The Spirit World

A couple of weeks ago I realized that Valentine’s Day was quickly approaching and I needed a good topic for today’s article. Last year I found a beer called Kisz, so I thought I would stick with the theme. My search yielded a beer cocktail called a Liverpool Kiss.

Researching this particular beer cocktail was made difficult by the French footballer, Zinedine Zindane. You remember that famous head-butt of Marco Materazzi? Well, if you type “Liverpool Kiss” into your favorite Internet search engine, it’ll jog your memory. You’ll also find out that this type of head-butt is also known as a “Glasgow Kiss” and if I were a linguist instead of a beer geek I’d tell you about the competing theories of the term’s origin. Thank goodness the subject at hand is beer!

To make a Liverpool Kiss (the liquid kind), all you have to do is mix “a dark beer with cassis liqueur.” Most online sources don’t suggest how much cassis to mix with your “dark beer”, but I decided that one ounce per sixteen ounces of beer was a good ratio. Actually, if you really like cassis, I suppose you could go half and half, but that’s your call.

I interpreted “dark beer” to mean a stout, so I grabbed my favorite, old stand-by from the fridge: Beamish. One thing I would suggest is that you pour in your ounce of cassis first. This maneuver has the delightful effect of dispersing the cassis throughout the creamy, luxurious head that will form on top of your Beamish Stout. Each time you take a sip you’ll get a mouthful of black currant flavored cream (trés delicious).

I’m not sure how romantic this beer cocktail is (you’ll need a “Sex on the Beach” for that), but it’s makes a great after dinner drink (and you know you are going to take her/him out to dinner). My wife, Denise, loved it; I loved it. So if you are feeling affectionate, give your sweetheart a Liverpool Kiss (then head for the Beach, and don’t forget your capote française).