Waxing lyrical about a bottler of a time
Adrian Bell of Davistown remembers an even classier move: 'Sophisticated C8-ers will recall when the way to a girl's heart was to present her with the empty bottle in the basket woven cane covered Chianti bottle, used as a candleholder in the cool Beatnik era.'
For George Baias of Summer Hill, that other oft-mentioned fizzer, Porphyry Pearl, was a 'drink of high sophistication' from the 1960s [John Frith of Paddington calls it an 'awful wine'] and recalls that it 'was advertised by Graham Kennedy on In Melbourne Tonight - made by the 'méthode champenoise' and only eight shillings and sixpence for a 'large' bottle.'
Peter Snowden of Orange fancies a switch from lavish wine to swanky beer: 'I recall all the fancy wines and romantic tipples shared by C8 devotees of late, but gee I long for a crisp, chilled, twenty-six ounce bottle of Reschs DA. 'Dinner Ale, the perfect accompaniment to any setting'.'
Shut the gate! Jack Munro of Concord West thinks that 'Surely the world's first big scandal (C8) took place in the Garden of Eden and should be known as Applegate.'
'A switch to get reserve fuel (C8)? Luxury!' says Peter Cole of Narrabeen. 'In VW Beetles, one had to use a foot-operated lever (remember them?) to access the last gallon or so of fuel. This was a great relief until you discovered that your partner had done that days before. Time to find the nearest public phone (remember them?)' It was the same deal for John McIntyre of Port Macquarie who says the lever 'turned the petrol intake pipe onto its side' to get to that final drop.
Jane Howland of Cammeray has a sartorial update for Greg Baker (C8): 'I haven't noticed the disappearing breast pockets in men's suits, but I have noticed that young men wear blue suits at least a size too small.'
It's the absence of pockets in the shirt that has Brian Kidd of Mount Waverley (Vic) shirty: 'It was a handy place to put the mobile phone when not in use. Shirtmakers – bring back the pockets!'
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The Age
6 days ago
- The Age
Brewery gets the cold gold shoulder
We actually anticipated readers changing beer topics from DA (C8) to KB, but initial responses are based around its meaning. The Beer Police will tell you it stands for Kent Brewery, but that's apparently a divertissement. Max Redmayne of Drummoyne calls it a 'Killer Brew' while John Lees of Castlecrag and Dave Pyett of Maroubra have both opted for a long cold 'Kiddies Beer'. Kent Mayo of Uralla recalls: 'One Sunday in the 1950s, the vicar at the Penshurst Presbyterian Church (pron 'Chuch'), in his sermon on the evils of alcohol, held up a KB beer bottle, proclaiming that KB stood for 'Kills Boys'. Hilarious, eh? I noticed it was empty and, although I was only ten years old, whispered to the old bloke sitting next to me, 'He drank that last night, I reckon'.' It's a good idea to go to the experts. One is Ken Finlayson of East Corrimal: 'When Australian Playboy launched, some 55 years back, it included a beer tasting [story]. We young steelworks shift workers were appalled that Fosters got the nod from celebs who likely were more attuned to drinking Mateus. We then conducted our own poll at our regular early opener, where we arranged to sample beers from each state for a tasting after a night shift. It ended up with a drink-off between two Melbourne varieties. The results were submitted, and published in Australian Playboy No.2.' And while we're talking Mateus, Ross Millar of West Ryde recalls 'That the wonderful writer Kingsley Amis once said of Mateus Rose that 'both the price and the reputation owe more to the craft of the glassmaker than to that of the winemaker'.' 'It was my birthday last Sunday,' writes Mary Carde of Parrearra (Qld). 'My husband gave me a glorious bunch of flowers, bless him. He'd also purchased a lovely card featuring a beautiful image that he knew I'd love. Fortunately for him, just as he was about to enrich it with some profound words, he noticed it was a sympathy card, thus giving new meaning to 'coming within an inch of your life.' His, not mine!'
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Brewery gets the cold gold shoulder
We actually anticipated readers changing beer topics from DA (C8) to KB, but initial responses are based around its meaning. The Beer Police will tell you it stands for Kent Brewery, but that's apparently a divertissement. Max Redmayne of Drummoyne calls it a 'Killer Brew' while John Lees of Castlecrag and Dave Pyett of Maroubra have both opted for a long cold 'Kiddies Beer'. Kent Mayo of Uralla recalls: 'One Sunday in the 1950s, the vicar at the Penshurst Presbyterian Church (pron 'Chuch'), in his sermon on the evils of alcohol, held up a KB beer bottle, proclaiming that KB stood for 'Kills Boys'. Hilarious, eh? I noticed it was empty and, although I was only ten years old, whispered to the old bloke sitting next to me, 'He drank that last night, I reckon'.' It's a good idea to go to the experts. One is Ken Finlayson of East Corrimal: 'When Australian Playboy launched, some 55 years back, it included a beer tasting [story]. We young steelworks shift workers were appalled that Fosters got the nod from celebs who likely were more attuned to drinking Mateus. We then conducted our own poll at our regular early opener, where we arranged to sample beers from each state for a tasting after a night shift. It ended up with a drink-off between two Melbourne varieties. The results were submitted, and published in Australian Playboy No.2.' And while we're talking Mateus, Ross Millar of West Ryde recalls 'That the wonderful writer Kingsley Amis once said of Mateus Rose that 'both the price and the reputation owe more to the craft of the glassmaker than to that of the winemaker'.' 'It was my birthday last Sunday,' writes Mary Carde of Parrearra (Qld). 'My husband gave me a glorious bunch of flowers, bless him. He'd also purchased a lovely card featuring a beautiful image that he knew I'd love. Fortunately for him, just as he was about to enrich it with some profound words, he noticed it was a sympathy card, thus giving new meaning to 'coming within an inch of your life.' His, not mine!'
Sydney Morning Herald
04-08-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Flying hounds are Virgin on the ridiculous
'I wish Virgin Airlines well with their decision to allow small pets on their planes,' declares Lin Sinton of Killarney Heights. 'But I would not want to be the first passenger lunging for the emergency exit with a miniature pinscher clamped to each foot.' Thank you, Llewellyn Dickeson for inspiring me to go in search of Mateus Rose (C8) again after all these years,' says Bill Yonge of Frenchs Forest. 'My local BWS has it for $14, but alas, no Casal Garcia.' 'Cruising on the Fairstar in the early '80s we had a Portuguese waiter at our designated table,' writes Mark Fuller of Armidale. 'After regularly ordering Mateus for the evening meal, I asked him if it was popular in Portugal. He replied it was considered very inferior and only worthy of export.' Sounds a bit like Fosters. Speaking of beer, Mark Pearce of Springwood says, 'Peter Snowden's longing for a twenty-six ounce bottle of Reschs DA (C8) reminds me of my first encounter with this particular ale when I was a young boy. My dad had a full bottle ready to enjoy with our Sunday roast when I knocked it over and its contents provided an unwelcome gravy for his meat and veg, taking the concept of Dinner Ale a step too far!' Both Mike Tucker of Hornsby Heights and William Galton of Hurstville Grove remember the nickname Dirty Annie, with Mike asserting that it 'was most certainly not the preferred drop'. 'Chances are if you watched an NRL game on the weekend you'll have noticed players, locked arm-in-arm, taking deep breaths during stoppages because this mindfulness is supposed to improve one's mental state,' says George Zivkovic Northmead. 'Call me a cynic, but I think they're just focusing on whether to get schnitties or parmies after the game.' Jane Howland's observation of the fashion trend among young men of blue suits a size to small (C8), had Frank Robertson from Darlinghurst wondering if she was referring to real estate agents: 'It is like a uniform in our suburb.' We had some sad news last week. One of our finest, Peter Wotton of Pyrmont has passed. Granny always liked the scope of Peter's contributions (Telex machines on the back of cooking beetroot comes to mind) and his sagely take on life. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, especially Jenny Hart, who was good enough to let us know.
