drink INK

I expect only Johnny Logan really knows the answer to this. But for Ink the rolling round of another twelve months meant a chance to prove they are not merely flighty fly-by-nights. For magazines in Liverpool tend to be a bit like relationships- over before they find out your surname.

And there were some mean spirited souls out there that had felt that Ink was a bit like the Queen Mother- unlikely to last the annum. But, fuelled by a little alcohol - rather like Q.M, in fact, but costing the public considerably less money, Ink has survived, and September 1st 2000 was their first birthday.

Now, most first birthday parties involve pureed food and lots of nappy changes (To push the Queen Mother analogy here would be unnecessary and cruel.) But Ink held theirs in the airy beauty of Not Sushi on Exchange St. and guests, for the most part, controlled bodily functions.

The first joy of the night was to be greeted a complimentary "Ink-e-Pink" a cocktail created especially for the night – this was a drink that looked like fairy dust but kicked you in the liver like that fat Robbie Williams lookalike from Corrie. Tickets for these were delightfully easy to secure, and it wasn’t long before I had a row of them lined up in front of me like a two-year-old with a Calpol habit. For those of us who didn’t want to be seen with pink drinks (God, some people are so insecure about their sexuality) there was lots of Tiger beer too.
Vegetarian sushi and tempura appeared and then disappeared almost as quickly, proving just how greedy pissed people can be, and those remaining upright danced to the soul and funk played by Chris Howard and Paul and Ian Hutch.

We wanted it to last forever of course, But, like Cinders, Not Sushi has a midnight curfew, so all we lost little souls traipsed into milky night in search of fun and a sense of purpose. And that really was another story…

For everyone who missed the party here is how to recreate the delicious Ink-e-Pink:

35ml Smirnoff Red
15ml Archers
Generous squeeze of 1/2 lemon.
Sugar to taste.
Lemonade.

Shake with lots of ice in a cocktail shaker and serve in highball rimmed
over Ice with lemon/lime over ice
Top with cranberry so the drinks pink at the top and clear/yellow at bottom.
Garnish with a slice of lime, or cranberries.