April Fools’ Cocktails Pack a Punch — and a Punch Line

(March 31) — April Fools’ Day doesn’t have the reputation of a “hangover holiday” like St. Patrick’s Day or New Year’s Eve, perhaps because boozehounds usually take their drinking very seriously.

Still, there are some boozy beverages that pack both a punch and a punch line, such as a bizarre concoction called the Cement Mixer, which San Diego bartender Edwin Decker said is the all-time, No. 1 prank cocktail ever.

It works like this: You ask your victim to take a shot of Baileys Irish Cream and hold it in the mouth while sipping a shot of lime juice.

Unbeknownst to the victim, when the Baileys mixes with the lime juice it transforms into what Decker describes as a “curdled, sour, spongelike goo that forms in the mouth like cement, but tastes like sour mucus.”

According to Decker, the aftertaste of the Cement Mixer is so appalling that it usually takes two beers and a shot or two of tequila to get rid of it.

Decker doesn’t understand why bars don’t offer the Cement Mixer as an April Fools’ Day drink.

“It seems like it’s more popular for birthday parties, when people want to prank their friends,” he said. “But it’s a natural for April Fools’ Day.”

Would you give someone a cement mixer as an April Fools’ joke?

No, but it’s been given to me

Absolutely not

Yeah, sure

Vote

Although no one knowingly drinks it twice, he said everyone who has it immediately wants to prank friends.

Unlike other cocktail pranks, such as slipping laxatives into cocktails like the Frozen Mudslide, Decker said the Cement Mixer’s main appeal is that the prankster gets to see the effect, which is also the appeal of a prank potable called the Cricket.

Created by former bartender and unreformed prankster Michael Weiss, the Cricket mixes 3 ounces of green creme de menthe with 6 ounces of cranberry juice. Done right, he said, the drink should look black.

“The drink works best when it’s sent from one patron to another,” Weiss said. “Even better: The victim is totally unsuspecting when it’s delivered by a third party, so their guard is down.”

Unlike the Cement Mixer, which combines bad taste with spongelike goo, the Cricket just tastes nasty and the appeal is to see the face of the victim.

“It tastes just awful,” Weiss promised. “And you really need to see the expression on the victim’s face. I’ve always wondered why no one did a spit take after drinking it, but some people won’t turn down a free drink no matter how bad it tastes.”

Some prank cocktails are actually becoming popular as real cocktails.

Ray Foley, the editor of Bartender magazine and the creator of the Fuzzy Navel, said some people like to prank their friends with the Pickle Back, a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice.

“It’s actually a popular drink,” Foley said. “Pickle juice is catching on — it’s good for you. However, you should see the look on the faces of people when they try it the first time.”

Foley also likes to make a prank version of the Room 1313. Normally, the drink contains 2 ounces of Hotel California Tequila with two dashes of grenadine and two dashes Tabasco, but Foley likes to heat things up on April Fools’ Day by putting in five dashes of Tabasco instead.

“This will make your face red!” he warned. “You have to be careful with Tabasco; it literally burns people.”

And that, he warns, is no laughing matter.