Liquor in the Cider: A Snakebite

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Last month is was sorta kinda Fall. This month, though? Definitely Fall! A few lonely leaves are starting to float to the sidewalk and I wore my scissoring sweatshirt to the post office today. And when the air starts to deliver my favorite sort of crisp bite, that can only mean one thing: a Snakebite. And I head for this sort of drink because Autumn means hard cider, and (though I love cider) sometimes I find cider to be too sweet. That’s where a Snakebite is truly outstanding — the beer bitters up the cider as the cider sweetens up the beer, making the perfect combo.

Now, as with most drinks, no one can agree on what the Snakebite actually is. There are two main schools of thought that I’ve figured out — one that makes a Snakebite with a lager, and one that makes it with a stout. When you make a Snakebite with a stout, you layer the drinks in the glass, which I find VERY EFFING DIFFICULT. When you make it with a lager, you don’t — but you do add a lil crème de cassis for extra sweet depth. We’ll be doing just the latter because I still haven’t mastered the knife pour to show you guys — but I’m planning on doing so in the future, never you worry! For now, here’s my Snakebite. Happy Fall!


Snakebite

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You will need:

One can or bottle of cider.

One can or bottle of lager.

1/4 oz crème de cassis (a little goes a long way).

A large beer glass.

A pony/jigger for measuring.

Begin by pouring the glass halfway full with cider.

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Then throw in your 1/4 oz crème de cassis without any regard for layering because this version is for the people who say fuck layering. Then top it off with lager. What you should have here is a pinkish-gold liquid that looks beautiful and tastes like Autumn. That’s it. That’s literally all you do. And guys, it’s so pretty and tasty!

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A reminder: these drinks are sweet, and are therefore easy to accidentally overdo. Please drink responsibly!

What about y’all? Are y’all doing anything creative with your cider this Fall?

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A.E. Osworth

A.E. Osworth is part-time Faculty at The New School, where they teach undergraduates the art of digital storytelling. Their novel, We Are Watching Eliza Bright, about a game developer dealing with harassment (and narrated collectively by a fictional subreddit), is forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing (April 2021) and is available for pre-order now. They have an eight-year freelancing career and you can find their work on Autostraddle (where they used to be the Geekery Editor), Guernica, Quartz, Electric Lit, Paper Darts, Mashable, and drDoctor, among others.

A.E. has written 542 articles for us.

10 Comments

  1. This is by far the classiest snakebite I’ve ever encountered.

    (I don’t think it had ever crossed my mind that snakebite could made in something other than a plastic jug that would subsequently be used, by a highly civilised uni bar patron, to play “Telephone”.)

  2. Fall is also the time of year when cider pretends I’m going to mull it, when really I’m in Arizona where that will never happen.

  3. Wow so in the UK snakey b is the drink of choice for uni students for getting paralytic to the point of vomiting or passing out. I’ve heard many rumours that it is illegal for non student unions to sell it. Commonly made with cheap dry cider, cheap lager and blackcurrant cordial, it is a one way trip to hangoverville. In my hedonistic idiot student days I had many a blackcurrant moustache after a night on the B with my rugby team. I shudder at some of the memories. Never have I seen such a classy almost cocktail like snakebite. I’m frankly taken aback. Wow again.

  4. Ali, just the thought of you going to the post office in your scissoring sweatshirt makes me feel warm inside. Thank the lord for autumn.

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