Alright- any more ideas for Irn-Bru cocktails? Get Viski glassware here: viski.com/discount/HOWTODRINK15 use code HowToDrink15 at checkout! Patreon: bit.ly/H2DPatreon Podcast: @MidnightLocal Viski: viski.com/discount/HOWTODRINK15 Twitch: bit.ly/2VsOi3d H2D2: bit.ly/YTH2D2 twitter: bit.ly/H2DTwit instagram: bit.ly/H2dIG Blog: bit.ly/H2DBlog Gear: amzn.to/2LeQCbW How bad can Moxie be? th-cam.com/video/3mCHmV42FTw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lh2HyIkvSt6oalaC Doritos Alcohol: th-cam.com/video/oTYF4diIwtQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Zn1Wy3TInFLNFAIG The worst liquor on earth: th-cam.com/video/Qf_cvsm7dGs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PZxdEXXOVcqMiD78
A few years ago I was looking for lower ABV cocktails and found the Adriatica (Apperol, Amaro Montenegro and Orange juice) I swear blind it tastes just like Irn Bru.
I mix it with toilet water, its gross. As a scott I love haggis, ironbru, no. Try fry'd hagiss balls, they're coated in crumbs. I found it suprisingly good.
Scottish person here. I wanna give some valuable context to the history of Irn Bru - specifically in the last decade: - The current version of Irn Bru - the stuff you're drinking - has both sugar AND aspartame in it as you noticed. In the mid 2010s, the UK government imposed a "sugar tax" that increased the price of sugary drinks based on how much sugar they have in them. To prevent the price of Irn Bru from having to go up, Barr replaced a certain amount of the sugar with aspartame to reduce the sugar content without reducing the sweetness. This was a hugely controversial subject at the time (no surprise given we have the stereotype for being the country that'll deep fry anything given enough oil and batter) and people were capital-p Pissed about it. People were hoarding "old irn bru", shops were marking it up, but eventually the old stuff disappeared. - What you're drinking is the standard Irn Bru, but there's also a soda called Irn Bru 1901 which uses the ORIGINAL recipe from 1901 and was released back in 2021 (originally as a limited edition run but it eventually became a permanent addition to their lineup). I personally think it's a much better drink, but its nigh impossible to actually get outside of the UK (and maybe also Ireland). They come in these big glass bottles and small cans, but the glass bottles taste way better. It can be served chilled, but it tastes so incredible at near-room temp and gets super frothy without losing carbonation that unchilled is my preferred way of having it. Always love seeing people trying it for the first time, I think you really hit the nail on the head about its flavour. Something else I've heard people describe (especially prominent in 1901) is a banana flavour.
The idea of a searchable How to Drink daatabase is the first thing that's really tempted me to subscribe to your patreon. Like, that's definitely worth a few simoleons.
That’s funny, but to me it’s like a slightly citrusy bubblegum almost cream soda flavor. Kind of reminds me of Big Red. Wish I’d tried it before the recipe ended up cutting the sugar with 0cal sweetener.
As a Scottish person I have been immediately summoned. Irn Bru is unironically my favourite drink of all time, specifically the classic 1901 version they do now as it's all sugar and caffeine free
Seconding this If he does do it though it should be traditional. No glass, drunk straight from the bottle, bottom upturned. Also should be enjoyed outside somewhere, preferably a park bench or canal
Haha actually should try it. Loved it when i was younger. A bottle a tonic and a hawf Q got me in some amount of trouble growing up, been in the cells many time due to it.
Funny enough, your channel recently inspired me to buy a bottle of Angostura Bitters, and that immediately gave me an Irn Bru vibe. The fact that you don't make the same comparison suggests I'm making an association that's not really there past a certain feeling of "it tastes of orange; the colour, not the fruit". I'm very pleased at the coincidence of you getting hold of some Irn Bru just after I got my bottle of Ango though.
They now sell Irn Bru 1901 which has the full sugar back in it. The blue shape on the can is an iron girder because they used to claim that it was made from girders.
1901's not the regular recipe that was changed, it's an older one, so people who miss the one they've been drinking for years still lose out. 1901 is excellent though, my favourite bright orange drink by far.
about the combo of sugar and artificial sweeteners: a couple years ago, the government implemented a higher tax rate on food/drink above a certain level of sugar. to avoid this, a lot of companies replaced some of the sugar to get it below the threshold. i remember hearing stories of people hoarding a bunch of pre-recipe change cans when it was announced.
And for avoidance of doubt it has totally ballsed up the flavour profile of all British soft drinks where the manufacturers decided to ditch sugar and replace with sweeteners to avoid the tax. On the other hand, it's stopped me drinking them which was probably the intended result. *shrug*
Was just going to comment about that. With the backlash, they released a VERY limited run of the ORIGINAL 1901 recipe for Irn Bru. A recipe which had MORE sugar than the recipe had been using right before the changeover. It was popular enough that it became a permanent thing in '21. Though it's nigh impossible to get outside the UK.
Fun fact about Phenylalanine. It's an amino acid found in aspartame. The reason why it's listed specifically in diet drinks and food is because it's particularly dangerous for people with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) who are unable to metabolize it.
Im a Scotsman, as a teenager I drank alot of Whisky and Irn Bru, Famous Grouse and Irn Bru, Teachers and Irn Bru, Bells and Irn Bru, but my favourite was Glenmorangie and irn bru and it was something i used to drink when I was younger. Irn Bru is also a good hangover cure if you mix it with Sunny D
2:30 Barr, the company that makes Irn Bru, also make a variety of other drinks, such as Lemonade, Dandelion and Burdock and even their own Bubblegum flavour. So yes, I can imagine the bubblegum taste is different in the UK and US
@@monkeytail2002not sure you can still do it after the change from all proper sugar to half artificial sweeteners. I thought that artificial sweeteners mess it up when you try to reduce to a syrup. Happy to be wrong though.
@@johnadams9314I'm pretty sure Greg accidentally found out in his hot Coca Cola video that diet drinks [sweetened with aspartame] lose their sweetness. Like, it completely goes away, as if heat destroys aspartame. Irn Bru is mixed aspartame and sugar though.
Fun fact; the "Bubblegum" flavor is what the berry Redcurrent tastes like. It's a cousin to the Gooseberry and native to western Europe. It was made illegal to grow in the US because it carries a fungus called "Pine Blister Rust" which, as the name suggests, targets pine trees thus threatened the US logging industry.
Are you talking about the Ribes rubrum red currant? If so, the fruit tastes tart, tangy, somewhat sweet, nothing complex like the generic bublegum, Red Bull, generic energy drink etc. taste.
The flavor of "bubblegum" is usually created from a combination of several fruity and sweet elements. The most common flavors include: Banana: Adds sweetness and a smooth fruity base. Cherry: Provides a bright, tangy undertone. Orange: Contributes citrusy, zesty notes. Lemon: Adds a sharp, fresh twist. Vanilla: Gives a creamy and sweet richness. Wintergreen or Cinnamon: Occasionally used for a hint of spiciness or minty coolness. These flavors are often blended to achieve the signature taste of bubblegum.
It’s not just the logging industry. We still have big areas of old growth forest here in the US, even in the East. Anything biological can spread like wildfire. So we do need to keep some things out to preserve our forests, even if the area is trackless wilderness like the middle of the Adirondacks
IRN BRU just literally the other day lauched a pre-mixed cocktail version, a vodka martini. I personally find a blended non-peated scotch goes quite nicely with IRN BRU.
Irn Bru(Original Flavor) is my favorite drink from childhood. I used to drink it mostly on New Year celebration, and I do so today. Only problem is, in my country, it doesn't sell in regular shops anymore, and only can be found online or in "import junkfood" shops. I still bring a few cans to drink on New Year with my father, it became my little tradition. I like that this drink has a bit of a kick to it, it's not too much sweet and it brings some nice memories back. I love it more than any other soda beverage.
I'm a bartender in Scotland, customers usually order Irn Bru as a mixer for Glen's Vodka for that perfect paint stripper battery acid flavour 😂 I haven't really seen it mixed with anything else but I much prefer Irn Bru on its own
Fun fact "the four corners" is a location in Glasgow at the central train station that is notorious. When you had titled the cocktail that you had me floored 😂
@@CaptainKaytar inside, under, or outside out of curiosity? Only been inside once, under is a bit daunting, seems sheer chaos outside most of the day/night
Only 00:20 into the video, and I have to say that you need to redo this video with Irn Bru 1901: It's the original formula they replaced with this rubbish after the new tax was introduced. As a Scot, I personally find the new formulation foul, and only drink 1901.
1901 is hardish to get outside Scotland...oh and to the chap in the video Scotch is a drink not a Nationality...and IB tastes bugger all like any D&B I've ever tasted!🎩
@@jtchabs728 i really dont know, but it likely is, doubt it would be changed much. I was expecting coke first time i tried it and it was not that, wasnt really a fan
Would be nice to get some non-alcoholic drinks with lovely flavour combos, like with the Brennan Lee Mulligan episode. Still good watching even when not though, totally agree 💜
Saw some of those one trip and was doubly confused to see the cans in office spaces 😅 (I wasn't sure whether it was alcoholic, and didn't have cell service so couldn't look it up)
Thank you for not using the colloquial "As a..." (presumably would have been Glaswegian, in this instance) intro for self-accreditation. That trend drives me up a gd wall.
@@YoungPoliRadical My late grandmother used to keep a drawer full of those little bottles and these wee blue straws too. Some of my favourite memories.
Irn Bru used to have a lot more sugar but the UK (and a lot of countries in that region of Europe) now have a tax on sugary drinks so, like most sugary drinks, used artificial sweeteners to get under 5 grams per 100ml where the tax kicks in. Original Coke is basically the only full sugar drink in parts of Europe now. Edit: Sunset Yellow is the name of what's called Yellow No 6 in the US. Europe uses E numbers for food additives. Yellow 5 is E102/Tatrazine, and Red 40 is E129 Edit 2: Ponceau 4R is E124 which is a red dye used in Europe and Asia where Red 40 is more heavily regulated than the Americas, but not approved in the US (mostly because no one wants to front the research costs when Red 40 is easy to use).
Ah, that explains a lot. I think I had both coke and Pepsi last trip, Pepsi tasted like stevia and had artificial sweetners but the Coke did not. Figured maybe it was a taste thing 🤷
This is absolutely a UK thing and not general Europe thing. Drinks in Germany, Poland, Denmark all contain roughly 9-10% sugar, which is less than they used to but is not supplemented with sweeteners. Perhaps France or Ireland has also gone the same way as the UK, but central and northern europe is still on basically Full Sugar mode. But distinctly 10% or less, for unrelated EU regulations reasons.
Irn Bru reduced its sugar several years before the sugar tax kicked in, IIRC, because its sugar content was absolutely nuts. I think it was higher than Pepsi. I believe Dr Pepper did the same thing, absolutely ruining its flavour with a terrible sweetener, which was really odd because they already had Dr Pepper Zero which tastes great.
It's a common problem in North America. It's an extremely uncommon drink over here. You only really find it in British specialty shops or at the highland games. Most people haven't heard the name said out loud, only read it and are interpreting the text in the most literal way.
Theres an irn bru 1901 version too - they changed the recipe ages ago, there was a lot of controversy so they made some to the original recipe, the 1901 irn bru is the version from the original recipe. Its better from what i remember
Iirc the 1901 version is more reminiscent of the pre sugar tax nonsense when the recipe changed a few years ago. I think no caffeine in the 1901 as well.
@@ryanmg92 aye thats the one haha, i couldnt remember if it was because of the sugar tax directly, or just coincidentally happened around the same time
Damn, I miss sugary drinks. I do wish they'd rebranded as flavoured syrups or something. The way the entire industry just stopped using sugar is annoying. I'm quite happy to drink artificially sweetened gunk for my day-to-day palate ruining, I'm used to it, but I miss the *option* of sugar squash/cordial...
@aabsurdity8817 I have some good news for you on that front (if you're in the UK). Go to a Polish/Eastern European supermarket in your local area and look for fruit syrups. There's a brand called Lowicz that proudly declares that they are sweetened with sugar and not glucose-fructose syrup. They come in a variety of flavours, including raspberry, strawberry, sour cherry. The raspberry flavour is as available in Sainsbury's. There are other brands that have other flavours, but they contain glucose-fructose syrup. For a couple of quid, it's worth a punt.
4:25 trust me, Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a real thing. It's similar to lactose intolerance, but instead of digestive issues, PKU + aspartame = seizures, brain shrinkage, skin lesions, and even schizophrenia.
I learned about the existence of Irn Bru thanks to attempting to learn Gaidhlig on Duolingo, and was happy to find my local supermarkets have it stocked in the international section. I was told before trying it that it's like a sweeter, more artificially orange version of Fanta, and I was fully prepared to hate it because of that, but that description was way off the mark. It's less orange-y and significantly less sweet than I was afraid it would be, and it has some nice herbal notes to the flavour. It's hard for me to describe exactly how it tastes, but it's now easily among my favourite sodas.
I’m from Scotand. Irn Bru definitely drink of choice in our house. Only fizzy juice I drink. When I was old enough it was a whiskey and Irn Bru. A blend, sometimes a Bourbon. Never a single malt though! 😊
Regarding using single malt scotch, it may benefit you to get a bottle or two of non Islay single malts so that you have more options for flavors. I'd suggest a sherried and non sherried Highland or Speyside. Off the top of my head, I would recommend Oban, and either Glendronach or Glenmorangie.
The lime is a much higher proportion of malic acid to citric, and lemon is the opposite. So it does make sense that lime would work better with a drink that has only citric acid.
Picked some Irn Bru up from the import aisle at my local supermarket (I'm Australian) and was pleasantly surprised. It tastes like orange lifesavers with a creaming soda finish, quite unique and very yum.
The Irn Bru Spritz (from.the Brewdog chain of bars in the UK) 25ml Ocho 8 tequila 35ml Irn-Bru reduction 3ml lemon juice 100 ml Prosecco 25ml soda water Wedge of grapefruit to garnish
That app is like a dream come true for me! I have a notebook in my home bar where I have been manually writing down the different drink recipes you have made over the years, but I have always wanted a more convenient digital version. So stoked for this!
Got a suggestion for a future "How Do I Not Waste my Bottle of _____" episode - you know, got a bottle of Whatever for a cocktail night collecting dust, how do we use it up with stuff we'd have around the house. A shot of Cointreau into a glass of average grocery store apple cider makes a Dreamsicle Cider that will have you missing summer and welcoming fall at the same time. Plus, even at 3:1 you're drinking a 10%ABV cocktail. So, y'know, be careful 🤣
Second - although I partake of alcohol so rarely that my tolerance is somewhere around the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. I'd only be a teetotaler if I counted golf pegs!
I have never supported someone on Patreon before but next payday I'm gonna do it because I need this app. Love your show, Greg. Hope you have a million good days.
Yes, people in Scotland absolutely mix Irn-Bru with Scotch. I actually remember Bell's had a Whisky and Irn-Bru alcopop back in the 90's. Never tried any as I was only a kid back then.
If any Old World culture would survive the war 100% intact, it'd be the Scotts. They might not even notice anything outside of a particularly cold and radioactive winter (wonder if Irn Bru is any good hot?)
Y'know I'd like to see Greg have a shot at the various Swedish sodas that exist out there, there's quite a selection with stuff like Champis and Portello as well as the various kinds of fruit sodas or even Julmust for the christmas season. But I think the single most notable one, the undisputed king of Swedish soda, and the one I'd like to see is Trocadero, it's always been a personal favorite hi-ball mixer of mine and can go with quite a few types of alcohol.
Whilst you're right that this is Scottish and most popular in Scotland, it's also very popular across the rest of the UK. It was a staple in my household growing up in the north of England. I even remember there used to be knock-off brands labelled "Iron Brew" although not sure I see them much anymore, perhaps there were lawsuits XD I'm pretty sure there was an Irn Bru flavour of WKD as well.
after you did the episode on Moxie I realized the Offensive Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills drinks a can at every game. and whenever allen does something great he seems to make sure the moxie label is facing the camera.
Oh, wait, if you don’t hate this maybe you could make a video around Inca Kola? It has a similar-ish taste profile (sans quinine and more banana-forward) and would probably lend itself to tiki drinks. Apologies in advance if you’ve already worked with it!
American here that LOVES Irn Bru!! I started messing with it followed Vlad Slick Bartenders and made a concentrated syrup for incorporating into cocktails. It goes great in a smoky Mezcal Margarita
You need to make a video like this on Kinnie. It's made in Malta and is a bitter-orange flavoured softdrink. Tried it on a trip this year, and it was really good!
In my group with whom went, it was quite divisive. Some didn't like it at all, the rest loved it. I only tried the 'Zero' version though. It kinda reminded me of those canned premixed Italian Aperitifs (like pre-made Aperol Spritz), just without the Alcohol obviously.
I love Kinnie, I had my honeymoon in Malta and drank it the whole time I was there. I wish it was more widely available elsewhere, it reminded me of a negroni or aperol spritz.
Tequila, lime and Irn Bru is a devastatingly good combo (especially with Storywood tequila which has been finished in whisky barrels). Additionally, back when I was 18 I voluntarily drank "Malibru", a mix of Malibru and Irn Bru 😂
In Scotland, we tend to find it sacrilegious to mix it with alcohol, reserving it for the hangover part of the whole drinking process so its flavour and effect isn't sullied. But I fear I'm at the point now where my ambitions are getting the better of me, and I'm gonna want to make it work in a cocktail...
@@mamoo2 oh yeah, I've seen it mixed with Glen's many times. There's just something mildly disturbing about that though I'd mostly scrubbed those memories from my mind
Since Greg is an EPCOT-head I'm honestly surprised the comparison didn't come up. Inca Cola was available at Club Cool from like 2013 to 2019 so I'd be surprised if Greg had never tried it.
Like, a year or so ago, I was hanging out with the owner of a local pub who keeps both Irn Bru and Underberg in stock. We weren't wholly sober and I invariably got the idea to mix the two: drink a little Irn Bru out of the bottle, pour the Underberg in, gently shake to incorporate, and enjoy a delicious Underbru. There's probably a legit cocktail in there somewhere.
I find Irn Bru is a little similar to Cola (or Kola) Champagne, which is another orange coloured soda with cream-soda/bubblegum-style flavors. At least here in Canada, you can typically find it in most grocery stores in the Caribbean / West Indies section. As opposed to Irn Bru itself, which can sometimes be a bit more of a rare find. So it's a decent option if you're looking for something similar (but not quite the same).
As someone who moved to Scotland later in life- this drink is like water- can't live without it! Its also said "ay-urn bru" not urn. Great choices though I'll have to try some!
I would describe the flavor of IRN BRU as, getting home in torrential rain and getting home, the central heating is already on, taking off your soaked coat, kicking off your soaked shoes and your soaked trousers and putting on some shorts and a dressing gown and it tastes like the feeling of sinking into the couch. Every time I drink it I can feel the stress just wash out of me. I've had other bubble gum flavoured pops but non of them did that, Sasparilla did a little bit before it got banned :(
Why did sarsaparilla get banned??? *I live in the US, and while not many people drink sarsaparilla here, anymore, it's such a well known part of our cultural heritage that I'm surprised to hear that it's banned anywhere.
@@brandonp7503 A study found it caused tumours in mice so it got banned in the UK, Europe and I thought America but I guess it's just a local ban by state (shrug I dunno I'm guessing). It was one of those studies like the salt causes high blood pressure BS that on closer inspection it turns out it's basically just made up. It only affects 1 breed of mice been fed a ludicrous amount of sarsaparilla concentrate but it doesn't affect other breeds of mice, rats, or rabbits and Australia, America and Singapore (yes sarsaparilla very popular in Singapore) have all done studies on their sarsaparilla drinking humans and found (drum roll) NOTHING. It would appear sarsaparilla is completely safe like salt unless you eat like 4lbs of pure concentrate a day but if you're doing that you've got problems. It's a clown world banning the perfectly safe sarsaparilla, warning labels for salt, activist rial against red 40 because it "might" cause hyperactivity in children (or it could be all the sugar and caffeine in the drink?! you could be a parent and not give them the red soft drink, I grew up on water), while trying to play down MSG, which sets off my chronic migraines and has ruined my last 2 days because while NISSIN instant noodles only put a little MSG in their sesame seed noodles, not enough to cause me problems, they apparently put loads in their beef noodles and I have been SUFFERING but all anyone will ever say about MSG is that anyone against MSG is racist against Asians.
Funnily enough, my paternal grandmother worked a stint as a teacher in Sweden and she got semi-addicted to julmust, and there is no Christmas if she does not have it! To her delight, julmust is sold here in Finland, especially around the Western coast.
Julmust I would say is a malt flavoured, less acidic and less sweet cola with a bit more spice. The barrel aged versions are the best ones. Makes a nice rum + julmust.
I visited Sweden just before Christmas some years ago. Had never heard of Julmust, saw it everywhere, asked a guy at a food stand what they hell it is and he said "I don't know how to describe it but it tastes like Christmas". Tried it, drank several every day until I went home, had three with my Julebord, and now I order a ton every year for Christmas.
It was originally called Iron Brew but the powers that be said it wasn't made of iron (although there's IS a trace of iron in it, that's what the ammonium ferric citrate is) and it isn't brewed so they had to change it. I used to drink loads of it but the sugar tax recipe change with sweeteners ruined it for me. It's very common to drink it with cheap blended whisky, you can even buy it premixed in cans. It used to be reasonably common for bars to have a big glass bottle or iron brew on the bar for you to mix in your whisky.
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 They marketed it for years as being made from girders, even the blue letter I on the can is a stylised cross section of a girder. It was marketed as giving the drinker superhuman strength. Their TV adverts are the stuff of legend. I suppose the girder thing also connects with the Clydeside origins of the company which used to be a major shipbuilding hub.
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 it's just a form of citric acid, so it is an acidity regulator/buffer. Because the molecule contains iron, they use that for marketing purposes.
@@bradmcmahon3156 There's only a tiny amount in there, probably not enough to buffer anything, or in fact do anything useful. I also think it's not actually a permitted food additive. The government tried to make them take it out a few years back (EU regulation something-something, may cause cancer blah blah) and there was public uproar about it so they backed down. I think it was decided it was culturally necessary in the end.
You are correct that mixing scotch with iron brew would get you shot here, it really depends on the type of whisky you use. For instance what you did (johnny walker and iron brew) would be fine as that is a mixed whisky (sn; I grew up in Kilmarnock where Johnny walker was made up until 2012, and a friends dad of mine did that but he wouldn't measure it was like 2ish Oz of jw, and a splash of iron brew). If you did that with a single molt I think you get shot and buried in a peat bog.
Scottish lass here - I've had irn bru in cocktails as syrups mainly. I've had a really good irn bru version of a dark and stormy. Irn bru themselves has partnered with a premixed cocktail brand🙈 to make a irn bru martini.
There's a soda from Finland called Pommac I think you need to check out; it's matured in oak barrels and has a flavor that's really hard to describe. Kind of like a lemonade meets a whiskey.
I've heard from a scottish friend that it was originally made from dandelion, so you might be on to something; I've always felt it tastes somewhere between cream soda and ginger ale
Most divisive soda in Germany: Club Mate . A highly caffeinated mate soda. It is enjoyed by hipsters, computer hackers and students. And they even have a limited Christmas edition with cinnamon.
Iron Bru is often called Ginger, because of its color, on the West Coast of Scotland. Whisky (not black label, but cheaper... Famous Grouse etc...) and Ginger is what we drank back in the 80's.
I've been told Irn-Bru is very similar to champagne cola, a Central/South American staple that is similarly orange and sold at Walmart in the imports aisle (look for "Kolashanpan" next to the Jarritos). The bubblegum flavor is distinct with champagne cola as well, and it's substantially cheaper than other sodas currently at under $2 for a two-liter.
Inca Kola also falls into this general family of champagne colas. It's a Coke product from Peru, but also sold throughout the Western Hemisphere including the United States. Many "ethnic food" aisles in larger groceries stock it or other champagne colas.
Yes, I got a case of Irn-Bru because of this video and it tastes like an inferior version of every brand of champagne cola I've tried, mostly because of the aspartame.
There's a Brazilian soda that falls into the same category of... weird. It's called Guaraná Jesus, very popular in the northeast of the country and it's PINK. Not a faint tinge but PINK. Tastes like diabetes. Don't think you can get it outside of Brazil, though.
@@D_ytAcct That's orange-brown. Guaraná is the name of a fruit, and there's two main types of guaraná soda. Most guaraná soda, like the one you're referring to, is orange-brown. Guaraná Jesus is based on the fruit but is something else, being notably pink.
"the four corners" is the perfect name for that drink as there is a very well known location in the city of glasgow called "the four corners", which also makes the scottish connection to the drink.
So pro tip: they make Irn Bru in the US under licence without the colourings that are banned in some states. It contains the full sugar content but is otherwise identical to the UK version. They used to make it under licence in Russia as well; it was in pretty much every corner store when I was over there about 15 years ago.
Alright- any more ideas for Irn-Bru cocktails?
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Irn Bru started life as a tonic water, and so it pairs quite well with gin.
As a proud Scotsman, I hope you like the drink, mate.
Its like foam bananas and sugar, also fake pineapple.
A few years ago I was looking for lower ABV cocktails and found the Adriatica (Apperol, Amaro Montenegro and Orange juice) I swear blind it tastes just like Irn Bru.
I mix it with toilet water, its gross. As a scott I love haggis, ironbru, no. Try fry'd hagiss balls, they're coated in crumbs. I found it suprisingly good.
50/50 with cheap vodka
"Urn Bru?" "The Scotch??" Bro woke up and chose violence today, jaysus.
Could've sworn I heard some bagpipes down the street when I first heard him say that and each time after 😂
aye we can be touchy about that. Jesus christ yanks, a wee bit of research , 5 mins. Ye have Google, use it.
@@willgillies5670where im from, it’s common to call Scottish people the scotch since Scotch literally means you’re a part of the people of Scotland
@@halloweenfan158 the preferred term is the Scots or Scottish but fair enough, call us what you want, just don't call us late for supper :p
Rubbish the people are Scots and you drink scotch!
Scottish person here. I wanna give some valuable context to the history of Irn Bru - specifically in the last decade:
- The current version of Irn Bru - the stuff you're drinking - has both sugar AND aspartame in it as you noticed. In the mid 2010s, the UK government imposed a "sugar tax" that increased the price of sugary drinks based on how much sugar they have in them. To prevent the price of Irn Bru from having to go up, Barr replaced a certain amount of the sugar with aspartame to reduce the sugar content without reducing the sweetness. This was a hugely controversial subject at the time (no surprise given we have the stereotype for being the country that'll deep fry anything given enough oil and batter) and people were capital-p Pissed about it. People were hoarding "old irn bru", shops were marking it up, but eventually the old stuff disappeared.
- What you're drinking is the standard Irn Bru, but there's also a soda called Irn Bru 1901 which uses the ORIGINAL recipe from 1901 and was released back in 2021 (originally as a limited edition run but it eventually became a permanent addition to their lineup). I personally think it's a much better drink, but its nigh impossible to actually get outside of the UK (and maybe also Ireland). They come in these big glass bottles and small cans, but the glass bottles taste way better. It can be served chilled, but it tastes so incredible at near-room temp and gets super frothy without losing carbonation that unchilled is my preferred way of having it.
Always love seeing people trying it for the first time, I think you really hit the nail on the head about its flavour. Something else I've heard people describe (especially prominent in 1901) is a banana flavour.
Great comment, I hope he sees it!
Yeah a lot of drinks don't taste like they did thanks to the sugar tax. :(
So glad someone brought this up and shared! I didn't know about the 1901 edition. I'll have to look out for it next time I visit!
Hey, how's it going? (Also going to keep an eye out for the 1901 version, I miss that old Irn Bru taste
Glad someone already covered this, saves me typing it out 😂
As a Scotsman the first 3 seconds made me shout "WHAT'D HE CALL IT!?"
Same. I think I've developed a tic from it
Maybe they should update the spelling!
As a Scott Manley fan who knows nothing about Scotland, same.
@@IsosythHullo!
The exact same. And he's not the only American I've heard pronounce it that way.
Every time you say "Uhrn Brew" a haggis pup drowns in a loch 😓
Ay lol
Eh.... nope
💀💀💀
True!!
Howling 😂😂😂😂
The idea of a searchable How to Drink daatabase is the first thing that's really tempted me to subscribe to your patreon. Like, that's definitely worth a few simoleons.
spelled irn bru, pronouced iron brew hope this is helpful 👍
Thanks, that was driving me crazy.
I was in physical pain 😅
Yeah, every time I hear him say it it hurts
Is he originally from Baltimore? Feels very "Aaron earned an iron urn" every time. Which is the only thing saving me from the cringing.
It’s made from the girders!
Best description of Irn Bru (Iron Brew) i've heard is it tastes like Orange, but the colour orange, not the fruit
Yeah but not the color orange
It reminds me of Crush orange. Don't know how he gets bubble gum
it literally doesnt taste like orange anything, its bubblegum flavour.
It tastes pink.
That’s funny, but to me it’s like a slightly citrusy bubblegum almost cream soda flavor. Kind of reminds me of Big Red. Wish I’d tried it before the recipe ended up cutting the sugar with 0cal sweetener.
It's made from GIRDERS!
I can't believe that I'm the first to say it and I'm not even Scottish, I'm 🏴
They don't run the girder commercials anymore.
Damn, you beat me to it! Love from 🏴
Shit, I wanted to say this lol. I visited Scotland years ago, and I can confirm it's an acquired taste. But damn is it good
Not girders, it's made from Iron Barrs
I swear, yall have the COOLEST flag.
As a Scottish person I have been immediately summoned. Irn Bru is unironically my favourite drink of all time, specifically the classic 1901 version they do now as it's all sugar and caffeine free
It absolutely does not taste like bubblegum. Sincerely a ‘Scotch’
Fellow "Scotch" here, yes it absolutely does
Hello fellow "Scotch" 😂
It does.
I remember when it was marketed as a bubblegum flavour drink.
@@fitzcorraldo8570 really? I've never heard of that
It's does not taste of bubble gum. It tastes of a freshly cast piece of iron, licked on a frosty mountain top.
I think my eye twitched everytime I heard him say ' urn brew '
I know how you feel...
Same
How should someone who’s not Scottish know how to pronounce it if it’s spelled like that?
@@Nick94956The beauty of the internet is it’s not hard to find and ask some Scottish people.
I loved it when he addressed the Scottish people as being 'Scotch'.
05:58 is the best stirring technique for a cocktail I've personally ever seen. 10/10
"The threaten stir" technique
I myself prefer the “boop the ice cube into the drink once” method, but this works very well too!
Pronouncing it "irn" instead of "iron" and referring to Scottish people as "the scotch" is enough to enrage the entire population of Scotland 😂
Scots! I said Scots!
I got proper triggered, ngl
@@howtodrink you definitely said "it's very famous for being loved by the SCOTCH" - now, it is war. ;)
@@howtodrink Um, check 0:52. You definitely said "the Scotch".
I swear I got a twitch every time he said either wrong.
Here, you should give Buckfast a go next! Good old monk caffeinated fortified wine.
Seconding this
If he does do it though it should be traditional. No glass, drunk straight from the bottle, bottom upturned. Also should be enjoyed outside somewhere, preferably a park bench or canal
The cause of every time I've ever spent a night in a cell
@@painunending4610Ah, a fellow member of my wine tasting club.
Aw no, he'll turn into a wee ned!
Haha actually should try it. Loved it when i was younger. A bottle a tonic and a hawf Q got me in some amount of trouble growing up, been in the cells many time due to it.
Funny enough, your channel recently inspired me to buy a bottle of Angostura Bitters, and that immediately gave me an Irn Bru vibe.
The fact that you don't make the same comparison suggests I'm making an association that's not really there past a certain feeling of "it tastes of orange; the colour, not the fruit".
I'm very pleased at the coincidence of you getting hold of some Irn Bru just after I got my bottle of Ango though.
They now sell Irn Bru 1901 which has the full sugar back in it. The blue shape on the can is an iron girder because they used to claim that it was made from girders.
1901's not the regular recipe that was changed, it's an older one, so people who miss the one they've been drinking for years still lose out. 1901 is excellent though, my favourite bright orange drink by far.
@@m__y-t-s oh gutted, thanks for the correction👍
WHERE. SOMEONE SMUGGLE SOME INTO CANADA
well that it had more iron in it and was rusty coloured hence the "made from Girders" tagline
The 1901 recipe: pour into a pint glass and it develops a foam head like a pint of beer
about the combo of sugar and artificial sweeteners: a couple years ago, the government implemented a higher tax rate on food/drink above a certain level of sugar. to avoid this, a lot of companies replaced some of the sugar to get it below the threshold. i remember hearing stories of people hoarding a bunch of pre-recipe change cans when it was announced.
And for avoidance of doubt it has totally ballsed up the flavour profile of all British soft drinks where the manufacturers decided to ditch sugar and replace with sweeteners to avoid the tax. On the other hand, it's stopped me drinking them which was probably the intended result. *shrug*
I heard it really screwed the subway sandwich chain because their bread was all sugar.
New irn bru if terrible
Ive not drank it in years cause of the sweeteners
Old irnbru was amazing, i drank it daily
Was just going to comment about that. With the backlash, they released a VERY limited run of the ORIGINAL 1901 recipe for Irn Bru. A recipe which had MORE sugar than the recipe had been using right before the changeover. It was popular enough that it became a permanent thing in '21. Though it's nigh impossible to get outside the UK.
@@JakobKaine_BrickJAK the 1901 isent the same as the normal one
Its foamy and tastes wrong to me
Its lost to history now
Fun fact about Phenylalanine. It's an amino acid found in aspartame. The reason why it's listed specifically in diet drinks and food is because it's particularly dangerous for people with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) who are unable to metabolize it.
The stuff gives me a migraine in under 30 seconds.
Same
Yep, can cause a lot of nasty neurological problems including seizures.
Ah, the migraine inducer (though sugar free gum seems to be only exception for me, which doesn't trigger one)
@@ghengisbobberme too. It’s a remarkably common effect.
Im a Scotsman, as a teenager I drank alot of Whisky and Irn Bru, Famous Grouse and Irn Bru, Teachers and Irn Bru, Bells and Irn Bru, but my favourite was Glenmorangie and irn bru and it was something i used to drink when I was younger. Irn Bru is also a good hangover cure if you mix it with Sunny D
I'm half Scottish and I do love a bit of Famous Grouse with my Irn Bru.
Haven't tried Glenmorangie with it though. Sounds like it'd be fab.
New drinking game take a shot each time you hear Urn bru
I tried that. I've just wakened up 3 weeks later with a stoosher of a hangover. Now i need an 'Urn' Bru to cure my ills.
Every time he says it, it reminds me of the “Aaron earned an iron urn” video
2:30
Barr, the company that makes Irn Bru, also make a variety of other drinks, such as Lemonade, Dandelion and Burdock and even their own Bubblegum flavour. So yes, I can imagine the bubblegum taste is different in the UK and US
Funnily enough Barrs bubblegum is the exact opposite colour to irn bru
Barr's cream soda is absolutely fucking vile, as an aside
@@KavsLockedOut It used to be good but the sweeteners completely ruined it
My favourite was always Tizer. Used to be the preferred Barr soda in Yorkshire but it’s very hard to find now.
@@davidwright7193 Yeah not sure what happened to Tizer, used to be my go-to when I had 50p at a corner shop
Irn Bru is delightful. Regular drinker. Turn it into a syrup and add a barspoon to an Old Fash, it's dreamy.
How does one turn it into a Syrup? Just boil it?
@@brandtwanner6218 yeah, that's generally how you can make any soda a syrup. You reduce it down.
@@monkeytail2002not sure you can still do it after the change from all proper sugar to half artificial sweeteners. I thought that artificial sweeteners mess it up when you try to reduce to a syrup. Happy to be wrong though.
@@johnadams9314maybe the 1901 version? It's expensive and a pain to get but it's so good.
@@johnadams9314I'm pretty sure Greg accidentally found out in his hot Coca Cola video that diet drinks [sweetened with aspartame] lose their sweetness. Like, it completely goes away, as if heat destroys aspartame. Irn Bru is mixed aspartame and sugar though.
Fun fact; the "Bubblegum" flavor is what the berry Redcurrent tastes like. It's a cousin to the Gooseberry and native to western Europe. It was made illegal to grow in the US because it carries a fungus called "Pine Blister Rust" which, as the name suggests, targets pine trees thus threatened the US logging industry.
Huh, I don't usually like bubblegum flavoured stuff, but irn bru and like, redcurrant sauce is fine for me. I wonder why.
Are you talking about the Ribes rubrum red currant? If so, the fruit tastes tart, tangy, somewhat sweet, nothing complex like the generic bublegum, Red Bull, generic energy drink etc. taste.
Ehhh I don't know how true that is. I have a working theory that the "bubblegum" flavor is what artificial nutmeg tincture tastes like.
The flavor of "bubblegum" is usually created from a combination of several fruity and sweet elements. The most common flavors include:
Banana: Adds sweetness and a smooth fruity base.
Cherry: Provides a bright, tangy undertone.
Orange: Contributes citrusy, zesty notes.
Lemon: Adds a sharp, fresh twist.
Vanilla: Gives a creamy and sweet richness.
Wintergreen or Cinnamon: Occasionally used for a hint of spiciness or minty coolness.
These flavors are often blended to achieve the signature taste of bubblegum.
It’s not just the logging industry. We still have big areas of old growth forest here in the US, even in the East. Anything biological can spread like wildfire. So we do need to keep some things out to preserve our forests, even if the area is trackless wilderness like the middle of the Adirondacks
IRN BRU just literally the other day lauched a pre-mixed cocktail version, a vodka martini. I personally find a blended non-peated scotch goes quite nicely with IRN BRU.
Irn Bru(Original Flavor) is my favorite drink from childhood. I used to drink it mostly on New Year celebration, and I do so today. Only problem is, in my country, it doesn't sell in regular shops anymore, and only can be found online or in "import junkfood" shops. I still bring a few cans to drink on New Year with my father, it became my little tradition. I like that this drink has a bit of a kick to it, it's not too much sweet and it brings some nice memories back. I love it more than any other soda beverage.
I'm a bartender in Scotland, customers usually order Irn Bru as a mixer for Glen's Vodka for that perfect paint stripper battery acid flavour 😂 I haven't really seen it mixed with anything else but I much prefer Irn Bru on its own
I can’t stand glens and iron bru gives me the boke 😂 probably mental scars from mixing a can of irn bru with a 70cl
I'm gonna change your life it's called MALA BRU, Malibu and irn bru.
Mixing irn bru with vodka is fucking rank
Fun fact "the four corners" is a location in Glasgow at the central train station that is notorious. When you had titled the cocktail that you had me floored 😂
When the Four Corners KFC serves Four Corners cocktails as part of a promotion that's a high-impact apocalypse 4-level event
@@CaptainKaytar inside, under, or outside out of curiosity? Only been inside once, under is a bit daunting, seems sheer chaos outside most of the day/night
are you talking the argyle st union/jamaica st corner with the maccy d's?
Was looking for this comment 😂
@@mebrithiel that's the one!
Only 00:20 into the video, and I have to say that you need to redo this video with Irn Bru 1901: It's the original formula they replaced with this rubbish after the new tax was introduced. As a Scot, I personally find the new formulation foul, and only drink 1901.
Preach! 😂
I don’t mind either to be honest. They only released 1901 in 2019 and I’ve been drinking the other stuff my whole life.
1901 is hardish to get outside Scotland...oh and to the chap in the video Scotch is a drink not a Nationality...and IB tastes bugger all like any D&B I've ever tasted!🎩
The only problem with the 1901 is that it isn't caffeinated, whereas the regular one, before the sugar tax-compliant formula change, was.
I'm Canadian, and I love this stuff.
Same here!!
Excited for your homemade Beverly! Just went to WDW for the first time and I loved it!
We used to drink "Irn Brutality". Equal parts bru and vodka.
Sounds like something from Mortal Kombat. *IRN BRU-TALITY!*
Light weight equal parts 😅😅😅
We always called that Scottish Pimms
Great name!
@@divbrown2752I know. When I was about 14 I was only colouring my vodka with it 😂
Next up, try Cockta. Its a slovenian soft drink, quite popular in the balkans. Main ingredient is rosehips
Is the formulation the same everywhere? I remember having it when in Turkiye and never being able to figure out the flavors I was experiencing
...cockta suck?
@@jtchabs728 i really dont know, but it likely is, doubt it would be changed much.
I was expecting coke first time i tried it and it was not that, wasnt really a fan
The "Dog-Rose"...they use the rosehips in it? Interesting 🤔
@@roringusanda2837 rosehips, thats what its called, english isnt my first language, so i wasnt sure what it was called
i quit drinking but tis show is very calming in an apothecary-ish kind of way. and i love the sense of humour.
I can’t drink - I have ME/CFS and am totally intolerant to it - can’t say I find him calming, but I do enjoy his videos.
Same, here for the vibes and sometimes I get an idea for a mocktail
Would be nice to get some non-alcoholic drinks with lovely flavour combos, like with the Brennan Lee Mulligan episode.
Still good watching even when not though, totally agree 💜
These experimenty videos are some of my favorites
Holy shit, I look forward to an app! I've gone through so many videos to try and find certain drinks and this would be a godsend.
If you haven’t, check out the different commercials for Irn Bru.
They’re known for their funny, and sometimes rude adverts here in Scotland.
Saw some of those one trip and was doubly confused to see the cans in office spaces 😅
(I wasn't sure whether it was alcoholic, and didn't have cell service so couldn't look it up)
Made in Scotland, from girders.....
They are fucking S-tier! The ones with the icecream flavour!
Born and raised in Glasgow, Irn Bru has continued to be the go to soft drink, generation to generation since its inception...culture in a can!
Thank you for not using the colloquial "As a..." (presumably would have been Glaswegian, in this instance) intro for self-accreditation. That trend drives me up a gd wall.
I miss the tiny little bottles from the 90s. They were iconic.
@@kuriusly23He literally says that within the first 10 seconds of the video
@@YoungPoliRadical My late grandmother used to keep a drawer full of those little bottles and these wee blue straws too. Some of my favourite memories.
Irn Bru used to have a lot more sugar but the UK (and a lot of countries in that region of Europe) now have a tax on sugary drinks so, like most sugary drinks, used artificial sweeteners to get under 5 grams per 100ml where the tax kicks in.
Original Coke is basically the only full sugar drink in parts of Europe now.
Edit: Sunset Yellow is the name of what's called Yellow No 6 in the US. Europe uses E numbers for food additives. Yellow 5 is E102/Tatrazine, and Red 40 is E129
Edit 2: Ponceau 4R is E124 which is a red dye used in Europe and Asia where Red 40 is more heavily regulated than the Americas, but not approved in the US (mostly because no one wants to front the research costs when Red 40 is easy to use).
Ah, that explains a lot. I think I had both coke and Pepsi last trip, Pepsi tasted like stevia and had artificial sweetners but the Coke did not. Figured maybe it was a taste thing 🤷
This is absolutely a UK thing and not general Europe thing.
Drinks in Germany, Poland, Denmark all contain roughly 9-10% sugar, which is less than they used to but is not supplemented with sweeteners. Perhaps France or Ireland has also gone the same way as the UK, but central and northern europe is still on basically Full Sugar mode. But distinctly 10% or less, for unrelated EU regulations reasons.
E621 is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Irn Bru reduced its sugar several years before the sugar tax kicked in, IIRC, because its sugar content was absolutely nuts. I think it was higher than Pepsi. I believe Dr Pepper did the same thing, absolutely ruining its flavour with a terrible sweetener, which was really odd because they already had Dr Pepper Zero which tastes great.
You can still buy the previous high sugar version, it's called Irn Bru 1901
I found this in a store by my job once. Really enjoyed it
Northern English people also love it... I've also never heard anyone pronounce it like you do, all my northern friends say "Iron Brew".
aye "urn brew" is just plain wrong
As a Notherner I can confirm I love the stuff.
If you are going to point a finger at misspeaking, maybe spell 'English' correctly :)
It's a common problem in North America. It's an extremely uncommon drink over here. You only really find it in British specialty shops or at the highland games.
Most people haven't heard the name said out loud, only read it and are interpreting the text in the most literal way.
I say ARRRRRRRRRn brew. Not because it's right, just because it's fun.
Theres an irn bru 1901 version too - they changed the recipe ages ago, there was a lot of controversy so they made some to the original recipe, the 1901 irn bru is the version from the original recipe. Its better from what i remember
Iirc the 1901 version is more reminiscent of the pre sugar tax nonsense when the recipe changed a few years ago.
I think no caffeine in the 1901 as well.
@@ryanmg92 aye thats the one haha, i couldnt remember if it was because of the sugar tax directly, or just coincidentally happened around the same time
@@ryanwilliamson5714 The 1901 also contains other food colourings that more modern recipes don't and as such, there's warning on the label.
Damn, I miss sugary drinks. I do wish they'd rebranded as flavoured syrups or something. The way the entire industry just stopped using sugar is annoying. I'm quite happy to drink artificially sweetened gunk for my day-to-day palate ruining, I'm used to it, but I miss the *option* of sugar squash/cordial...
@aabsurdity8817 I have some good news for you on that front (if you're in the UK). Go to a Polish/Eastern European supermarket in your local area and look for fruit syrups. There's a brand called Lowicz that proudly declares that they are sweetened with sugar and not glucose-fructose syrup.
They come in a variety of flavours, including raspberry, strawberry, sour cherry. The raspberry flavour is as available in Sainsbury's.
There are other brands that have other flavours, but they contain glucose-fructose syrup.
For a couple of quid, it's worth a punt.
4:25 trust me, Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a real thing. It's similar to lactose intolerance, but instead of digestive issues, PKU + aspartame = seizures, brain shrinkage, skin lesions, and even schizophrenia.
I learned about the existence of Irn Bru thanks to attempting to learn Gaidhlig on Duolingo, and was happy to find my local supermarkets have it stocked in the international section. I was told before trying it that it's like a sweeter, more artificially orange version of Fanta, and I was fully prepared to hate it because of that, but that description was way off the mark. It's less orange-y and significantly less sweet than I was afraid it would be, and it has some nice herbal notes to the flavour. It's hard for me to describe exactly how it tastes, but it's now easily among my favourite sodas.
Got this a few weeks ago and I feel it has a light Dreamsicle like flavor. My whole family loved it.
I’m from Scotand. Irn Bru definitely drink of choice in our house. Only fizzy juice I drink. When I was old enough it was a whiskey and Irn Bru. A blend, sometimes a Bourbon. Never a single malt though! 😊
Oh yeah and it’s made from GIRDERS! 😂
Regarding using single malt scotch, it may benefit you to get a bottle or two of non Islay single malts so that you have more options for flavors. I'd suggest a sherried and non sherried Highland or Speyside. Off the top of my head, I would recommend Oban, and either Glendronach or Glenmorangie.
The lime is a much higher proportion of malic acid to citric, and lemon is the opposite. So it does make sense that lime would work better with a drink that has only citric acid.
Picked some Irn Bru up from the import aisle at my local supermarket (I'm Australian) and was pleasantly surprised. It tastes like orange lifesavers with a creaming soda finish, quite unique and very yum.
❤❤❤ just sold a few bottles of this tonight at work, so I got pretty excited and bragged about your channel to a random man from Scotland.
The Irn Bru Spritz (from.the Brewdog chain of bars in the UK) 25ml Ocho 8 tequila
35ml Irn-Bru reduction
3ml lemon juice
100 ml Prosecco
25ml soda water
Wedge of grapefruit to garnish
That app is like a dream come true for me! I have a notebook in my home bar where I have been manually writing down the different drink recipes you have made over the years, but I have always wanted a more convenient digital version. So stoked for this!
Got a suggestion for a future "How Do I Not Waste my Bottle of _____" episode - you know, got a bottle of Whatever for a cocktail night collecting dust, how do we use it up with stuff we'd have around the house.
A shot of Cointreau into a glass of average grocery store apple cider makes a Dreamsicle Cider that will have you missing summer and welcoming fall at the same time. Plus, even at 3:1 you're drinking a 10%ABV cocktail. So, y'know, be careful 🤣
Second - although I partake of alcohol so rarely that my tolerance is somewhere around the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution.
I'd only be a teetotaler if I counted golf pegs!
The way you explained the taste profile, it makes me think of Inca Kola I had back in Peru!
I have never supported someone on Patreon before but next payday I'm gonna do it because I need this app. Love your show, Greg. Hope you have a million good days.
As a Mainer, it is great to hear you talking about Moxie in a good way!
Yes, people in Scotland absolutely mix Irn-Bru with Scotch. I actually remember Bell's had a Whisky and Irn-Bru alcopop back in the 90's. Never tried any as I was only a kid back then.
All Scottish children drank booze in the 90s
Only Americans call whiskey scotch.. hate the term scotch from anything fae Scotland (bar scotch pies)
Holy shit, I managed to miss that one, and I had a LOT of filthy alcopops back in the 90s 😅
@@willumbermarchant5510my grandparents used whiskey when I was teething 😂. That was the 80s though.
The Irn Bru Mojito with it's nuclear looks would be *right* at home in Fallout.
If any Old World culture would survive the war 100% intact, it'd be the Scotts. They might not even notice anything outside of a particularly cold and radioactive winter (wonder if Irn Bru is any good hot?)
In Fallout: London the Nuka-Cola equivalent is called "Ion Brew" :D
@@mikaelg79That's genius! XD
I love that you have metric in your vids!
I tried Moxie after your last video, and I loved it. It's heavy on clove and gentian. I'll have to try Irn Bru, now.
Y'know I'd like to see Greg have a shot at the various Swedish sodas that exist out there, there's quite a selection with stuff like Champis and Portello as well as the various kinds of fruit sodas or even Julmust for the christmas season. But I think the single most notable one, the undisputed king of Swedish soda, and the one I'd like to see is Trocadero, it's always been a personal favorite hi-ball mixer of mine and can go with quite a few types of alcohol.
Was just gonna write that! The ”champagne sodas” like Pommac and Champis. Also portello, trocadero and julmust. Julmust outsells coke every december!
As a Scotsman who drinks IRN-BRU like I need it to live, Mixing it with the less peaty scotches is fine but it really depends on the whisky used.
Whilst you're right that this is Scottish and most popular in Scotland, it's also very popular across the rest of the UK. It was a staple in my household growing up in the north of England. I even remember there used to be knock-off brands labelled "Iron Brew" although not sure I see them much anymore, perhaps there were lawsuits XD
I'm pretty sure there was an Irn Bru flavour of WKD as well.
There's irn bru slushies and rock
The WKD is definitely Iron Brew.
Irn Bru is the original and best!
no law suits, you can find the spelling of "iron brew" in your local lidl 😂
Love from Brazil! ❤
I think you should try Guaraná Antarctica its made from guaraná berry's and its one of our favourite drinks!
Im an American who plays D&D with multiple people from Scotland, they have gotten me hooked on Irn Bru
did they get you to try 1901? it's basically pre-sugar tax IRN BRU
What, they sell it in America?
@@Carsonktm420 I order it on Amazon
@@smallrossy Can't find 1901 over here to my knowledge
@@fashdag You could bribe them to send you a 1901 though
after you did the episode on Moxie I realized the Offensive Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills drinks a can at every game. and whenever allen does something great he seems to make sure the moxie label is facing the camera.
Go Bills!
Oh, wait, if you don’t hate this maybe you could make a video around Inca Kola? It has a similar-ish taste profile (sans quinine and more banana-forward) and would probably lend itself to tiki drinks. Apologies in advance if you’ve already worked with it!
Irn Bru and ginger works amazingly well together if you want more ideas Greg.
14:10 looking at the tasting notes I go "so it's log?" only to have my nostalgia tickled with the note right after. love it!
American here that LOVES Irn Bru!! I started messing with it followed Vlad Slick Bartenders and made a concentrated syrup for incorporating into cocktails. It goes great in a smoky Mezcal Margarita
I would've called the mojito like just "Brujito". Don't know if that translate into something but gets you towards what it is inspired of 😁
Maybe little witch-man? A Brujo is a... basically a witch, a medium, seer, magic worker...(Bruja is fem)
Bonus points for the Ren and Stimpy reference in the Mohito breakdown. 😊
You need to make a video like this on Kinnie. It's made in Malta and is a bitter-orange flavoured softdrink. Tried it on a trip this year, and it was really good!
Yes I wanted to mention this too! My partner is from Malta and whenever we visit family I drink my body weight in Kinnie.
Kinnie is great. Mixes well too
In my group with whom went, it was quite divisive. Some didn't like it at all, the rest loved it. I only tried the 'Zero' version though.
It kinda reminded me of those canned premixed Italian Aperitifs (like pre-made Aperol Spritz), just without the Alcohol obviously.
I love Kinnie, I had my honeymoon in Malta and drank it the whole time I was there. I wish it was more widely available elsewhere, it reminded me of a negroni or aperol spritz.
Tequila, lime and Irn Bru is a devastatingly good combo (especially with Storywood tequila which has been finished in whisky barrels). Additionally, back when I was 18 I voluntarily drank "Malibru", a mix of Malibru and Irn Bru 😂
I LOVE the app idea! I use your show for trying out new cocktails
In Scotland, we tend to find it sacrilegious to mix it with alcohol, reserving it for the hangover part of the whole drinking process so its flavour and effect isn't sullied. But I fear I'm at the point now where my ambitions are getting the better of me, and I'm gonna want to make it work in a cocktail...
Speak for yourself pal, Ive seen it mixed with vodka (Glens-bolk) for years!
@@mamoo2 oh yeah, I've seen it mixed with Glen's many times. There's just something mildly disturbing about that though I'd mostly scrubbed those memories from my mind
OMG you need to compare it to Inca Cola which REALLY tastes like Bubble Gum!
Since Greg is an EPCOT-head I'm honestly surprised the comparison didn't come up. Inca Cola was available at Club Cool from like 2013 to 2019 so I'd be surprised if Greg had never tried it.
Quinine? Take a look at the soda under ultraviolet and black light. I wonder if it glows.
Like, a year or so ago, I was hanging out with the owner of a local pub who keeps both Irn Bru and Underberg in stock. We weren't wholly sober and I invariably got the idea to mix the two: drink a little Irn Bru out of the bottle, pour the Underberg in, gently shake to incorporate, and enjoy a delicious Underbru. There's probably a legit cocktail in there somewhere.
I LOVE IRN BRU!!!! I get it from Publix all the time as my grocery shopping treat.
I find Irn Bru is a little similar to Cola (or Kola) Champagne, which is another orange coloured soda with cream-soda/bubblegum-style flavors. At least here in Canada, you can typically find it in most grocery stores in the Caribbean / West Indies section. As opposed to Irn Bru itself, which can sometimes be a bit more of a rare find.
So it's a decent option if you're looking for something similar (but not quite the same).
Based off his description I was wondering that. I do like me some Kola Champagne so I may have to try this if I ever stumble accost it.
As someone who moved to Scotland later in life- this drink is like water- can't live without it! Its also said "ay-urn bru" not urn. Great choices though I'll have to try some!
I would describe the flavor of IRN BRU as, getting home in torrential rain and getting home, the central heating is already on, taking off your soaked coat, kicking off your soaked shoes and your soaked trousers and putting on some shorts and a dressing gown and it tastes like the feeling of sinking into the couch.
Every time I drink it I can feel the stress just wash out of me. I've had other bubble gum flavoured pops but non of them did that, Sasparilla did a little bit before it got banned :(
Why did sarsaparilla get banned??? *I live in the US, and while not many people drink sarsaparilla here, anymore, it's such a well known part of our cultural heritage that I'm surprised to hear that it's banned anywhere.
@@brandonp7503 A study found it caused tumours in mice so it got banned in the UK, Europe and I thought America but I guess it's just a local ban by state (shrug I dunno I'm guessing).
It was one of those studies like the salt causes high blood pressure BS that on closer inspection it turns out it's basically just made up. It only affects 1 breed of mice been fed a ludicrous amount of sarsaparilla concentrate but it doesn't affect other breeds of mice, rats, or rabbits and Australia, America and Singapore (yes sarsaparilla very popular in Singapore) have all done studies on their sarsaparilla drinking humans and found (drum roll) NOTHING.
It would appear sarsaparilla is completely safe like salt unless you eat like 4lbs of pure concentrate a day but if you're doing that you've got problems.
It's a clown world banning the perfectly safe sarsaparilla, warning labels for salt, activist rial against red 40 because it "might" cause hyperactivity in children (or it could be all the sugar and caffeine in the drink?! you could be a parent and not give them the red soft drink, I grew up on water), while trying to play down MSG, which sets off my chronic migraines and has ruined my last 2 days because while NISSIN instant noodles only put a little MSG in their sesame seed noodles, not enough to cause me problems, they apparently put loads in their beef noodles and I have been SUFFERING but all anyone will ever say about MSG is that anyone against MSG is racist against Asians.
Irn Bru is so yummy. Had it for the first time this summer and I quite like it
You should try Irn Bru with Sambuca/Ouzo/Raki/Arak. Tastes like liquorice soda.
Talking about sodas that outsell Coca-Cola, you should try Swedish Julmust which outsells it here during Christmas times.
Funnily enough, my paternal grandmother worked a stint as a teacher in Sweden and she got semi-addicted to julmust, and there is no Christmas if she does not have it! To her delight, julmust is sold here in Finland, especially around the Western coast.
@J069FIX She is right, there is no Christmas without julmust
Julmust I would say is a malt flavoured, less acidic and less sweet cola with a bit more spice. The barrel aged versions are the best ones. Makes a nice rum + julmust.
I visited Sweden just before Christmas some years ago. Had never heard of Julmust, saw it everywhere, asked a guy at a food stand what they hell it is and he said "I don't know how to describe it but it tastes like Christmas".
Tried it, drank several every day until I went home, had three with my Julebord, and now I order a ton every year for Christmas.
It was originally called Iron Brew but the powers that be said it wasn't made of iron (although there's IS a trace of iron in it, that's what the ammonium ferric citrate is) and it isn't brewed so they had to change it. I used to drink loads of it but the sugar tax recipe change with sweeteners ruined it for me. It's very common to drink it with cheap blended whisky, you can even buy it premixed in cans. It used to be reasonably common for bars to have a big glass bottle or iron brew on the bar for you to mix in your whisky.
What was the original intention behind putting the ammonium ferric citrate in it, do you know?
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 They marketed it for years as being made from girders, even the blue letter I on the can is a stylised cross section of a girder. It was marketed as giving the drinker superhuman strength. Their TV adverts are the stuff of legend. I suppose the girder thing also connects with the Clydeside origins of the company which used to be a major shipbuilding hub.
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 it's just a form of citric acid, so it is an acidity regulator/buffer. Because the molecule contains iron, they use that for marketing purposes.
@@bradmcmahon3156 There's only a tiny amount in there, probably not enough to buffer anything, or in fact do anything useful. I also think it's not actually a permitted food additive. The government tried to make them take it out a few years back (EU regulation something-something, may cause cancer blah blah) and there was public uproar about it so they backed down. I think it was decided it was culturally necessary in the end.
You are correct that mixing scotch with iron brew would get you shot here, it really depends on the type of whisky you use. For instance what you did (johnny walker and iron brew) would be fine as that is a mixed whisky (sn; I grew up in Kilmarnock where Johnny walker was made up until 2012, and a friends dad of mine did that but he wouldn't measure it was like 2ish Oz of jw, and a splash of iron brew). If you did that with a single molt I think you get shot and buried in a peat bog.
Cowardice, mix single malt with everything.
Scottish lass here - I've had irn bru in cocktails as syrups mainly. I've had a really good irn bru version of a dark and stormy. Irn bru themselves has partnered with a premixed cocktail brand🙈 to make a irn bru martini.
There's a soda from Finland called Pommac I think you need to check out; it's matured in oak barrels and has a flavor that's really hard to describe. Kind of like a lemonade meets a whiskey.
I've heard from a scottish friend that it was originally made from dandelion, so you might be on to something; I've always felt it tastes somewhere between cream soda and ginger ale
Most divisive soda in Germany: Club Mate . A highly caffeinated mate soda. It is enjoyed by hipsters, computer hackers and students. And they even have a limited Christmas edition with cinnamon.
tastes like ashtray, good stuff!
Very much an acquired taste, but once it's acquired, it's great.
Their slogan is: “you’ll get used to it” 😂
@@mayasu4277 Yep, but after that it's pretty addicting.
@@ainmosni42 so true 🤤
Weird I just tried this for the first time yesterday. Didn't mind it honestly. Weird combo of a light cream soda and orange pop.
Cream soda is also what it reminds me of.
Another good tasting "bubble-gummy" soda is Inka-Cola from Peru; bright golden color without the bitter aftertaste.
Iron Bru is often called Ginger, because of its color, on the West Coast of Scotland. Whisky (not black label, but cheaper... Famous Grouse etc...) and Ginger is what we drank back in the 80's.
I've been told Irn-Bru is very similar to champagne cola, a Central/South American staple that is similarly orange and sold at Walmart in the imports aisle (look for "Kolashanpan" next to the Jarritos). The bubblegum flavor is distinct with champagne cola as well, and it's substantially cheaper than other sodas currently at under $2 for a two-liter.
Inca Kola also falls into this general family of champagne colas. It's a Coke product from Peru, but also sold throughout the Western Hemisphere including the United States. Many "ethnic food" aisles in larger groceries stock it or other champagne colas.
Yes, I got a case of Irn-Bru because of this video and it tastes like an inferior version of every brand of champagne cola I've tried, mostly because of the aspartame.
There's a Brazilian soda that falls into the same category of... weird. It's called Guaraná Jesus, very popular in the northeast of the country and it's PINK. Not a faint tinge but PINK. Tastes like diabetes. Don't think you can get it outside of Brazil, though.
Pretty easy to find in any US major city. Certainly every Brazilian restaurant or market has it, lots of general Latin American markets do as well.
Gonna check my local tienda for that; they have a _very_ large drinks section with several oddballs in stock.
you can definitely get guarana antarctica over in the UK and it's delicious
@@D_ytAcct That's orange-brown. Guaraná is the name of a fruit, and there's two main types of guaraná soda. Most guaraná soda, like the one you're referring to, is orange-brown. Guaraná Jesus is based on the fruit but is something else, being notably pink.
@@kevinmiller1356 Nope! That's a different drink. The one I'm talking about is Pink, tastes like bubblegum and is VERY regional.
"the four corners" is the perfect name for that drink as there is a very well known location in the city of glasgow called "the four corners", which also makes the scottish connection to the drink.
“Well known location” aka the saturday night battleground of glasgow lol
@@gruggerduggerhoose emos just out the Cathouse having a pitched battle with the junkies outside McDonald's at 3am, that's Glasgow right there.
So pro tip: they make Irn Bru in the US under licence without the colourings that are banned in some states. It contains the full sugar content but is otherwise identical to the UK version.
They used to make it under licence in Russia as well; it was in pretty much every corner store when I was over there about 15 years ago.
Great work on the App Greg :) ill check that out later tonight!