In 1997 I left home, to go to university. Being honest, the whole thing didn’t go well. Rather than spending my time following the more academic pursuits, I spent most of my time drinking and generally partying. While I didn’t end up with a degree, I I’d leave Hull with a blurry memory of a nightclub called Spiders and a drink called the Green Monster.
I don’t know if Spiders is still there, it shows up on Google Maps but there’s no website as far as I can find. Back in ’97, Spiders was not like your ordinary night spot. The walls were painted black, the chairs were actually garden furniture, and the sound system was slightly less powerful than my iPad. It was only open on Friday and Saturday nights, and everybody was there for the same reasons. To get away from pop music and townies, and to see how much we could drink before we died.
Costing £3.60, which was even cheap for the time, the Green Monster was made in a pint glass full of ice. Over the ice would go two shots of vodka. Closely followed by a shot of Advocaat, Midori, Blue Bols, Malibu, and White Rum. The glass would then be filled with lemonade, stirred, and that’s it done. Seven shots, and it glows green.
Working with the alcohol tolerances I had in the late ’90s, having five of them in a night, guaranteed that you were absolutely shit faced. Six, which I only did once, meant a possible trip to hospital for a couple if stitches, and total memory loss. I never drank seven, but I suspect it would have meant that I wouldn’t be around to write this blog post.
The last time had one was 1999, and while I’ve spoken about it many times, nobody else has ever seen one. They’re especially hard to make, due to the number of ingredients, but now, I have them.
Tonight, I’m going to make… The Green Monster. Probably.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Posted in Blog Stuff, Rich Stuff