h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always been a fan of Hooch. Because I've never had an opportunity to try anything different!
No, actually, Hooch does taste nice and I wish they'd do it in bigger bottles

Well, Hooch is ok, I suppose. I have to be in the right mood to drink it, though. Think frivolity. The lemon flavour is much better than the orange, I think.

It's been four months since I've had a bottle, and I've only ever tried lemon flavour...you know the bits that float around the bottom? what are they?
I think the taste got a bit too strong towards the end, but my memory could be lying

The bitter bits at the bottom are whatever is used to make it lemon flavoured. Lemon hooch, being a suspension (which is little bits of solid stuff suspended in liquid), tends to settle after time. The bitter lemony bits collect at the bottom and push the sugary solution out of the way. When you get to the the bottom of the bottle, you get an acidic 'hit'.

Yeah, that sounds right. Thanks
Hey, why don't you put that bit into the article? You did submit it, didn't you?

I tried shaking the bottle a bit to try and re-distribute the bits, but if I'd done it too much then the drink would end up going flat

I didn't put that bit in the article because I thought it was 'bleedin' obvious'. Oh well...

The drink won't go flat if you shake it while it's still got it's cap on, though you're probably best leaving it for a few minutes after shaking

'Twasn't bleeding obvious to me. An alcopop is something in a bottle that is nice to drink, by those Hooch guys. And that is all I know.

Good point with the shaking.

Now, I'm gonna go and re-read the page, try and learn something!
(before you ask, yes i had read it before i posted here, but my memory is awful)

Hmmm. Maybe Hooch is deserving of an entry of its own...

If you are in the know, then it is your right 2 write!

(ugh, that sounded horrid)

When Alcopops first came onto the market in England the were literally an overnight success. The main producer was Bass with it's Hooch brand. Then there was only the lemon flavour so they didn't need to add it to the name. Demand was so great that pubs could not buy the stuff in. Bass couldn't produce enough of it to satisfy demand, so alternatives were sought. The next main brand to hit the shelves was Two Dogs, which claimed that Bass had knicked the idea from them, and that they had been brewing it in Austrailia for a couple of years. Woodys was the main contender after these two and came in Lemon, Pink Grapefruit, Orange and Lime. As these weren't available throughout the country pubs themselves started to sell shots of vodka with traditional style lemonade mixers. Towards the end of the summer Bass finally were able to make enough of the drink, which meant that it kept it's popularity throughout the winter.
The following summer Bass launched Hooch in orange and blackcurrant flavours. Two Dogs didn't really do any marketing and quickly dissapered. Woody's held on for another couple of years though, and it too increased it's flavour range at the start of the summer.
During that summer the trade watchdogs were starting to get worried that the fruit flavours and easy drinking of these drinks were encouraging under age drinking, so they started to take a hand in the affairs. Bass was told to re-think it's product logos and dumped the cartoon style fruits for a more corporate image and Woody's flavours started to become more sharp.
The drinks industry didn't particualarly want to let go of what was by then a very lucrative sector of the market and started branding the Alcopops with the names of drinks that were already seen as hard liquer. Bacardi Breezers are just the one example, one that lasted well. Southern Comfort even got on the band wagon with three different "mixers" available.
In recent years there has been a dramatic decline in the number of Alcopops on the market, but not in there sales. Also the number of new ones coming onto the market has dropped considerably, but with some new marketing brands such as Metz (from Martini, made with schnapps) and WKD (an alcoholic Irn Bru) seem to have only appeared on the scene recently, and as such have targeted a new generation of drinkers.

*much deserved applause*

I used to work as a cellarman, and was doing so at the time that Alcopops first hit the market I'm not brainy, I just know