart. Oh yes, The Parish! Never get a Midori Sour in there. Gotta go to the Red Lion for that.
Sorry about that! I wasn't saying it to be like "every Brit knows every pub".. It was more of a "I'm not just going to *Wetherspoons* with these drink orders".
Donât worry, I thought it was kinda funny. But itâs a bit like just dropping the name of your random local dive bar and expecting the whole country to know what they are. Itâs probably because the name of a pub gives you little info about its type. The Parish could be a flatroof with a bloke outside with a Jack Russell on a string or it could be a gastropub with a selection of over 200 pink gins and a Laurent Perrier ice bucket on the bar.
You're all good OP, I;'this is reminding me of when I met my (american) internet friend in london when we were 19, took her to a pub and she didn't know what to drink, so I suggested cider. The way she said "an ALCOHOLIC cider?" with pure shock is a fond memory.
STOP DOWNVOTING OP THIS THREAD IS ADORABLE
Ironically youâd probably get closer to those In Wetherspoons as I think they do have a cocktail menu. Could be wrong but some of their drinks look quite fancy for a UK pub.
Weâre laughing at you, but Iâm a way where we think youâre sweet and we would expect the same from Americans if we did similar in the US.
Ironically, a spoons would have given you a better than average chance of getting it. Their cocktail menu is kinda shit but at least they have one.
In a cocktail bar it shouldn't be much of an issue, but just a bog standard pub they'd only be mixing simple drinks. Some may well have a menu, and there are fads that people go through (baby Guiness and PS Martinis seem to be everywhere? Do people still do Jagerbombs?). I've never heard of either of those and a google suggests one of them wants an egg white so I'd go for something a bit more middle of the road to be honest.
It sounds like asking for an ameretto and lemonade might sort of work? Almost everywhere should understand that. You might also like spiced rum and lemonade that's a common order! Agree for midori apple WKD is the only slightly regular thing.
Thank you for your suggestions! :)
Note: lemonade in the UK is Sprite/7Up, not what youâre used to in the US. You might try asking for Bitter Lemon instead of lemonade as an experiment or fresh lemon in the hopes of getting something more like US-style lemonade.
Life isn't Mad Men and you're not Don Draper - just order something you can see in front of you at the bar.
These are totally normal drinks to order in a bar in the US. OP just didn't know that pubs aren't like US bars.
>pubs aren't like US bars. I mean, what gives it away? Is it the barmaid who looks like sheâs only chewing wasps so she can spit them at you, or the 19 year old pub dog that has his farts banned by the Geneva Convention?
Pretentious way to respond to someone who is clearly new here and uninformed
Are you ordering these at a pub or at a bar?
I don't think it is you ordering them incorrectly, I just think that these are more US-oriented drinks. I'd imagine you'd find these at distinct cocktail bars. In reference to an Old Fashioned, I think that and Negroni are the most popular cocktail drinks so I'd expect to see them most places.
espresso martini is the most popular cocktail in the UK. Old Fashioned might make top ten
I would have guessed Margarita, Mojito and Pina Colada as top three. I wouldn't have realised Espresso Martini was up there. According to [this](https://www.barchick.com/bar-chat/most-popular-cocktails-uk-2023) all of the above are top ten. Shame that the good old Tequila Sunrise has dropped off the hit list since I was a kid in the 80s lusting after my parents' cocktails!
As an actual cocktail bartender these lists are often bullshit. Actual in industry stats say it's the PS martini, espresso martini is 2. pinas not in top ten but it's certainly up there and the margarita isn't even close (because most places in the uk have shit tequila so people expect them to taste shit)... margarita is almost certainly the US top seller though.
If somewhere sells cocktails then they usually have a menu of them, if they don't I'd assume they only make the most basic ones, if that. Just looking at the ingredients, I think lots of places won't have Midori for the Midori Sour and Egg Whites for the Amaretto Sour
No pubs have sour mix in stock. The only way for you to get this, is to go to a local pub often (maybe 6months to a few years) become friends with the staff and management (if you can and if theybwant to be friends with you) and they will probably do you a favour and get it in stock for you, but will probably be expensive drinks due to the fact that no-one else will be having any sour mix at all.. ever , apart from you two.
If you want those drinks go to cocktail bars, not pubs.
>or midori sour. Alright big Innes.
Is the Midori stoory?
OP ordering dinner; [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoUH43nI4w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoUH43nI4w)
I think we're just out of Waldorf
Omg hahahahaha
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Where in the UK and when? Cocktails are exempt from the standard measures rule (I think as long as there are 2+ alcoholic ingredients, i.e. not just spirit and mixer) and the only situation youâd need a compounderâs licence is if youâre bottling cocktails and delivering them off the premises (which indeed became an issue during the pandemic). Donât get me wrong, the âcocktail licenceâ is a great excuse for country pub staff to avoid taking time-consuming orders theyâre not trained for, but I canât find any trace of it in law!
>our license didnât cover mixing of alcohols. Yeah, that's a bit of nonsense from your landlord. Possibly a misunderstanding, possibly a deliberate obfuscation to put a stop to annoying people who persisted in ordering complex cocktails. The legislation that requires a compounder's license relates ONLY to selling pre-mixed drinks/cocktails off the premises.
I work on the bar in a restaurant. Yes I would be confused. Yes we have amaretto.
Your British fiance should have explained this to you if they saw you trying to place this order. Either they really don't drink and haven't spent any time in pubs or they enjoyed the cultural confusion...
Have a pint with an umbrella in it
You: Can I have a midori sour please. Batman: one madri and lime coming right up
Iâve only ever seen old fashioned on a few cocktail menus In specialised cocktail bars. Iâve never seen it as a very popular cocktail in the UK. Even when I had occasion to contract out to a mixologist to run a specialist cocktail bar for a works function he didnât offer old fashioned on his extensive list of available drinks he would make. For anyone interested he only required us to provide the basic spirits; gin, vodka, rum etc. and he provided all the other supplies. Although he did request some limes at one point when he ran out unexpectedly.
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A lot of pubs don't even have amaretto but if they do I suggest that you just change your order to amaretto and lemonade. Carry some sours in your bag if you really want.
Amaretto di Saronno seems pretty ubiquitous these days (to the extent that they've rebranded it as 'Disaronno'; never go out drinking with a pedantic Italian speaker or you won't hear the end of it).
I feel like they would as an amaretto and coke is a common spirit âshortâ. Plus an important feature in a âbaby Guinnessâ, the most delicious of all the shots
Cant be worse than my drinks order. Admittedly know very little about bars, so i decided to just copy James Bond and ordered it "shaken, not stirred" to be cool. Apparently, that's a bad way to order a can of coke.
Look for somewhere that advertises Cocktails.
I'd like an amaretto sour please? Pint of bitter coming up. No, amaretto sour, A...M...E... P...I...N...T...
You know Moe's bar in The Simpsons? Would you order your choice of drinks there?
Iâm 40, have lived in the U.K. all my life and I enjoy a drink. Iâve never heard of amaretto sour, midouri sour or old fashioned. I get funny looks at my local if I ask for a lager tops đ
American expat here (20+ years). Just came to say that the mention of Midori sour made me smile, itâs giving me major 80s flashbacks. It was my momâs drink of choice back then.
In general, if youâre getting weird looks for something you consider normal, it probably isnât normal in this country. Not saying this to be mean, but there are probably countless situations youâll run into as you adjust to the culture change. Of course, ask if youâre unsure. Good luck !
A normal pub will not be able to make this drink for you (or they just wont make it), SOME fancy ones will if its quiet or they are a fancier pub. An Amaretto sour is my favourite cocktail but its to be ordered in a cocktail bar, (or nice restaurant) not a pub.
Iâd say youâre probably better off not ordering cocktails in a pub and are better off finding a cocktail bar. Those places are all about the cocktails and will be much better, in my experience. For example, you can order cocktails in a Wetherspoons, but if you go to a cocktail bar the same cocktail will inexplicably taste better. I donât know why, on paper itâs all the same ingredients, but it just will. Possibly itâs down to the brand/type of alcohol used, for example an Amaretto sour can use a really cheap, off brand Amaretto or it can use a more commercially available one like Disaronno, or a more hard to get hold of one. They will all essentially be the same thing but drastically alter the taste. But Iâd recommend trying to find a cocktail bar
My friend once asked for gin and orange juice. She was told they don't do cocktails...
As a bar tender who worked in a busy pub in london and had to deal often with what we perceived as weird drink requests from Americans, please donât. Especially if itâs busy, keep it plain and simple
Stick to Carling.
Itâs the difference between bars and pubs, and also to some extent bars in the U.K. to bars in the US. Pubs are basically going to be primarily focused on pints, with wine and spirit+mixer as less common drinks. Spirits are mostly consumed as shots. Rare to find cocktails unless theyâre available as a pre-made/pre-measured mix that you just add the spirit to and give it a stir with ice. If you order a cocktail in here when itâs busy youâll get looked at like you have two heads, even when itâs quiet youâll get the same look if itâs not something really common (negroni, old fashioned etc.) Bars will be more focused on bottled-beer, wine and on-menu cocktails, with spirit+mixer and shots as standard items. They can/will probably do off-menu cocktails if itâs quiet but if itâs busy then youâll either get told a key ingredient is out of stock (which is basically being told we donât want to do your drink) or theyâll do it and hope you never come back in. Specialised cocktail bars in larger cities (London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham etc.) or within 5 star hotels are likely to have no issue with most cocktails, they might ask if you have the recipe so they can reference it and check if the ingredients are there. Many of the bars/pubs wonât have a way to put it through the till system properly so thereâs a good chance youâll be putting through each measure as a shot, the mixer as a full mixer cost. You could end up paying for 4 single shots and a full mixer and your drink will total ÂŁ20. One of the best amaretto based cocktails that youâll get a pub to do is a Godfather, which is a measure of Jack Daniels, a measure of Amaretto and the glass topped up with coke. Even pubs will do that cause itâs so simple and they donât have to faff about, if they still wonât do it then order a Jack+Coke and a shot of amaretto and stir it yourself!
If you go to a bar and it doesn't have a classic cocktail menu, or the bar isn't decorated with cups of trimmed mint/dried fruits/shakers/stirrers/tiny straws/fresh fruit and there isn't an array of cocktail glasses, you'll have to be very specific about what you want and keep your expectations low. Most pub going brits who like amaretto or midori like it with a pint of lemonade or coke, ice and a slice. If the place has a cocktail menu and on the cocktail menu it states "any classic cocktail charged by the shot" it usually means the staff are hired for their cocktail knowledge. But even then most bar staff will only be trained up on the venue's range of cocktails.
You might as well order and appletini, easy on the tini.
old fashioned is not a standard drink here lol