What is a "Gentleman's drink"

[Josh]

I have heard this term used several times and I am trying to figure out what it means. Can anyone tell me what exactly constitutes a gentleman's drink?

[Eóin]

Without a doubt Jägerbombs.


More seriously though it's usually any drink young people find difficult to pallet. So you're talking very bitter pints; stouts and the like, or spirits neat. The particular pint or spirits would be very cultural though. Here in Ireland Guinness would of course be the iconic Irish drink even though younger people rarely drink it. With spirits then whiskeys, brandys and to a lesser extent cherrys would be "gentleman's drinks" while little or no one drinks vodkas straight here.

[Grorgy]

I guess it also depends on your definition of a gentleman 

[Renegade]

Insanity...

More insanity...

Even more insanity...

Does the insanity ever stop?

Now don't get me wrong... I sure as Hell wish that I had enough money to drive me completely insane. I'd love to be in the loony club with the guys that can afford that stuff!

Wouldn't it be cool to have a roll of $100's in the bathroom?

[app103]

A gentleman's drink is what would be traditionally served in upscale exclusive men's clubs.

Things like gin, cognac, brandy, a martini, and expensive exotic mixed drinks.

Not a cowboy drink as served in an old western saloon. (cheap whiskey)
Not what college kids and football fans drink. (beer)
Not cheap wine the bum in the park can afford. (night train, thunderbird, wild irish rose)
Not girly mixed drinks. (rum & coke, anything & fruit juice, things that have names suggesting sex)
Not a granny drink. (anything mixed with tea, coffee, or tomato juice)
Not homemade moonshine.
Not a kiddie drink. (anything non-alcoholic dressed up to look pretty, like a shirley temple)
Not a drink served at family gatherings (like egg nog or party punch)
Not the crazy stuff they serve at raves (jello shots, things that glow in the dark)

Not the drinks of the 'lower classes'.

Think James Bond, Frank Sinatra, Hugh Hefner....the things they would drink, and the things they would serve to close friends, and the things they would serve to special male guests they wanted to impress. A gentleman's drink "compliments a Cuban cigar". 

[f0dder]

Not cheap wine the bum in the park can afford. (night train, thunderbird, wild irish rose)

There's actually a thing called "night train"? I always thought "I'm on the night train" was figuratively speaking

[JennyB]

There's actually a thing called "night train"? I always thought "I'm on the night train" was figuratively speaking

A train that travels through the night, usually with sleeping compartments. If it were a plane it would be a "red-eye."

[f0dder]

Jenny, I was referring to app's post, which I thought listed a bunch of booze brands?

[JennyB]

Jenny, I was referring to app's post, which I thought listed a bunch of booze brands?

I'd never heard of Night Train either, but the effects seem very similar to red-eye whisky! 

[Lashiec]

"Good" wine that Night Train, it's what Guns n' Roses used to get high, Slash said something about its particular effects, and it was cheap, so it was they quickest way for them to go from sober to drunk without breaking the bank (before "Appetite for Destruction" they were not exactly rich, much more the opposite). Of course, the song is inspired by the wine

[f0dder]

"Good" wine that Night Train, it's what Guns n' Roses used to get high, Slash said something about its particular effects, and it was cheap, so it was they quickest way for them to go from sober to drunk without breaking the bank (before "Appetite for Destruction" they were not exactly rich, much more the opposite). Of course, the song is inspired by the wine

And it was exactly that song I was thinking about

[40hz]

I think app103 nailed it. The traditional drinks you think of being served after a successful climb on Mt. Everest; or in the hands of well-dressed men posing over newly signed treaties.

My list:

• Gin & Tonic (ice permitted)
• Scotch & Soda (soda optional and never ever served with ice)
• Whiskey (always served straight-up)
• Martini (US only - and must be served "very dry")
• Cognac (after dinner or late night only)

Cheers!

[f0dder]

I've always though Gin&Tonic is a pretty girly drink

[Innuendo]

There's actually a thing called "night train"? I always thought "I'm on the night train" was figuratively speaking

Yes...there's indeed a Night Train. Night Train Express is the full name.

http://www.bumwine.com/nighttrain.html

[4wd]

I've always though Gin&Tonic is a pretty girly drink

The fact that it seems to smell like perfume to me doesn't help

Drambuie
Glayva

[mouser]

Why has no one mentioned yet my masterpiece, Process Tamer The Drink:
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=12216.0

Now what we really need is for someone to make some drinks named for Cody, Skrommel, and other DC all-stars..

[tomos]

I've always though Gin&Tonic is a pretty girly drink

The fact that it seems to smell like perfume to me doesn't help

reminds me of that scene in 'The Hairdresser's Husband' [french film - good, but maybe not worth (my) finding a link] where they start drinking the perfumes & after-shaves & god-knows-what else... speaking of films I saw a cowboy-parody once, no idea of the name, where cowboy goes into bar and asks for 'a warm gin with a human hair in it'  hmmmmmmmmmm :-)

PS Mouser- I'm not brave enough to try your cocktail - actually it sounds good but I dont have the accessories for cocktails (including mixers e.g. bitters) so it's not so easy to try it out.  Who knows, maybe you'll throw a cocktail party someday

[Josh]

Who makes a mixed drink nowadays anyways? The real drinks are straight shots or on the rocks scotch.

[40hz]

Who makes a mixed drink nowadays anyways? The real drinks are straight shots or on the rocks scotch.

My GF and I do. Once a year on Kentucky Derby Day.

A Mint Julep is de rigueur while watching the race with friends. (Wild Turkey bourbon and fresh home-grown spearmint leaves are highly recommended for this drink.)

Just one more annual event we celebrate with our 'horse friends.'

(P.S. The rest of the year I confine myself to single-malts or ale.   )

[Stoic Joker]

So... does the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster count?

[f0dder]

So... does the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster count?

[Josh]

So... does the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster count?

What ^ said

[40hz]

So... does the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster count?

Hard to tell. I've never met anybody who could honestly claim to have drunk one made per the recipe in The Hitchhiker's Guide.

I've always though Gin&Tonic is a pretty girly drink

The fact that it seems to smell like perfume to me doesn't help

Couldn't personally agree more, since I wouldn't consider using gin for much else besides cleaning grease off small automotive parts. But the question was about what is considered a 'Gentleman's Drink' - not what I personally would consider drinking - even though I like to think of myself as a 'gentleman' of sorts.

Gin & Tonic traces it's heritage back to the British Army and that 'most gentlemanly' of all carpet-bagger organizations: the British East India Company. Since gentlemen drank it, G&T is a gentleman's drink QED.

[nosh]

I'm way too late into this thread and it has way too much information for my vodka-shotted brain to digest but there's only one coherent point I want to make: app103 has won my undying respect (fwiw) FOREVER!  

[Edvard]

Hmmm... Gin & Tonic smells like perfume and has a British heritage.
Ditto Earl Gray tea...
Coincidence? 

A gentleman's drink "compliments a Cuban cigar".

I whole-heartedly agree.
A friend of mine told me a story once:
He got an insane bonus on his paycheck one month and decided to blow it on something he'd never buy otherwise; a 200-dollar bottle of liquor (I don't remember what brand or type, just that it was amber-colored and came in one of those 'artsy' bottles).
He read a few things on what to mix it with but decided to first go for a straight shot just to "get the taste".
He said it tasted unique, but not very remarkable.
Not 200 dollars worth remarkable at any rate, so he chalked it up to experience and put the bottle away for a time when he was in the mood for experimenting.
About a month later, a friend of his came over for a chit-chat and spied the neglected bottle on the top shelf.
He immediately inquired about it excitedly, jaw agape.
"You have some of THAT?!?" he queried.
"Yeah," replied my friend, "but it's nothing special... wanna belt of it?"
His companion raised an eyebrow, wagged his finger and said "Not now. Stay right here. I'll be back" and immediately left.
After about 30 minutes, his friend had returned with his personal humidor and two very expensive-looking cigars.
He poured out a modest amount of the liquor for the both of them, and insisted they retire to the back porch.
Once comfortably ensconced in the porch furniture, his friend said "Watch... do what I do" and promptly prepared his cigar, lit it, took a full draw, leaned back slowly let the smoke lazily escape his lips, then imbibed just a little more than a sip of the mysterious fire-water.
My friend said he mimicked his companion's motions exactly; bite, spit, light, draw, let, sip, swallow.
"Aha..." he said with slowly-dawning amazement; "so THAT's what 200 dollar liquor is for!"

"Eddy," he then told me in a somber, hushed voice, "I swear to you, that was the best damn drink I've ever had in my life."

And THAT (whatever it was) is what I would call a gentleman's drink.