By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Nightlife Editor
When you go out at the University of Alabama, you will be greeted by not just great nightlife, but wild, crazy and unique-to-Tuscaloosa drinks.
It’s really a Southern thing. Go to just about any beach in the South and you will get a drink not served anywhere else, presented in a special you-get-to-keep-it souvenir plastic cup. In Tuscaloosa, it’s part of the bar and nightlife culture, especially along the University of Alabama Strip.
The drinks and bars are The Tipsy Elephant at Twelve 25, the Thumbprint at Unique and the legendary Yellow Hammer at Gallettes. All are wild concoctions based on a mix of ingredients and are college student strong. Have one and you’ll feel it; drink two or more and you’ll be whistlin’ Dixie.
The Yellow Hammer, Gallettes
Some credit Gallettes for starting this crazy cocktail craze in Tuscaloosa and while that’s not true – when I was in college at Alabama, a bar called the Sidecar had something called The Derailer and it would do just that to you – but it has certainly led the way in promoting it. There’s a giant yellow cup on a wall, the cup changes during certain weeks to reflect Alabama football’s opponent (there was one mocking Lane Kiffin when Old Miss was in town and for the Georgia game it had “no barking” printed on it) and the location makes it the closest bar on the Strip to Bryant-Denny Stadium (er, make that Saban Field at Bryant-Denny). Overall, Gallette’s is one of the best bars in Tuscaloosa. Not only does it have the front area – the sign out front says Campus Party Store – but there’s a huge club in the back.
Yellow Hammer Ingredients: light rum, vodka, amaretto, water and juices together.
Buzz Factor: High when you’re about halfway through it.
Price: $10, $13 for a double
The Tipsy Elephant
Here, they don’t mind telling you what’s in its drink, the Alabama-appropriately named Tipsy Elephant (the school’s mascot is an Elephant dating back to its original nickname). Which is good because it warns your brain that it contains three types of booze . That will get your Tide rolling! The first couple of sips – or gulps if you’re that kind of a drinker – isn’t bad at all. But don’t get cocky that you can roll right through a few of them. Twelve 25 is calm enough in the daytime but turns into a thumping club at night.
The Tipsy Elephant Ingredients: Lemon vodka, lemonade, brandy and peach schnapps.
Buzz Factor: Pretty high but not as bad as you might think. That’s after one, mind you.
Price: $8
The Thumbprint
This unique-to-Tuscaloosa drink is served as a shot or a martini. The shot glass has flashing lights, which adds to the presentation flavor. The setting at Unique is unique to the University of Alabama Strip bars, too. It’s a small, narrow, smoky dive bar. The building has been there for some 45 years and has decades of cigarette smoke hanging in the air, tho it has been Unique for just a few years. There are darts and a guy sits at a keyboard playing live music.
Ingredients: Secret, even to the bartenders
Buzz Factor: Medium. That’s after one shot. Have a few of them and zoom to High.
Price: $2 during Happy Hour (until 6 p.m.,) $3 as a shot; $5 as a martini.
Alabama Is A Top Party School
These drinks, along with the vibrant nightlife of Tuscaloosa and the incredible atmosphere of Crimson Tide football games, makes the University of Alabama one of PubClub.com’s Top Party Schools.
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