let us start with WHERE – the 10 best places to get drunk in public around the world followed by WHAT – the 7 must know bar drinks from around the world plus Frommer’s top 10 summer cocktails. as for HOW…i think you probably know how to drink but you may not know how to make a delicious rum punch so find the recipe under HOW!
WHERE:
By CHRIS PLATIS via Off track Planet
When pounding shots of Jack alone in your room isn’t cutting it anymore (we really hope it hasn’t come to that), OTP found you some great places to get drunk in public. There’s nothing like travel for the chance to let your hair down and get your drink on. While the globe is generously sprinkled with a variety of festivals encouraging copious public alcohol intake, know that our international counterparts prefer to focus on the journey (drinking), not the destination (drunk mess). Instead of hurling shots into the gutter, experience public drinking without being a mass nuisance. OTP’s Top 10 options for public inebriation show you where to soak up your surroundings as you sip.
10. Qingdao International Beer Festival Qingdao, China
The sleeper celebration on our list, the Qingdao Festival seems like the typical travel conspiracy: Get the tourists drunk so they buy our crap. This means you can expect overwhelming hospitality – in the form of free beer – from Chinese locals during Asia’s largest beer festival, held over two weeks in mid-August. Everpresent entertainment is just what you’d want to try with Qingdao’s famed Tiger beer blurring the edges. Beautiful women dance on tabletops, drinking competitions offer cash prizes – and need we mention karaoke?
9. The Great American Beer Festival Denver, Colorado
If your palate is more provincial (read: American), Denver presents The Great American Beer Festival, established in 1982. Initially featuring 22 breweries competing for the title of ‘America’s Greatest Beer’, 2010’s contest had nearly 500 breweries showcasing 2100 brews of amber liquid sunshine. Your taste buds differ from the next dude; so screw the judges and head on your own sampling spree until you find nirvana. For just $55 per day, the taps promise to keep flowing and ensure your throat is never dry.
8. Tequila Trail Jalisco, Mexico
Dadadadadadada…Tequila! Respect, please, for the beverage that requires no introduction – and certainly no chaser. Made from the blue agave plant, this sparkly spirit is native to the town Tequila, in Jalisco, Mexico. Take a trip down the Tequila trail, home to factories producing the land’s signature beverage. The budget-friendly Tequila Express, bringing you to the doorsteps of Jalisco’s five main tequila-producing communities, includes a guided tour of local cultural and archeological sites, plus plenty of free tastings. As the day goes on, watch your train ride increase in entertainment value relative to tequila consumption!
7. Mardi Gras New Orleans, Louisiana
If you can’t make it to Brazil for Carnaval, grab your glitter and head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras that same week. In case New Orleans doesn’t already heave with musical energy and sexual excess, Mardi Gras literally blows up “Fat Tuesday”. Purple, green and gold floats parade down the narrow streets throwing trinkets while surrounded by masqueraded beauties. Coveted Mardi Gras beads are thrown out as prizes – often as a result of boob-flasher-age. Be warned; be excited.
6. Times Square New York, New York
No matter how often we drink in NYC, the thrill of Times Square has yet to escape our liquored blood. Weekday or holiday, the lights please the sober and completely amaze the drunk. New York’s best feature is easy transportation, taking you from the famed New Year’s Eve ball-drop to your next destination via subway in a few stumble-y shoves. This melting pot shines with sheer variety, presenting endless entertainment opportunities to the imbibing traveler.
5. Queen’s Day Amsterdam, Holland
Queen’s Day is for drinking in the madness that engulfs the city yearly on April 30. Nearly one million people participate, starting when Amsterdam’s nightlife kicks off Queen’s Night on the 29th and continuing for 24 hours thereafter. While the Night is filled with young adventurous thrill-seekers, the busier Queen’s Day is chaotic, with live music on every corner, in every alley – even on boats. The atmosphere pulses in unison with your hangover, permeating the Heineken haze.
4. Wembley Stadium London, England
Few events have a livelier atmosphere than a soccer (er, football) game at Wembley Stadium, near London. Dive into the mass of 90,000 screaming fans, and (with the help of a few beers) inhale the elixir of English life. The original stadium was considered the premier sports venue for decades before its demolition, but 2007’s Version 2.0 is doing a great job filling its soccer spikes. Down your pints, whip off your shirts and chant rhymes hoarsely like a true footie fanatic.
3. St. Patrick’s Day Dublin, Ireland
Photo by: Anthony Cronin
The Irish take pride in their highly developed drinking skills and St Paddy’s (March 17th) is their time to shine. Dublin’s world-renowned parade is a display of pride that fuels the unintelligible drinking songs of loud green Irishmen worldwide. Leprechauns crawl the streets to live music and the Guinness stream never ends as the partying stretches for days. OTP Tip:Wear green. Unless you really like physical abuse from inebriated Dubliners.
2. Carnaval Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio is the queen of Carnaval celebrations, though this Catholic prelude to Easter is celebrated in many regions of Brazil. The four-day celebration has thousands of Brazilians swarming the streets in elaborate costumes, indulging in all pleasures cachaca and cooch before the arrival of Lent (period of abstinence). With caipirinha in one hand and a sexy Brazilian groping the other, let the banging booze fest begin!
1. Oktoberfest Munich, Germany
The infamous Oktoberfest turns 200 this year and as the world’s largest public fair, tops our list. What better place to knock back a few than this Bavarian festival, accommodating nearly 5 million people over two weeks bridging September and October. The streets of Munich flood with tourists stumbling from the fairground’s enormous drinking tents, dressed in sexy lederhosen and dirnds, grasping gallon-sized mugs of foaming German beer. Das very good.
Drinking en masse is thrilling and joyous – and great for bonding with a stranger or two. Just slow your chug a bit, we promise you will want to remember some of this in the morning.
WHAT:
7 Must Know Bar Drinks from Around the World
Booze is our escape from the reason and logic bestowed on us by the powers that be. From Pabst to top shelf black labels of this and that, we all have our stories of drinking, getting drunk and doing stupid shit. We have all done the keg house parties, jungle juice gatherings and endless shot for shot competitions. At this point, we bet your liver is begging you to stop drinking that purple drank. Before you give in to its pleas, let us show you how to booze it up just a little more; this time with style and worldly culture. OTP presents our lucky list of 7 traditional drinks around the world (and 3 complimenting hangover cures).
Caipirinha
(lime wedges, granulated sugar and Sagatiba Pura)
Acclaimed as the national drink of Brazil (what is ours? Budweiser maybe?), this sugary cocktail contains cachaca, a rum-like liquor with a sad, but true, history. Brought over by Portuguese settlers, cachaca was given to slaves to increase productivity (seems counter-productive but sure why not?). After slavery was outlawed in 1888, all Brazilians began whipping these suckers up for themselves to enjoy. The Caipirinha pairs well with a white linen shirt, coconutty sunscreen and a lay on a warm Brazilian beach.
Sangria
(bottle of wine, sliced fruit, honey, triple sec and a big pitcher)
The jungle juice of Spain, this beverage is traditionally enjoyed in groups (hence the pitcher). Since wine in Spain is insanely cheap (we’re talking less than a dollar per bottle, even cheaper for a box if you’re really scrounging), this drink is quite popular among the backpacking elite. The type of wine used and the fruit thrown inside vary regionally, with the red (“sangre” or blood in Spanish) version being the most popular.
Single Malt Scotch
(single-malt, nothing else needed)
The “single” part means only one grain (barley) is used. To “malt” means to allow barley to germinate (thank you Keith). The “scotch” part, well that’s the most important. Single malt scotch is ONLY considered such if it is made in Scotland and aged for no less than three years. If you’re man (woman) enough, we dare you to gather up some hostelmates and go on one of these distillery tours. Pricing is specific to your group’s size and preferences. The tour includes a designated driver. One thing for sure, all of you will leave smelling like drunken Scotsmen (and women).
Elephant’s Ear
(Marula Tree Juice, Mangos for garnish)
The presentation of this one is the key. A South African classic, this drink is traditionally served with two ear-shaped dried mango pieces attached to your glass. Why elephants? The symbolism lies in that various animals, including elephants, eat the fruit of the Marula tree regularly. The tree bears fruit with a high alcoholic content which often makes the animals drunk as hell. We don’t know how you feel, but we think this guy needs to go to AAA (animal alcoholics anonymous) pronto.
The Pisco Sour
(Pisco, lime juice, egg whites, simple syrup and bitters)
You put “sour” after any word and it sounds like you have drink ordering authority; it’s very James Bondish. This Peruvian drink wields so much power that it has a national holiday (National Pisco Sour Day happens the first Saturday of February). Mostly a great excuse to get the entire nation drunk, this holiday celebrates the concoction and its rebellious origins. In the 1700s, Spanish colonialists brought the grape to Peru. During that time, making wine was prohibited. People came up with prohibition era uses for grapes that weren’t quite wine but still had a high enough alcoholic content to keep people happily intoxicated. Pisco (a brandy-like grape liquor) was born and became Peru’s local drink of choice.
Samagonka Vodka
(ingredients: the devil and his friends)
Russians drink vodka, not a big surprise and this type of vodka is the most authentic of all. Forget Absolute and Stolichnaya, Samagonka is the general name for vodka that has been distilled in a basement . . . at home . . . from potatoes. Most retailers in Russia will not carry it, so to get a taste you have to put your social skills to work. Old Russian men will always have at least a liter of this stuff sitting around. Befriend one and you will be taking shots with the pros (and chasing those shots with pickles and cold cuts) in no time. If you get really friendly, please refer to the conveniently provided hangover cures at the end of this article.
Mojito
(Mint, Rum, Sugar, Lime and Soda)
Cubans are brilliant! Their national cocktail is both a breath-freshener (all that mint) and a panty-dropper (inhibitions cannot withstand this sweet liquid rum candy). We hail it the perfect hook-up drink. The name has been rumored to mean two different things. One interpretation comes from the Spanish word for “a little wet” (well that’s suggestive) and the other is from an African word for “a little spell”. Either way, we’re pretty sure the mojito is how Ricky got Lucy.
3 Hangover Cures
Bloody Mary
(shot of vodka, tomato juice, celery stick, squeeze of lemon, few shakes of cayenne pepper)
A drink to cure a hangover? Can’t be true. The infamous breakfast Bloody Mary contains tomato juice which is rumored to dilute the ouchy effects of a bad hangover (the spicy cayenne is there to kick you in the balls so you reconsider overdrinking next time). Invented by a French guy in New York, this drink combines the tomato and “hair of the dog” hangover cures and is sure to have you on your way to recovery (or perpetual drunken “I don’t give a shit” world).
Sleep
Need to get from Brazil (where you had one too many Caipirinhas) to Peru (to celebrate National Pisco Sour Day)? Book the longest red-eye bus ride available. This way, not only are you saving money by taking the turtle route, you sleep the entire time and the hangover becomes yesterday’s news. Employ these safety techniques while you snooze the booze away and you’ll be golden.
Water
Hard to do when alcohol is safer than water in third world countries but a must to cure your dehydrated partied-out self. Most bottled water is fine so buy in bulk and drink at least 16 oz before going to bed post-party. This is also a great time to whip out those water-purifying tablets we told you about. Stay moist friends.
Between the cheap beers and boxed wine, that random jungle juice and straight shots, give these traditional drinks a try in their countries of origin. Chances are their American versions pale in comparison and you get no bragging rights for drinking mojitos at your local boozery (like you would if you had one on a beach in Copacabana).
Frommer’s take on the who’s who of drinks from around the globe and where you should have them shaken or stirred!
By Melinda Quintero via Frommer’s
HOW:
vanilla mojito
Vanilla Mojito
1 ¾ oz. Stolichnaya Vanilla Vodka
Drop of simple syrup
12 mint leaves
Soda water
Lime slice, for garnish
Muddle mint leaves and simple syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add vodka and ice, shake vigorously, and pour (with ice) into a chilled tall or Collins glass. Fill glass with additional ice, top with soda water, and garnish with a slice of lime.
Rum Punch
1 ¼ oz. Rhum St. Barths (Cool style)
½ oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. cranberry juice
1 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. fresh orange juice
Drop of grenadine
Rhum St. Barths (Chic style)
Pineapple and cherry flag, for garnish
Add first five ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, and strain into a Hurricane glass filled with ice. Add drop of grenadine, top with Rhum St. Barths (Chic) and garnish with a pineapple and cherry flag.
vodka fizz
Vodka Fizz
1 ¾ oz. Stolichnaya Vodka
1 ¾ oz. lemon juice
Drop of simple syrup
Drop of Blue Curacao
Soda water
Cherry, for garnish
Add vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup and Blue Curacao to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with soda water, and garnish with a cherry.
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