Hangman's Blood

Happy Thirsty Thursday everyone!

Drink:

 

Hangman's Blood

Recipe:

 

1 shot Gin
1 shot Rum
1 shot Whiskey
1 shot Brandy
1 shot Port
5 oz Stout Beer
~4 oz Champagne

For best results, chill all ingredients beforehand. Add Gin, Rum, Whiskey, Brandy, and Port to a chilled Pint Glass. Add 5oz Stout Beer (Guinness Draught or Extra Stout works well). Top with Champagne.

Description:

 

Yeah, its kind of like that.

Not to be confused with the medical treatment and/or diagnostic tool of the same name, this cocktail goes down much more smoothly than it's high liquor density would have you believe. Much like the Long Island Iced Tea, the components of the Hangman's Blood come together to form something much more refreshing and palatable than the sum of it's parts. Mind you, being more refreshing and palatable than an unholy concoction of almost every common type of alcoholic beverage is not setting the bar very high, so don't expect to be sipping on a  pop soft-drink  here.

However, do not let the taste and texture fool you; this drink earns it's ominous name with a hefty portion of hard liquor and dark beer. With approximately 6 standard drinks worth of alcohol, only the foolhardy would consume more than one.

Editor's Note: Didn't you drink four of these last weekend?

Variants:

 

The Hangman's Blood was first described to the masses by Richard Hughes in his novel A High Wind in Jamaica as:

"compounded of rum, gin, brandy, and porter... Innocent (merely beery) as it looks, refreshing as it tastes, it has the property of increasing rather than allaying thirst, and so once it has made a breach, soon demolishes the whole fort"

Anthony Burgess, famed author of A Clockwork Orange (which, incidentally, he considered one of his lesser works), gave us a more precise recipe:

"Into a pint glass [568 mL], doubles [i.e., 50 mL measures] of the following are poured: gin, whisky, rum, port and brandy. A small bottle of stout is added and the whole topped up with champagne... It tastes very smooth, induces a somewhat metaphysical elation, and rarely leaves a hangover."

While I appreciate his recipe as the basis for the modern Hangman's Blood, I must attest that his last claim is simply false.

Seriously.