Even though it was sort-of "invented" over here, Hallowe'en's never been as popular in the UK as it is across the Atlantic. So whilst that lot get to enjoy all sorts of spider/Frankenstein/pumpkin-themed foodstuffs, what do we get? Themed bags of Haribo, and Milky Bar Ghosts if we're lucky. Oh, a couple of years ago Tango declared themselves to be the "official sponsors of Hallowe'en" and stuck some zombies on their cans, which was mildly exciting.
THIS year, however, the powers-that-be have only gone and re-branded my favourite drink! Observe:
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Scream Soda! It's like cream soda, only scary. Yeah! Covered in cobwebs, gravestones, spiders and bats, and it even says "spooky value" on it.
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There's also a weird claw-handed man lurking amidst the trees, which is something different. I only saw these cans for the first time yesterday, but the one pictured above is my fifth one. Wonder if Barr will be turning any of their other drinks into "scary" drinks? They could have "Banshdy" as a clumsy way of integrating a banshee into their shandy. Or "Cloudy Lemon-afraid". Perhaps "Dandelion & Murder-dock" or "Igor Bru". It's a nice thought.
While we're at it, let's take a moment to remember another vaguely monstrous soft drink...
Nemesis! Launched in 1994 to celebrate the new ride at Alton Towers, the most delicious blend of blackcurrant and liquorice you'll ever find in a can. Think I only had perhaps three of these before they disappeared forever, and still I mourn.
There was another one too, Zig and Zag's Zog Juice - named after those puppets. Only ever had it once, from a vending machine. It was more or less a small-sized carton of Ribena, but it had globs of jelly floating about in it. Strange stuff, and I can't even find a picture of it to prove its existence (this makes it "spooky").
And as much as I think about it, that's all of the Hallowe'en-ish drinks I can think of, and even Nemesis is stretching it. See what I mean about the whole thing just not being as big over here? Ah well. Here's the Tango zombies again, at least they tried:
If only you drank real ale. You can't move for spooky drinks in that sector. Just this week I've had Ghost Ship Ale, Black Cat Ale, Wicked Witch Ale and White Witch Ale.
ReplyDeleteThe undisputed kings, though, are those Wychwood guys. Bottles of Hobgoblin are emblazoned with the legend "Unofficial beer of Halloween" at this time of year; and they also have Pumpkin Beer and this, the most beautiful bottle I've ever seen: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4041/4625320902_06897ffc4e_z.jpg
Yeah, I saw some of those in Home & Bargain! Still got a couple of bottles of Hobgoblin in my cupboard from last year - so I DO drink it, but not often, it seems.
ReplyDeleteThere's always the option of adding food colouring to any other drink and pretending it's blood.
If you have any "effnik" shops near you, look for bottles of green tea with aloe vera in ("with aloe vera" is in tiny English underneath lots of Chinese). It tastes like tea with blobs of jelly floating in it, not the same but still...
ReplyDeleteFound one of those somewhere around the Keele area once, lovely stuff! There IS a large Chinese supermarket near enough to me, and they have "grass jelly soda" which is amongst the most disgusting things I've ever tasted - yet it's strangely addictive.
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