Mixology...

I am very much looking forward to our cocktail party tonight. 

There will be a lot of liberal mixing and generous portions, unlike a recent experience at one of the local bars in Dubbo...

I had gone into town one evening after work to what I was told was one of the better public bars in the area, 'The Milestone'. I was meeting a colleague for a drink and tete a tete. The moment I entered the establishment my heart sank, on a scale of 1-10 it failed to register for its lack of ambiance  Trying to be good sport and not judge it on its first impression I went up to the bar and ordered two G&Ts from the very pleasant girl behind the bar.

What followed was gob smacking. She took out two glass thimbles (they were an odd shape and wouldn't have held more than 150mls. She then proceeded to very accurately measure a nip of gin into each before well over-flooding both with tonic water from a post-mix dispenser. I grimaced. It had been a stressful day and a glass of soft drink was not what I had been looking forward to. It would have been bad enough if the story ended there, however any trace of gin that may have been left in the glass was soon to be displaced by ice liberally scooped into the vessel with an Archimedeal effect. She smiled sweetly and asked me if I would like a slice of lemon with it. Feeling that any remonstration would be completely lost on her, and remove any possibility of enjoyment from the evening, I stopped grinding my teeth, smiled, and forced a "Yes, thank you" from my lips. 

Having finished the insipid mixture I thought I would head for the wine list. Surely One couldn't  stuff-up pouring a glass of wine. Oh, but evidently One can. Having chosen two glasses of a promising sounding Shiraz, I then watched the same girl get out an old kitchen measuring cup, dribble into it an aliquot from the bottle and the tip it into each glass. My dear readers, over the years I have refrained from using my blog for complaining, complaining is borish and seldom makes for an interesting read, but the sheer dismay of this experience has compelled me to expurgate the memory through writing!

So, now you may understand just how much I am looking forward to a charming cocktail party such as we are throwing this evening. We shall be mingling away till the early hours, when we have to leave to catch our flight to Sydney, and thence on to Malaysia.

Addendum: Cocktail Party Photos...