Crisp lager and tart apple cider share one pint glass and meet somewhere between beer and orchard. It drinks easily and cold, which is exactly why it has a reputation.
8½ oz
lager well chillede.g. Heineken · Beck's · Carlsberg · Stella Artois · Peroni
8½ oz
dry cider well chillede.g. Strongbow · Magners · Bulmers · Aspall
½ oz
blackcurrant cordial for a Snakebite and Black (optional)
Garnish: No garnish · Ice: Served up, no ice
Snakebite
Crisp and dry with fresh apple, light bitterness and lively carbonation. About as strong as the beer and cider used.
The Snakebite is a British and Irish pub drink made of lager and cider in equal parts. It is simple, cheap and was especially popular among students in the 1980s and 1990s.
The drink has a certain notoriety: some pubs in the UK have refused to serve it, arguing that it gets people drunk faster than beer alone. There is no clear evidence for that, since the strength simply depends on the lager and cider used, but the reputation has stuck.
With a dash of blackcurrant cordial it becomes a Snakebite and Black, a pub favourite in its own right. Mixing cider with stout instead gives a different drink, often called a poor man's Black Velvet.
Equal parts lager and cider in a pint glass.
Some UK pubs have banned it because of its reputation for getting people drunk quickly, although it is only as strong as its two ingredients.
A Snakebite with a dash of blackcurrant cordial, which turns it purple and sweeter.
The perfect sound
A rowdy pint in a sticky student pub.
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