Rum

Birmingham’s Top 5 Cocktails

I went and saw my doctor the other day. He asked me how much I’ve been drinking, to which I glanced away nervously into the sterile corner of the room and shook internally, incurring further damage to the organs which I am worried about. I reluctantly told him the truth. He wanted more detail on the type of booze; I said the expensive stuff, mostly blended into expertly crafted drinks. My doctor leans forward, the smell of stale coffee filling the decreasing void between his face and mine. “Sounds fucking fantastic” he says, “You must utilise your multi-award winning blog to write about these, because I need to try them pronto. But heed this warning, young Simon: do not get caught-up in the in the grandeur of awards; even Adolf Hitler won Time Magazine Man of The Year in 1938”. What a wise doctor he is, even if he is the last remaining man alive to use the word ‘pronto’.

So here is a list of the best Birmingham drinks, which, after multiple trips to some place called Londium, really do stand-up to anything in the country. We’re so blessed with what we have here in Brum, which is a small group of hugely talented people bringing the best out of one another. No Pornstar Martinis have been harmed in the making of this list. Give them a go and tell them Ol’ Meaty from the Interweb sent you. You’ll get nothing, but I might get a free drink out of it somewhere down the line.

5) FKD, £7, Nocturnal Animals

The name might be a giveaway, but this is a witty take on teenage boys’ favourite fingering juice. It’s neon blue in colour, bloody lovely in flavour, and rather brilliantly poured on draft straight out of the tap. Nocturnal Animals is too new for me to remotely consider myself an expert on their drinks program, but this is already a highlight for a venue not afraid to take the piss out of fickle aspects of modern life.

4) Negroni, £10, Legna

Ordering a Negroni is like watching Babestation drunk; rarely satisfying. Everywhere in Birmingham has them, very few do them well. For me the best is at Legna where the gin has been steeped in parmesan to give the drink added length and umami. It is up there with the negroni at Bar Termini, which, if drinks is your thang, is the ultimate in Negroni-based compliments.

3) Champion Cobbler, £12, 40 St Pauls

All hail the greatest gin bar in the universe. I’m not making that up, they really are. Right now I’d say get down there for the salted caramel gin hot chocolate, but otherwise take the Gin Cobbler; a fruity little number that comes in a trophy. Because you, Dear Reader, are a deserving champion.

4987AA7C-7C8F-454A-810E-3023724C7CF02) Hit The Rum Jack, £12, The Edgbaston

Simply my favourite place in the city. Indulgent, luxurious, with perfect service, it is everything the bar of a luxury boutique hotel should be. Settle in for the night and work towards this drink; a short, boozy, and complex rum based drink that works on nutty flavours. The truth is you’ll be hard pushed here to find a drink that you didn’t like.

1) Amber Nectar, £10, 18/81

Honestly, the reason I knocked this list up. I was a bit taken aback when I recently tried it; it’s not just one of the best drinks I’ve had in Birmingham, but one of the best drinks I can remember ever having. For what is essentially a double measure of a single malt whisky, they have managed to add a dashes of maple, pecan, and tonka bean to draw out the flavour profile of the whisky. A world class drink that converted Claire to the joys of the fire water.

8057EA13-A94D-43AB-9322-778B3EA07CB2Don’t drink and drive, kids. Take an A2B Radio Car like I do.

 

 

 

 

Rum in Brum, Prince of Wales, Moseley

If you’re a groupie for fat food bastards, or the paid assassin from a coven of food bloggers, I’ll help you out with finding me. Come rain or shine, midday or later from midweek onwards, you’ll find me in The Prince of Wales in Moseley. I’ll either be sat at the bar with the regulars, or out the back, under that massive marquee within spitting distance of the tiki bar. Not that I would ever spit, no that’s disgusting. I tend to just throw shrapnel at the bar staff to get their attention. But I like it there. It’s my local, a great place without pretence where almost anything goes. If you haven’t been to The Prince they have a great bar upfront, and a wine and cheese shack, bottle bar, and rum tiki shack out the back. They do silly things like World Earth Day when I can’t get meat in my burrito, and great things like Woofstock (a dog friendly day festival on May 28th), and Rum in Brum on June 9th and 10th.

This is a quick post on the latter of those because a) I love the Prince and b) those Saturday day tickets aren’t going to pay for themselves. We went last year and it was easily in my top twenty-seven Saturday day time drinking sessions of the year. There were hundreds, maybe even millions, of rums to sample, and drinking tokens to purchase the ones you liked best. There was killer street food to purchase with your food tokens and a rum cocktail menu from the tiki bar. The sun blazed down and I may have shed a tear when the steelpan band played UB40’s ‘Kingston Town’. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a man dancing on the table wearing just a Bundaberg costume. He was absolutely not behaving in any way that was not promoting sensible drinking.

It’s back this year, bigger than ever they say. Which, if my maths is correct, means that there will be a billion or so rums to sample. They have jerk streetfood, and burrito streetfood and something called Vegan, which I believe to be a disease that slowly kills any personality you may have. The sun will 100% be possibly shining. I’m guessing that the steelpan band will back and willing to take a punt on them not churning out the greatest hits of Radiohead. I’m reliably informed by General Dictator Larry that if you have an Independent Birmingham card you get a whole £5 extra in drinks tokens for your ticket purchasing buck. There will be every type of rum, each to sample as much as your greedy chops can handle. And it will be glorious. Loads of merry people all having a great time together. You should go. I’ll be there too, but please don’t let that put you off.

Get tickets for this year’s Rum in Brum here

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