Tiger, straight; tops is for girls. A couple of duty free then a pick-up taxi to town. Ah, the joys of being young and single.

Slow, and with the Victor crew we finished up in a timber yard.

TTN, were you there?

Wobbly Warsteiner at RAF Guetersloh. It did what it said on the bottle.

You could always just drink the tonic water and skip the gin ;)

(perish the thought)

When one was a baby Flying Officer, ones then "squeeze" was what some years later would be called a "Sloane" - flat in Dolphin Square, mother living in large house in Pimlico etc etc.

One Easter we were invited to Mother's for lunch. As "distressed gentility" Ma had sequentially let the lower storeys of big house, and lived in the top flat. Struggled up the stairs - a lot fitter then! - to be met by imposing large lady (think Margaret Rutherford or Alastair Sim in drag), very much the "galleon in full sail".

Hand crunching handshake with extensive pumping of forearm.

Ma: So you're Teeters eh? (real first name omitted for security purposes!)
Teeters: Mmmmmm (still wincing from broken hand)
Ma: You're a pilot in the RAF aren't you (pause) well, you'll have a gin and tonic then won't you!

No arguments there .........

Now to make the Real Ale Brigade cringe.
 

One evening a long time ago a little Red Barrel appeared on the bar. Now the House Ale was Carrington's which was drunk under sufferance as APOs on National Service pay could not afford to drink G & T for all of the month. Anyway despite being charged a 1d premium a pint we decided to give it a go. However at about a quarter to ten the steward announced it had run out.
Now a young single staff pilot (it could even have been a member of these for fora) announced that he knew that "that silly barrel wouldn't last all evening".
Several months later Carringtons' donated 7 kegs to boost their flagging sales, these were consumed at some do foc and after that it was never drunk again.

Thank Heaven for CAMRA. Without them, we'd all still be drinking Red Barrel or Tankard.

Herod or even Harp.

Talking of SA Sherry. I discovered a Portugese favourite while there. Called Katemba, it really was red wine, preferably dry, and coke with ice. A substitute was indeed SA sherry and coke. My. A few of those and you really were heading for lal la land. :cool:

Or that other disgusting concoction favoured by the youth in the 60s, rum and coke, or Bacardi and coke for the sophisticated

Port......:}

Will that be with Lemon, Sir, ...... or without ? ..... :E :E

I recall having an official booklet which having told you what to do with your embossed cards, went on to rule that one should have only one sherry before dinner as any more would spoil your palette.
Port....I preferred the Madeira.

ISTR port and brandy was a recommended cure for a hangover....Hair of the dog and all that.

Snake Bite, followed by Serum; even more effective than OSLO (1 Sqn Leg Opener). ;)

Rum and peppermint??:yuk:

Hmm, a cheap and nasty version of the real Cuba Libre...

As regards beers, who recalls the vile 'Alpine lager' served in some Yorkshire OMs (e.g. Leeming in PCL days). The wretched stuff didn't keep and smelled like a combination of rotten eggs and pine lavatory cleaner...:yuk:

Pom Pax, the booklet to which you refer was probably Gp Capt Stradling's Customs of the Service, if memory serves. Included such gems as the correct etiquette for leaving calling cards when first posted to a new station.....

Do people stand up when the PMC enters the ante room these days?

Do people even know the PMC?

I remember once when the stn cdr came in to the ante room one Saturday morning in a sweater when mess rules required jacket and tie or crafts. He was given a stiff ignoring.

The 'Baron Special'
 

A 3(F) Sqn aircrew drink probably dating from WW1 RFC days ... A secret recipe handed down from Junior pilot to his choice of replacement JP and sworn to secrecy.. Allegedly banned and went 'underground' in the early 80s in Güt .. Something about a court martial and a refusal to let the President know the ingredients ;-)

I heard it was the age old potion known as a "Shirley Temple".

I'll 'ave you know, that there ain't no such thing as 'South African Sherry' or 'Port' for that matter.

The EU insisted that the names not be used, in return for some trade agreement or other.

http://s818.photobucket.com/user/ian...105079_EAA.jpg

http://s818.photobucket.com/user/ian...]=1&sort=1&o=0
http://s818.photobucket.com/user/ian...9_EAA.jpg.html

SASless. That is a dreadful slur.

Ian, that never stopped the Maltese making champagne before they joined the EU or California selling champers to the world outside the EU.

JENKINS How very dare you!!

When - on occasion - one imbibes the wines of Jerez; nothing sweeter than an "Uncle Joe" will do.

Harrumph

On a trip to the Far East in 1979 "Watneys Party Seven" was the drink of choice and the Eng knew exactly where to stow it to keep it cool until we could drink it after landing.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...withParty7.jpg

PN
No one has stopped making the stuff, they simply drop the words Sherry or Port from the lable!

For example, the cheap popular 'Sedgwicks Old Brown Sherry' is now called 'Sedgwicks Old Brown'! and the more up market 'Moni's Medium Cream Sherry' is simply 'Moni's Medium Cream'.
An example here

You actually chose to drink that horrible tinned horse pi$$? Good grief!

On exercise in Germany in the 80's (in the winter), preferred tipple was 'reinforced gluhwein' - the usual stuff with a large tot of Famous Grouse added.

That's what I reckon my "six pack" turned into with age. The trouble is, no-one under the age of about 60 knows what I'm talking about

BEagle
My memories are favourable. ISTR it was de-rigueur to serve it at 1970’s parties along with the BabyCham and Blue Nun. Fit the can with a Sparklets Tap and it dispensed its contents with a good head. It may have been horrible to start with, but after a few it tasted alright!

Warmtoast,
Thanks for posting that pic! God bless all the GEs who organised cold beers downroute!

OAP

At sea, Watneys produced an Export Ale that was generally sold in the Wardroom bar for 4d a pint. Much betterer than Red Barrel, about 5% from memory, but usually without competition as the only draft RAS'd from the RFAs.

Eventually the replacement for the daily tot became two cans of the export beer that was the predecessor to John Courage Amber Lager.

Never in my day: Spingo could only be bought directly from the Blue Anchor :ok:

Jaegerbombs!

Rock-ape + plenty of adult beverage* = grinning idiot

Regards
Batco
*any

Reading Nigel Walpole's excellent book Swift Justice, I came across this cheeky little number, known as 'Pimms 79':

Into a 3.5 imp gallon pot, add:

36 measures Pimms No.1
18 measures Gin
18 measures Cointreau
9 measures Benedictine
5 measures Cherry Brandy
8 bottles Champagne

Serve by the pint!

The pot was 24 in high, with an 18 in base and had been presented to 79 Sqn by Swift pilot Roger Pyrah. When 79 Sqn disbanded in 1960, the 'Pyrah Pot' was passed to 4 Sqn, who took over the role with the Hunter FR10.

38 years later, the 'Pyrah Pot' was still very much in use with 4 Sqn, then flying the Harrier.

But has the pot and its tradition survived, now that 4 Sqn is a reserve squadron flying the Hawk T2?

We used to say;

"Don't take the p*ss out of Watneys. It's the only flavour it's got".

Snakebite anyone, cider and black currant? Or Pernod and black, very 80's.

I certainly hope so, or the Service has really gone to the dogs since I left 25 years ago (ye gods was it that far away?). But then, do we still have ante rooms any more?

As for drinks, NAAFI used to stock litre bottles of South African Fine Old Golden sherry(FOG). This was always a favourite in our household at Christmas as a lubricant during the preparation of lunch.

Beerwise, I remember Hopleaf in Malta. The saying was ' I thought the bottom was falling out of my world until I drank Hopleaf, and then the world'.... well, fill the rest in yourselves.

Gutersloh cellar bar in the early 60s had a draught beer that we knew as 'Sludge' but I can't recall the name - it might have been Hohenfelder.

Anyone ever tried Bull's Blood - Guinness and Cider 50/50, or champagne instead of cider if you were rich. I had a very shaky night out in Redcar on just 6 pints of the stuff.

My Dad used to talk about Courage beer when he was in the Royal Signals, so named because that's what you needed to drink it :}