tasty thursdays!

 

 

 

june sees the start of a new series of tutored* tasting sessions at the harlequin. if you’re a fan of a particular style of drink; or maybe if you’d like to find out more about drink production or styles; or maybe if you just want an excuse to mix your drinks, join us from 8pm on the first thursday of every month for an adventure into the wonderful world of tastings. tickets available in advance (£12 per person) – contact us or ask at the bar to reserve your place. cheers!

thursday 7th june – beer styles

thursday 5th july – gin!

thursday 2nd august – rum!

thursday 6th september - i am a cider drinker…

(*when we say tutored, we mean that someone who works here will be drinking with you and will talk about what you’re tasting. there won’t be an exam or anything, don’t worry.)

return of the twuiz

here you go people – the quiz from which this week’s twuiz was taken. erm…enjoy? x

(btw – be warned – as always there is a link between the answers; as always, some of these are tenuous at best…)

1. who did grace kelly marry in 1956?
2. “let’s fly way up to the clouds away from the maddening crowds we can sing in the glow of a star that i know…” which song?
3. in charlie and the chocolate factory who is judged to be a bad nut?
4. which west yorkshire town is the birthplace of yorkshire captain andrew gale, as well as betty boothroyd, baroness warsi, and eddie waring?
5. title of a 1995 post-apocalyptic film starring kevin costner, at the time it was the most expensive film ever made?
6. in the world of horses (?!) walk, trot, canter and gallop are all types of what?
7. which tv personality, actor (erm…) and former mayor was born in highgate tube station?
8. this fashion retailer started life in 1948, began trading as lewis separates from 1 store in london. other names in its past have been concept man and chelsea girl. what is it now known as?
9. mckinley morganfield was born in 1913 (or 1915, depending on which version of things you believe) and died in 1983. by what name did this blues musician become known?
10. picture 1 (attached) – dennis the menace, gnasher, minnie the minx, plug and…who’s the other one?
11. picture 2 (attached) – real name ian watkins, better known as …?
12. if you had a brace of pheasants, how many pheasants would you have?
13. what links a novel by pauline reage, short river in devon, 2001 film based loosely on othello?
14. mickey mouse debuted in 1928. what was the name of the third production in which he appeared?
15. picture 3 (attached) – what kind of berry?
16. “they said there’ll be snow at christmas they said there’ll be peace on earth but instead it just kept on raining a veil of tears for the virgin birth” – which happy go lucky singer had a hit with that song?
17. picture 4 (attached) – who?
18. which battle took place on 18th june 1815 in belgium?
19. picture 5 (attached) – one of these people is raymond burr, who is the other one?
20. which fairy story features a poisoned apple and a glass coffin?
21. what links a pen, a juggling pattern, and britain’s largest* monastic ruin? (*possibly!)
22. picture 6 (attached) – one of these people in jonny wilkinson, who is the other one?
23. on 22nd november 1963 jfk was assassinated. 2 famous authors also died; one was aldous huxley, the other was an irish born novelist and poet perhaps best known for a series of children’s fantasy novels. who was he?
24. thought to be the oldest city in ireland, and associated strongly with the production of crystal. what is it?
25. this beer was first brewed in sheffield in 1948; by 1992 it was the highest selling bitter in the UK. a long running advertising campaign featured 2 characters getting into scrapes in various overseas locations. what is it?

02052012 pics

a quiz? on twitter? are you *insane*?!

yes, apparently.

last night, the harlequin rashly decided to host a twuiz. yep, that’s right – at the same time as the quiz was taking place in the pub, we decided to post a random selection of 5 very random questions on twitter. so while trying to make sense of my hastily scribbled notes   well crafted and carefully honed questions and making sure that the garlic bread for the buffet wasn’t burned, i was tapping away and judging who had the fastest finger in the west. congratulations this time to @Nickiquote who stormed into the lead and won convincingly, and thanks to everyone else who played along. thanks especially to @uddersorchard who, as well as making some wonderfully delicious cider and perry, provided the inspiration for this. and, unbeknown to him (so far) featured in one of the quiz questions this week

actually, it was great fun (and much more popular than we were expecting!) so we’ll be making this a regular feature. hopefully just having 5 questions posted instead of the full 25 meant that the twuiz wasn’t too spammy for those not playing. but if you *do* want to see the rest of the questions, these are posted below for your enjoyment. or torture. if you’ve never played the harlequin quiz for real (and yes, i’m quite scared that posting the full horror here might mean that you’ll never venture down here ever again) here are a few pointers for you:

• there is a theme that runs through the answers
• some answers in consecutive questions are linked together to make them fit the theme
• there are some truly, truly tortured soundalikes in the answers (which are secretly always my favourite part)

so, enjoy! btw, we’re always happy for guest quiz masters to come and play, so if you fancy having a go at writing and hosting a quiz yourself, get in touch. pretty please…

(oh, and we’re working on ways of awarding prizes for twuizzers – stay tuned, one day i might figure something out.)

quiz – 25th april 2012

1. which sheffield landmark building was designed by e vincent harris, built at a cost of nearly £500,000 and opened in 1932?
2. a one word answer that links a medical condition, a stephen king novel, a 1995 faithless song, an annual music festival?
3. the capital of austria takes its name from which river?
4. woodthorpe hall, udders orchard, and mr whiteheads are associated with which drink?
5. portia, antonio and shylock are from which play?
6. leslie sebastian charles was born in 1950 in trinidad and tobago. his family moved to england when he was a child, and he took his eventual surname from the estate where he was living in the 1970s. his first album was self-titled, and well known hits include carribean queen and when the going gets tough.
7. picture 1 (below) – the death card from a deck of tarot cards is associated with which number?
8. the antoinette perry awards are more commonly known as what?
9. yellowstone national park has entrances in 3 states: wyoming, idaho, and which other?
10. akbash, american eskimo, bolognese, carolina and dunker are all breeds of what?
11. which journalist was born in 1923, was one of the first newscasters for itn, and chaired question time for 10 years?
12. blankety blank time! *blank* and coffeespoons was the title of a crash test dummies song from 1994?
13. in 2010, which comedian described an encounter with an audience member whose daughter suffered from down’s syndrome as “the most excruciating moment of my career”?
14. picture 2 (below) – who is it?
15. which cheshire town is formerly the home of rolls royce, and is also the headquarters of the bargain booze chain of off licences?
16. which maximum security prison is located in ossining, new york. the phrase “up the river” meaning “in prison” derives from its location on the hudson?
17. stephanie cole and graham crowden starred as diana and tom, residents of bayview retirement home in which sitcom from the early 1990s?
18. picture 3 (below) – which figure is depicted?
19. picture 4 (below) – who is this?
20. picture 5 (below) – ray bolger played which character in the wizard of oz?
21. which illustrator and political cartoonist created the opening sequence for yes, minister as well as designing and directing the animation for pink floyd’s the wall?
22. dirk benedict played smooth talking conman templeton arthur peck in the a-team – what was his character more commonly nicknamed?
23. what is the postal abbreviation for the state of maine?
24. this actress was born in 1938. she began acting at the age of 4, and died in 1981. an investigation into her death was re-opened in late 2011 based on new witness statements. who is she?
25. this british entertainment (*ahem*) magazine was launched in 1999. in 2007 it got into trouble for using an image of jordan’s son, but had a better year in 2009/10 when it spearheaded a campaign advocating the banning of sunbed use for under 18s. winners of its annual weird crush award have included derren brown (?!) and jeremy clarkson (bleurgh). what is it?

25 april quiz – pictures

why people hate us because of our fancy gin selection

On a recent Sunday (or possibly Tuesday) evening, a customer came up to the bar and ordered a Gin Mare.

You’re probably thinking “what a lovely surprise”. But while it was lovely, it wasn’t a complete surprise. At least, not for me. After all, we do stock the bloody thing, and had been advertising the fact on our newly produced Gin Menu which lists our extensive range of gins.

Since we produced the Gin Menus, we’ve regularly been receiving orders for fancy gins from people we’ve never seen before. Once, a well dressed chap even ordered a double Geranium Gin. With a Fentimans tonic. And whenever we’ve asked what we’ve done to receive such attention, the customers have always said the same thing: “I’m thirsty you daft cow, and I want a drink not an inquisition.”

But there are downsides to having such a great gin selection – the main one being that other publicans hate us for being so popular. If you’re a publican reading this, I’d hazard that you’ve already formed an opinion about us – and it won’t be very flattering. For while many gins (Bloom, Death’s Door, Bathtub) have been ordered (literally) just as many have been rejected, with people muttering “I’ve never bloody heard of the stuff. Anyway, I asked for a beer.”

Most poignantly of all, not one publican has ever asked us where we get such a wonderful range of gins from. Actually, that’s not true. It’s happened a few times. But the point is that rather than falling down in gratitude and worshipping the ground we walk on, they simply say “thanks” and promise to come back soon. Unfortunately, publicans find nothing more annoying than a nearby pub with a better gin selection.

Take this afternoon, out getting some supplies for the pub, when I bumped into another publican. Literally. He blatantly blanked me, then stared in bemusement as I tripped over my own shoelace and fell headlong into the cheese counter of the local co-op. I could feel the resentment burning through his eyes like laughter. He doesn’t like me, I discovered, because he views me as a threat. Or possibly he views me as an idiot.

While I have been hurt by the  disapproval of others, I have just this to say: I have a wonderful selection of gins to soothe my nerves while I am sobbing uncontrollably. And when that runs out, there’s plenty of special rum as well.

work!

would you like to work for the best pub in the world? of course you would!

in the meantime though, how about working for the harlequin? we’re looking for an enthusiastic person to join our bar staff . experience of bar work is desirable, but more important is an appreciation of real ale and quality drinks.

full-time (c.40 hours per week) or part-time (c.20 hours per week) will be considered. please apply with a c.v. either via e-mail to harlequinpub[at]gmail.com or in person by calling into the pub.

lights, camera, beer part 2

right then, time for the next film screening vote! as it’s nearly halloween, there’s a (slightly tenuous) spooky connection with this week’s choices which are:

• psycho
• corpse bride
• american werewolf in london
• ghostbusters

votes as per last week either as a comment below, via twitter (http://twitter.com/harlequinpub) or facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/120085328027534/) or at the bar by 5pm friday

lights, camera…beer?

brrrrr! as the late heatwave finally appears to be over with, what better way to spend sunday afternoons than settling down with a good film…and a beer? yep, the october gales have brought with them the return of sunday film screenings here at the harlequin – every sunday from 3.30pm in the function room. entry is free as long as you purchase drink and/or food from us (please don’t bring your own food or drinks in, ta very much).

but which film to show this week? well, we thought we’d let you decide – you can either vote by posting a comment below, tweeting your suggestion to us (http://twitter.com/harlequinpub), posting a comment on that there facebook (http://tinyurl.com/5rqmato) or, as a radical approach, just have a word with someone behind the bar. up for votes this week will be:

• once upon a time in the west
• back to the future
• indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark
• rear window

all votes to be in by 5pm friday please, so we can let you know which film we’ll be showing in plenty of time. oh, and anyone who votes this week will be entered into a draw to win some free stuff - wooooo!

any queries – or suggestions for films to be shown in future – just give us a shout. thanks x