Boozy world records
Most of the Guinness World Records you tend to read about involve incredible feats of sportsmanship or attempts to do something that something that most of us simply wouldn’t consider. However, the reasons that people pull off these stunts are as varied as the records themselves. For some, it’s a personal challenge or test, while others are publicity stunt ideas that evolve into something that not only achieves one of the world’s most prestigious and recognisable titles, but also helps to communicate their brand to a far wider audience.
While you’ll find plenty of sporting feats in the pages of the Guinness Book of World Records, you may be surprised to learn that there are a good few devoted to booze.
Happy Birthday, Jack!
In 2011, the Jack Daniel’s distillery wanted to mark the 161st birthday of its founder, dear old Jack himself. In addition, they wanted their events to be more than just simple publicity stunt ideas. They wanted something that would appeal to established fans of the brand, bring it to the attention of those who were new to the drink and grab the interest of the media. All this culminated in the Jack Daniel’s Record Challenge Roadshow, in which consumers were invited to take part in seven record-breaking attempts, ranging from the Most Contributions to a Greetings Card and the World’s Largest Bottle of Whiskey. The company achieved six of the seven records:
● Largest number of contributions to a greetings card: 1,075
● Largest glass bottle mosaic: 2,120 bottles used to create a picture of the founder.
● Largest whiskey bottle: a bottle was created to hold 184 litres of whiskey.
● Biggest bottle orchestra: 475 bottles were used to play a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.
● Most people blowing out candles, simultaneously: 250
● Fastest time to build a 20-shot-glass pyramid: Samantha Sherlock completed the task in 10.56 seconds.
And, as far as publicity stunt ideas go, the event was covered by over 30 million media broadcasts, from newspapers to TV and Internet hits.
Cocktail Tales
Anyone who’s seen a cocktail bartender in action knows that it’s a skill in itself. The measures have to be right in order to create the right depth of flavor. With the established record standing at 15 cocktails made in one minute, Sheldon Wiley decided to quite literally step up to the bar.
However, the rules were incredibly strict. In order to qualify, each cocktail had to be made in a long glass, weigh a minimum of eight ounces, each cocktail had to be made individually and it wasn’t allowed to start the next cocktail until the previous one was finished. However, after 60 seconds and with only the aid of a golf glove, for “just a little more grip”, Sheldon took the title, having successfully created an astonishing 18 cocktails!
Can I Get Change out of a Twenty..?
For many drinkers, the price of a pint raises an eyebrow or two. However, it’s small beer compared to the price of the World’s Most Expensive Cocktail. The ‘Winston’ cocktail, created by Australia’s Joel Heffernan on February 7th, 2013, took 16 hours to make. The eye-watering price tag can be hung on two shots of a particular Cognac. Crozier Cognac comes in at $157,000 per bottle and $6,000 per shot. With those two swimming around with some vintage Grand Marnier, Angostura Bitters and chocolate nutmeg dust, the final price of the cocktail – in Australian dollars – came in at $12,916.00 Your round, I think…
- JonJon