The social drinker

The Victorians were undoubtedly a much more interesting people than we are. A hundred years later, we still live in their shadow, basking in their energy, inquisitiveness and eagerness for reform. Our democracy, our railways, our bathing spaces, Christmas, clothes and most of our cities were all created by these industrious, bearded, God-fearing folk.

It is difficult to think of anything really important developed after Queen Victoria’s death, bar the semiconductor and rock music. The same applies to drink. Most breweries and distilleries were founded during the (admittedly long) reign of Queen Victoria, and many of our greatest spirits and cocktails date from this period, too.

Among the best is Black Velvet, a mixture of stout and Champagne, which was invented by a barman at Brooks’s Club in London in 1861 to mourn the death of Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert.

Black Velvet was still popular in the Roaring Twenties when the novelist Evelyn Waugh described it as “sour and invigorating” — it should really have been the drink of the Celtic Tiger years, combining the luxury of Champagne with the Irishness of stout, but it is rarely drunk here, despite its popularity in racing circles.

No drink could be simpler to make: simply mix stout with Champagne in a glass, and drink. A good alternative to champagne is cider, or perry, which is cheaper and works very well.

A similar German version is called the Bismarck, and it’s made from a dark lager called Schwarzbier and cider. It was named after another great 19th-Century character Otto von Bismarck, who according to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, drank it by the gallon.

Whether anyone will be drinking a Trump, Merkel or Boris a hundred years from now remains to be seen, but I doubt it.