Hazy Daze (Aftershock Liqueur)

Member Name: thanatoszane

Product:	Aftershock Liqueur
Date:	31/07/02 (4645 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Alcoholic, Hot, Cold

Disadvantages: um, are there any, eee-owww!

It would have been around Christmas that I was introduced to Aftershock. Normally I'm a beer snob, so the thought of drinking a shooter didn't exactly appeal, but for the sake of being sociable I agreed to try it.

At the time there were only two varieties of Aftershock - Red and Blue. I tried a Blue one. This looks like a Blue mouthwash and smells like a detergent. The taste is chemically, but cold... it's also very sweet. Hard to describe, but an experience!

The idea with Aftershock isn't to sip it, but to either down it, which is shocking enough, or to take the whole lot in your mouth and hold it for at least 30 seconds, swirling it round your mouth, then to swallow, inhale a deep breath, then exhale..... and try not to die!

The first time you do it, it's a surprise, it's COLD, then BURNS! Your eyes water like crazy and you turn bright Red. You do get used to it if you drink often, but it's still powerful stuff!

After the Blue, I had to try the Red... it didn't come as highly recommended by others as the Blue, but I can't see why - it's GORGEOUS! With a kind of aniseed flavour, it's immediate taste is HOT, then when you inhale after holding, well, you get a cold shock to your nose lungs. WOW!

Mark, the guy who'd originally introduced me to aftershock, also introduced me to what he had thought at the time was a new cocktail - mix Red and Blue together :-) We later found out that this is called a 'Purple Haze' and you can get it from Wetherspoons. The taste is 'unique'. The Red comes through more strongly than the Blue in taste, but you can feel the strength of the Blue too!

I'e also tried a few other concoctions - Blue Aftershock with Sambuca goes down quite well - the Sambuca really adds something to the flavour. Even nicer is Red Aftershock with Sambuca - a sweet, licorice taste with a bite, it's lovely! (Trust me, I'm drink
ing some now.)

A couple of months ago Green Aftershock was released... this is marketed at a 'Thermal Bite' and it's got a Menthol flavour - this is by far the strongest tasting, longest lasting Aftershock, and it will overpower anything it's mixed with,no matter in what quantity.

Of course, after trying the Green by itself, I had to try the Green & Red, Green & Blue, and Green & Blue & Red. The latter we called a Black Haze, but in reality it's more of a sludgey brown haze - still lovely though! It burns more than the others, and holding a triple in your mouth for extended time is <cough> interesting </cough> especially when everyone around is trying to make you laugh!

There's another warning actually - do NOT laugh or snort during the Aftershock ritual - that really HURTS!

Aftershock is quite strong, each variety is 40%. It feels it too sometimes.

Prices range from £1.50 per shot, to £4 in more expensive establishments. It's not something you'd need to drink tons of to get drunk though, so it's a nice starter to the night, or just nice for the taste on a Saturday out.

I've had lots of great social moments with Aftershock - giving it to non-drinking friends and watching them choke, or the look of shock when you down a black haze in front of colleagues who once thought you sober and sensible... fun.

A 70Cl bottle of the stuff from a supermarket costs about £20 - the last bottle I bought was of the Red stuff - it's still hard to find the Green. It came with a free dares card game. I've had the bottle over a month now, and can get a couple of shots out of it a night, much cheaper than in the pub.

Aftershock is made by Jim Beam Brands, and they have a web site:

http://www.shockingtimes.co.uk

This is a Flash based web site, with some games, competitions and general marketing stuff. Not much information, but it's fun t
o play around on some of the games, and you can have a 'virtual Aftershock' The real thing is better though!

I love this stuff. Please, get everyone to read this so I can fund my habit :-)

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