Gargle Blaster: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|''"Never drink any drink with a [[Umbrella Drink|paper umbrella]] in it, never drink any drink with a humorous name, and never drink any drink that changes colour when the last ingredient goes in."''|'''Mustrum Ridcully''', ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]''}}

 

A drink so potent the whole room hushes when someone orders it. The bartender pales and asks, "Are you sure?", and then, after putting on a welding mask and asbestos gloves, takes the bottle out of a locked safe and pours it with tongs. When the stirring spoon is removed, [[Ate the Spoon|it's been melted away]], and the ice cubes jump out with a yelp when dropped into it. And that's just the beginning of the fun.

 

 

* There's whatever Honest John was drinking in ''[[An American Tail]]''. Seems to do nothing to him but get him drunk, but it does burn holes in the floorboards.

* In ''[[The Rescuers]]'', Luke the muskrat is always toting a jug of "swamp juice" which he charitably gives to anyone who looks a little tired ("It's good for what ails ya."), leaving the poor drinker with [[Fire-Breathing Diner|fire and smoke coming out of his mouth.]] That, and it gives the dragonfly, Evinrude, a burst of energy—and is ''used for fuel'' in a jetski-like vehicle.

 

 

* ''[[The Nutty Professor]]'' features the "Alaskan Polar Bear Heater", a drink invented by the lead character and dictated to a barman. Although Buddy drinks it without any noticeable effect, the barman takes a sip and loses consciousness.

* In ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]] III'', "Authentic Frontier Whiskey" is strong enough to cause the bar to smolder. Doc, who [[Can't Hold His Liquor]] anyway, downs a glass and drops like a brick at the most inconvenient time. Also, when they try to fuel the DeLorean with some of the bartender's strongest whiskey, it blows the fuel manifold out of the ass of the car!

* Quint gives Brody a glass of ''something'' he made himself in ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''. Brody can't handle a sip of it without spitting it out, and tells Hooper not to drink it. Hooper downs it anyway, and merely coughs, so maybe Brody is just a lightweight.

* A very famous scene of French movie ''[[Les Tontons Flingueurs]]'' revolves around the gangsters drinking some Gargle Blaster in a kitchen. (This whole scene was intended as a homage to [[Film Noir]] ''Key Largo''.) Some of the best parts, translated, can be found on the [[Gargle Blaster/Quotes|quotes page]].

* Another Disney flick, ''[[Snow Dogs]]'', features "soup", which is stored in a hip flask. When questioned about the quotation marks, the maker replies, "Well, there's soup ''in'' it."

* ''[[Revenge of the Nerds]]''. Another Alpha Beta brother asks Stan Gable to try a drink called simply "Fireball". He has one sip straight from the bottle and promptly [[Spit Take|spits it out all over]]. As it turns out, it has a ridiculously high proof, and Haystack later spits it through a lighter's flame and burns down the AB house.

* In ''[[The Great Escape]]'', Americans Hilts, Hendley and Goff celebrate the Fourth of July by [[Military Moonshiner|distilling some homemade booze]] and sharing it with the others. It appears to be powerful stuff.

{{quote|'''Bartlett''': In the three years, seven months, and two weeks that I've been in the bag, that's the most extraordinary stuff I've ever tasted. It's shattering!

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* "Scumble" from the ''[[Discworld]]'' books is a particularly potent form of hard cider (it's frequently described as being "made from apples... well, mainly apples" and was said in the ''[[GURPS]] Discworld'' to have "some qualities of fresh apples in autumn and some of dimethyl hydrazine before liftoff"); typically sold in tiny thimbles because overindulging can cause all sorts of horrible side effects, including seeing horrible green hairy things bursting through the walls. Nanny Ogg's specific version is sometimes known as "Suicider". The following quote details some of the mythology which is typical of a good Gargle Blaster:

{{quote|"A lot of stories are told about scumble, and how it is made out on the damp marshes, according to ancient recipes passed down rather unsteadily from father to son. [[Noodle Implements|It's not true about the rats, or the snakes' heads, or the lead shot. The one about the dead sheep is a complete fabrication. We can lay to rest all the variants of the one about the trouser button]]. But the one about not letting it come into contact with metal is absolutely true..."}}

** There's one humorous scene in ''[[Discworld/Mort|Mort]]'' where, due to his naivety and duties as substitute Death, orders a ''pint'' of the stuff (to considerable surprise), downs the whole thing without being affected (to even more surprise), and then walks straight through the door without opening or damaging it (leaving everyone positively stunned).

*** Rendered very amusingly in the "Big Comic" edition where the view cuts to the horrified customers exclaiming "A ''pint''?!?" in hushed tones when Mort places his order.

** In ''[[Discworld/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]'', the troll equivalent of a Gargle Blaster, the ''Electrick Floorbanger'', is prepared by dropping silver and copper coins into vinegar; the resultant crude battery temporarily shorts out the troll's silicon brain.

*** Also mentioned is the rotgut brewed by and flogged to soldiers, hangman (one drop and you're dead!)

** An early ''Discworld'' book mentions the mountain farmers making a strong real-life liquor called applejack by putting buckets of cider out in the winter and letting everything but the alcohol freeze.

** In the Tiffany Aching series, there is the often-referred-to "special sheep liniment", a type of moonshine whisky which all the sheep-farmers keep around for cold nights; it is said to put hair on your chest. It is often speculated by people who are unfamiliar with it what would happen if one were to actually give it to a sheep, with the implication usually coming back that they are not sure, but it probably wouldn't be good.

** In ''[[Discworld/Snuff|Snuff]]'' Willkins has created a non-alcoholic Gargle Blaster for the [[The Teetotaler|recovering]] [[The Alcoholic|alcoholic]] Vimes. Vimes isn't sure ''exactly'' what gives it its kick, [[You Do NOT Want to Know|and isn't sure he wants to]].

* Maple mead from [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Vorkosigan]]'' series is always discussed with trepidation by the main characters. The Dendarii mountain folk, who are backwards even for a backwards planet like Barrayar, don't mess around with their alcohol. In moderation, the drink doesn't have much kick. The first glass or two taste sickly sweet, the next few glasses taste pretty good... and then you wake up the next morning with a killer hangover.

* The [[Zero Punctuation|Yahtzee]] novel ''Fog Juice'' is named for the Gargle Blaster prepared by the protagonist to solve problems. It is said to be a recipe passed down through generations of university students, which can be summed up as every bottle in the kitchen plus a large mixing bowl. Its main advantage is that when you come round, whatever unfortunate situation you were in will definitely have resolved itself—however, you may have a few new problems, the least of which is working out where you are and how you got there. It also renders you completely immune to all other forms of alcohol in the future, even notoriously evil Pirate Grog. And {{spoiler|allows you to access the collective human unconsciousness with an avatar of your inner self. For the main character, this is a terrifying floating mass of tentacles which are themselves made of vomit. The female lead, in disgust, wonders pointedly what this says about him.}}

* The Cement Mixer, an actual cocktail from the 1980s. 1 shot of Bailey's Irish Cream with 1 shot of Lemon juice. Taken at the same time. The lemon juice will curdle the Bailey's in your mouth, making it stick to your teeth like sugary cement. And people used to pay bartenders to serve them this...

* A mixture of 3 parts Samogan (traditional bootleg vodka, far stronger because it's often badly distilled, so badly that it can still contains fusel oil), 2 parts ''cask strength'' Scotch whisky, 1 measure of the strongest available schnapps, shaken with a cut-open chili pepper, poured, then served with pepper sprinkled in it (the pepper binds the oil in the samogan and carries it to the bottom of the glass). This drink is known as a Strike...as in 3 and you're out.

* A restaurant in Quebec City called (the French translation of) "The Goblin's Tankard" serves a drink made of equal parts whiskey and sourpuss, adding tabasco and then heating. For those that think this is too girly, there's the "Holy Grail", which ups the ante on the alcohol content, adds strips of habanero pepper, and is served in a glass whose rim is bordered in paprika. Few people have resisted it.

* Chinese Herbal Tea, like most of Guangdong's delicacies which be rather foul tasting to the untrained tongue. Its bitterness will make you wonder if you are drinking sewer water or something similar.

[[Category:Hard-Drinking Tropes]]

[[Category:Food Tropes]]