Perfectly Peachy (Archers Peach County Schnapps)

Member Name: Ric!

Product:	Archers Peach County Schnapps
Date:	10/06/02 (3639 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can't taste the alcohol

Disadvantages: Difficult to get drunk on, Sickly and too sweet if you drink a lot neat

Make no mistake about it - Archers is a girl's drink, and you won't catch me drinking it in a public place (anymore). But it's still a great drink to have lying around the house.

Remember those early days of alcohol drinking? Vodka tasted vile and you had to dilute it so much you were almost drinking a plain coke, beer tasted foul and made you want to vomit, and cider was just bearable but made you bloated and belching after one pint. That's when Archers was acceptable as a boys drink (amongst your peers), and that was when I was a regular 'user' of this substance.

Nowadays, the only reason I've got a bottle at home is for those 'cocktail moments'. I've just gone and dug out my half full bottle, blown off all the dusk and read the back. It says, "Best consumed within 9 months of opening' - oops, mine's been open for about 4 years. I'm sure it'll still be fine.

For anyone who doesn't know what Archers is, it's a Peach Schnapps drink. The term schnapps used to apply to certain very strong (50% or more) and powerful drinks. It is only relatively recently that modern fruit flavour schnapps have appeared. They have a much lower alcohol content and contain a lot of sugar. Archers is a colourless, somewhat thick and syrupy drink. In fact, mix it with lemonade (which is quite a tasty and popular combination) and you can positively see the oily globules floating around in your drink. The peach flavour is pleasant and not overpowering, and there is a nice smell to it. The beauty about Archers is that it tastes like a soft drink (when combined with a mixer), but it contains 23% alcohol.

Archers comes in a white coloured semi-opaque glass bottle. You can see the liquid level through the glass, but nothing else. The front of the bottle reads: 'G.W. Archer & Co. was inspired by the traditions of fruit schnapps in Europe to combine the clean, crisp edge of
the finest schnapps with the rich taste and aroma of fresh peaches to create a unique and delicious taste experience' - which translated into everyday English means 'it's alcoholic and it tastes & smells good', all of which I agree with.

There is a multitude of ways to drink Archers - all of them taste better when chilled with ice. You can drink it neat (yum), or mixed with lemonade (yum), orange juice (yuk), tonic water (yuk), or champagne (mmmm, sounds okay, but never tried this). If you are planning on using it as your main 'getting drunk' drink, then you'll probably need to drink an awful lot before you start to feel the effects (if you're a regular alcohol drinker, that is), and I defy you to drink a lot of neat Archers - it is very sweet and becomes very sickly.

Archers also makes up an important constituent in many cocktails. One of my particular favourites, which we used to make for people's house parties, when I was a student, is called 'WOO WOO'. You will need to mix:
1 bottle of Archers
1 bottle of Vodka
1 carton of Cranberry Juice
1 bottle of Lemonade (dilute to taste).

Simple, but very nice, and the vodka taste is masked by the Archers and cranberry flavours. You can add some chopped pieces of fresh fruit to this mix, if you feel in that sort of mood.

A 70cl bottle will set you back £9.59 in Tesco. Be warned though, cheap substitutes do not taste nearly as good, so it's well worth sticking to Archers.

The www.archers.com web site doesn't really contain any info about the drink, but has features such as; 'organising a get together with friends', photos from Archers promotions around the country, competitions and horoscopes.

So, all in all, Archers has a bit of girly reputation and is very sweet and sickly if you drink too much neat, but it a useful addition to your drinks cabinet.

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