How To Drink A Pint Of Guinness Correctly

You wouldn’t think that there is an actual way to correctly drink a pint of Guinness, but as I found out this weekend, there is!

As my customers and readers will know, this weekend I was over in Dublin enjoying the annual Cruise.co.uk Christmas Conference once again.

We sailed on a 3 night cruise aboard Fred Olsen’s old lady, the Boudicca, to Dublin and back from Liverpool. As per usual the whole trip was awesome, but then again I expect nothing less these days, having now attended a number of them.

Most of my colleagues will be harping on about Boudicca over the next few days, how good or bad they thought it was, and what we got up to (or didn’t), during the conference………but I know you don’t really care about that. You can read about the ship on one of my previous blogs as I’ve been on her before. So I wont bore you a second time. Likewise, I generally tell you about the actual conference, which I also know you don’t care about, so this year my approach is of a more educational nature….

As I mentioned earlier, the main port of call was Dublin, a place I’d never been before.

Now Ireland has a lot going for it, but it doesn’t take a travel agent to tell you that arguably their most famous export is the wonderful, thick, creamy, malty, sent-from-the-heavens substance that is, Guinness.

Needless to say I was already a big fan of the black stuff, but now my appreciation has doubled since myself and a couple of colleagues made the journey across Dublin to visit the one and only Guinness Storehouse.

Wow, what a place…..

Artistically constructed over six floors, this massive place gives you a full run down of the history and heritage of the amazing drink.

I won’t ruin the tour for you in case you are planning a visit, but needless to say it’s a brilliant experience which has made a genuine lasting impression on me.

The purpose of this blog is to educate you, as I was, in the skilled art of drinking Guinness correctly, so as to appreciate all the individual flavours, aromas and tastes.

So as we know, Guinness should be poured slowly in draught form, and allowed to settle shortly, so that you have about a centimetre and a half of the cream, or froth a top the glass, allowing the malty brown bubbles to help form this and leaving the actual beer part to appear as a clean black pint as per below:

yum yum – the perfect pint (not all four were mine)

Now to drinking it.

The idea they like to portray at Guinness is not just the velvety feel of the drinking experience, but also the unusual yet tantalising treat on the senses as you approach it.

Guinness is as much about smell as it is about taste.

So as you bring the glass towards your mouth, inhale through the nose and smell the malty mash as you take the first sip. You should get a real flavoursome hit of malt and hops.

Next as the liquid arrives at your tongue, try to wash the Guinness over the top of your tongue from the front, into the top of your pallet, and then down to the back of your tongue before slowly swallowing the smooth stuff.

You should be tasting all kinds of different flavours initially, almost overwhelmingly so. And once you swallow the Guinness, there should be a rich, powerful taste with a large roasted malt kick – I get an almost chocolaty finish from it, although it can depend on your tastebuds I guess.

You can find different ways of drinking your pint, but number one lesson is enjoyment.

Here endeth the lesson!

What they have created here is a drink like no other. Yes I know there a numerous brands of stout. But having tried a number of them over the years, I always find that Guinness delivers the best final product, and it’s the drink I come back to time after time.

The tour was amazing, the city was amazing, the drink was amazing, and a good time was had by all.

Thanks for reading my blog, I hope you’ve learned something!

As always, until next time……….