glossary of pub and drinking words, terms and phrases

C

CAFÉ-BAR – These rose up in student communities in the style of French Left-Bank promenade cafes, where people could relax with a drink and continental food, often presented in a Nouvelle cuisine style. The Café bars offered round table seating, frothy coffees and teas, Cappuccinos, etc, as well as alcohol (mostly bottled and imported), and a wide ranging international menu, as opposed to the traditional pub grub options available in many pubs. They are often more in tune with the needs of vegetarians too. The success of the importing of Café bars hassled many pubs to adopt there styles in presentation, improved food menus, and drinks ranges. Café bars have themselves often become more pubs like, though many don’t serve draught ales or real ales, in having music events, live entertainment, etc. Café bars generally don’t have inn signs, preferring their names to be presented in sign writing graphic logo styles. There are more café bars in Manchester city centre today than pubs.

CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE (CAMRA) Often militant British pub and brewery monitoring social pressure group who support real ale sales in pubs, and who produce good pub guides and regional, local newsletters on the current state of the brewing industry. A pub championed or criticised by CAMRA can be made or broken quickly. Many pubs remain real ale free zones however.

CHAIN BAR – One of many pubs owned by the same retail chain, such as Wetherspoons, Last Orders, Walkabout, The Hogshead, chains, etc. Unlike pubs franchised by a brewery, chain bars are owned by a franchise, which does not brew its own beers. The bars are franchised in the same way fast food groups like MacDonald’s franchise out their burger bars. The food they sell may be mass produced in a central store and sent to the pubs in the chain, where it is often just defrosted and heated up for quick presentation to the tables.  Many chain bars are operated as Free Houses, but often, the chain itself rigidly, strictly controls the list of which beers are on offer, giving the bars of the chain a cloned sense of over-familiarity.

CARDS – Card games for fun and more frequently for modest friendly gambling are common in pubs, with Whist & Cribbage being the most popular games. Financial stakes are usually low, with more serious gambling tending to be moved to the casinos.  Increased popularity for poker as an online game has led many bars to introduce poker nights too.

CASK A beer barrel that has not been filled with pasteurising agents or carbon dioxide releasers

CASK CONDITIONED ALE – Beer stored and served from the cask – REAL ALE.

CHANGING THE BARREL – literally that – a need to change the beer pump lines from one barrel or cask (that has emptied or occasionally malfunctioned) for a fresh one of the same beer, or if all consumed, a fresh product. This can sometimes leave the customer with several moments waiting time in mid purchase of drinks while the bar-staff or landlord go to the cellars to effect a change of the barrels.

CHASERS – A spirit drink consumed after a pint or between pints to add to the alcohol buzzes.

CIDER – Fermented apple juice drinks, often much stronger than bitters and lagers, but sometimes sold as heavily diluted ice-lollies for younger customers too. Many cider drinkers won’t touch any other form of alcohol.

Much dispute is given as to whether ciders should be served with ice or straight. Cider is traditionally served cold in itself so adding ice seems to many to be overkill. An advertising campaign by cider brewery Magners, from Ireland, promoted the drink as best served with large quantities of ice, and started a trend for their own, and other ciders. This often hits pub ice supplies hard, and traditional cider drinkers still prefer their drinks ice-free.

UK Cider production is traditionally associated with the West Country, Somerset in particular, and a popular folk-comedy group, The Wurzles, made several jokey records about their Somerset Cider consumption that have added to this perception.

Another gimmick is the recent trend for mis-spelling cider to make it sound like another drink entirely, ie, Cidre.

CLOSING TIME – Literally what it says, the time a pub is going to close. Staff will take unfinished drinks away, and customers will be expected to leave unless they are going to get after hours drinking. Attempting once too often to stay past the leaving time could get a customer barred.

COCKTAILS – A mix of two or more drinks, at least one of which has to be a spirit. 

With so many alcoholic beverages in existence, people are bound to experiment and mix various kinds together for taste. Many cocktails have been created by simple trial and error. The practice has existed in the US since the early 20th century with the earliest recorded cocktail party-taking place in 1917 in Missouri.

Prohibition made cocktails popular in speakeasies, as it was easy to hide alcohol by pouring lots of non-alcoholic beverages into glasses and bottles with it.

The increase in use of marijuana in the 1960’s reduced the popularity of the cocktail, but there was a revival in the 1980’s fuelled by the film, Cocktail in 1988, starring Tom Cruise. Here, barmen are seen mixing drinks in cocktail shakers, juggling the apparatus around in dance routines, throwing glasses, jugs and bottles around in a cool, dramatic fashion.  . Many cocktail bars opened with staff training to copy such practices, and though the dance routines have declined, cocktail bars themselves have retained their popularity, and opened in the UK & elsewhere beyond the States.

Cocktails often have silly names. Popular ones (which can vary from cocktail bar to cocktail bar in terms of exact blend of ingredients) include Black Russian – Vodka with Coffee Liqueur, Buck’s Fizz – Champaign & orange juice, Gin And Tonic (G & T) literally what it says and a common cocktail in Britain even before cocktails were introduced in force. Long Island Iced Tea – Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila, with a dash of cola and sour mixers like Bitter Lemon. Singapore Sling – Brandy, Cherry, Benedictine, and pineapple juice. White Russian – like a Black Russian, but with milk and / or cream added, Zombie – Brandy, Rum, Cherry, soft drinks of any and al kinds.

Cocktails are often served in a glass decorated with sparklers, umbrellas and other novelty items.

COCKTAIL BARS –Bars that specialize in cocktail sales, with less attention given to other kinds of alcohol. (See COCKTAILS).

COOPER – Beer and wine barrel maker – a dying skilled craft and trade sadly.

 COUNTRY PUBS – A pub that is set outside the towns, and usually only accessible by car for most potential customers. A trip to a country pub for townies is seen as a rare treat, and many country pubs do better trade by days and especially at weekends rather than of an evening or at night.

CRAFT BEER – A beer brewed with combinations of only the most basic essential ingredients, namely barley-malt, hops, and water. A real Ale may not be a craft beer if it adds ingredients like honey, corn, or chocolate to taste.

Arthur Chappell