The Spirit World

Last night I was at a restaurant with my wife and, as is typical for a writer, I was eavesdropping on the people at the next table. One of the guys next to us asked for a Black and Tan. The waiter holding up his notebook, looked seriously at the young man and asked, “Is that cocktail?”

I started this beer mixing series with the premise that I will explore all drinks that involve mixing a particular beer with another beverage: be it a non-alcoholic beverage, a liqueur, or another beer. Black and Tan and its cousin the Half-and-Half fall into a category of drinks that I call beer blends. I’ll start off by telling you about the Black and Tan because it’s the first beer blend I ever had.

The first Black and Tan I ever had was made with Guinness and Bass. I was impressed because the bartender had managed to pour it in such away but the Guinness floated on top of the Bass. However, I have since learned that this is a mere bar trick and not necessarily the sign of a good Black and Tan. In fact I would say the layered version, while visually appealing, is pointless. To get the full effect of the Black and Tan, it’s important to to actually blend the the beers; otherwise you might as well order half pints of each and drink them separately (although, you are right, there is some mixing that takes place during the agitation of drinking).

A Black and Tan can be made of with almost any stout or porter and a lighter colored beer. From what I can tell the various terms such as Half-and-Half, also applied to these dark and light blends of beer. Over the years people have of fixed different meanings to the terms Black and Tan and Half-and-Half. A Half-and-Half can refer to any blend of two light colored beers. Usually the intent is to lower the bite of a Bitter by mixing it with a lager or a mild. Some bars refer to the combination of Guinness and Harp (a lager) as a Black and Blonde.

Some pubs list as many as ten different combinations with unique names. I’m interested to know what beer blends are at your favorite pub. Post a comment below with your beer blend suggestions. I’ll be back next week with a Liverpool Kiss.