SOVINO AUTUMN 2021
TUNA TEARS SOJU
ANT GIN
SMOKER’S COUGH
This one comes from Korea where the distilled rice wine, soju, is the national beverage. Soju comes in a range of flavours, but in seafood spots known as “tuna houses” you can ask for a tuna tears shot. The soju is mixed with fluid from the eye of a tuna which gives it a jelly-like consistency. It’s served from a teapot and often so thick it needs to be cut with scissors.
Not as weird as it sounds, this one is all-Australian and has bush tucker origins. Green ants, traditionally used by Indigenous Australians as medicine, are harvested in the Northern Territory by members of the Larrakia people. Then they’re incorporated in the distilling process by the Something Wild Beverage Company in the Adelaide Hills. The ants add notes of lime and coriander to the gin. And the ones in the bottom of the bottle are edible, just so you know.
Now we get to weird cocktails. The revoltingly named Smoker’s Cough is a shot of Jägermeister with a tablespoonful of mayonnaise plonked on top. If that doesn’t turn you off, what about a Tapeworm? Vodka, Tabasco, black pepper. And this time the mayonnaise is drizzled in to produce a yummy white “tapeworm”. Some cocktails can make you feel sick just by thinking about them.
BELLY BUTTON BEER "Working on the principle that yeast is yeast, no matter where it comes from, the brewers at Victoria’s 7 Cents Brewery isolated yeasts from their navel fluff and used it to produce beer." It wasn’t an entirely original idea. They were inspired by another brewery that used yeast from the brewer’s beard. They described the resulting brew as ”…a new world-ish Belgian-ish Witbier with fresh orange zest and toasted coriander seeds. The yeast exhibits qualities of Belgian beer with the key characteristics being spiciness, clove and light banana esters.”
COW URINE SOFT DRINK Called Gau Jal, this soft drink was released in India about ten years ago. In the Hindu religion, cows are sacred and their dung and urine have long been used in traditional medicine.
"The cola-flavoured product was touted as a health drink and the amount of cow urine it contained is unclear. " There is little evidence that the drink took the country by storm.
PRUNO OR PRISON WINE You’d better hope you never get to drink this.
"Concocted illegally in US prisons, it’s made by saving up fruit from meals and tossing it into a plastic garbage bag." Sweeten with sugar, soft drink or even tomato sauce, add some bread for yeast, hide it from the prison guards and let it ferment. Strain through a shirt or socks and serve at cell temperature.
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