Saturday 20 April 2013

A toast to the sun



With Lord Bassington-Bassington's appreciation for Tiki culture, and penchant for creating drinks in honor of people that inspire him, it was only logical that His Lordship would start making drinks to go with his favourite bands. And as Lord Bassington-Bassington's favourite bands have a tendency to operate within the field known as neofolk, there were bound to be some strange things happening.

Neofolk and Tiki culture might not seem like natural bedfellows to most folks, even the rare individuals who happen know what both neofolk and Tiki culture are. But frankly, after enough rum-based drinks anything can be natural bedfellows.


And to Lord Bassington-Bassington, the place where national romanticism (a key ingredient in neofolk) and faux-Polynesian pop culture collide is a heavenly kitschy and very inspiring place. Call it - why not? - National Roman-tiki.

So it it with a certain pleasure (and a certain level of inebriation) that we here at the Lord Bassington-Bassington Chronicles present the recipe for the Solblot, the drink in honor of the band of the same name. As Solblot is possibly the most Swedish band in existence, the idea was to create a drink that was equally Swedish, but still recognizable as a Tiki drink.

Solblot
3 cl Blue curaçao
5 cl White grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
1 cl Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
3 cl white rum (such as Havana Club Anejo Blanco)
3 cl Mead (preferably from Uppsala...)
5 cl ginger ale (with a real ginger bite, such as Fentiman's)
1 cl Bombay Sapphire gin
A pinch of ground rosemary seeds

Shake all ingredients (except ginger beer) in a shaker with ice cubes until chilled. Pour, strained, into a glass, transparent Tiki mug or reproduction 12th century drinking horn packed with crushed ice. Stir in ginger ale. Garnish with a slice of lemon in the shape of a Northern sun and various other yellow accoutrements, such as 
yellow rose leaves or teensy-weensy runes carved from lemon peel.

Drink while enjoying some appropriate listening and reading.


His Lordship would like to credit Fraulein Frost with the brilliant idea of adding rosemary - a perfectly Northern touch - to the Solblot. And thank Lady Mju for pictorial assistance, and the people who helped taste the drink while it was being developed.

A special thanks goes to the staff here at Bassington Manor who helped clean up the mess made by His Lordship. Basset paws are good for many things, but complicated shaking procedures are not one of them.


So - which is the next band that should be given the Tiki treatment?

9 comments:

  1. It must be said that "he who has not tried His Lordship's excellent tiki drinks" (aka Voldemort), and especially this one, should consider their lives dull and utterly meaningless from this time forth.

    And it was, as always, a sheer pleasure to help with the mixology. :)

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  2. That is lovely to hear! I have a few other mixological projects, so you might be enlisted at a later date. Your taste buds are quite extraordinary.

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  3. What a faboulos idea.:) After starting with handsome, sharp-dressed young men from Sweden, I would suggest to continue this way (but to move to the south). A Jännerwein-Tiki-Drink would be interesting for sure.;)

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  4. I support the Jännerwein-Tiki-Drink idea. :-)

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  5. What a splendid idea! Some suggestions for arch-Austrian ingredients would be most welcome. A touch of Edelweiss perhaps?

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  6. Benjamin Sperling25 April 2013 at 17:03

    Aye, can't wait to moisten my throat with this fine drop, or maybe even share it with the splendid artists!

    As for the continuation of your Lordship's creativity, the suggestions are quite flattering... ;-)

    Just as a vague origin (beyond Jägermeister), I dare to provide some information on the (more or less genuine) Austrian drinking culture, whether it may be used or not:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_cuisine#Other_alcoholic_drinks
    http://www.mozart-spirits.com/
    http://www.edelweiss-vodka.com/

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  7. Herr Sperling, I accept the challenge but will have to ask for some time to get a proper drink together.

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  8. Benjamin Sperling25 April 2013 at 17:13

    My most deferential thanks for accepting, your Lordship! And as the whole world knows, the understanding of time in Austria is quite different, so prompt action is absolutely not required.

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  9. Thank you got your understanding. Things sometimes take a lot of time here at the Chronicles; there are posts that have "been in the making" for years. Like my list of the best neofolk songs ever.

    Of course, I blame my secretary, the lazy sod.

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