Wilhelm I, a/k/a Kartätschenprinz (the prince of grapeshot), earned his nickname by using cannon to put down a revolution in 1848. But you can become a prince of grapeshot in your right w
ith just a few bartending supplies.
Following these simple steps to make The Strafer’s “Grapeshot”:
- Fill tall, deep, and wide glass with ice.
- Fill half-way with gin (vodka might do).
- Fill remainder with half tonic, half ruby red grapefruit juice.
- Fill to the brim (overflowing is allowed, but wasteful).
- Drink with a straw – it’s easier on the upper lip, which must otherwise serve as a resting platform for ice cubes.
As a final step, consider yourself fortunate to be experiencing this rather benign form of grapeshot rather than the other kind:
Grapeshot is a type of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. Instead of solid shot, a mass of loosely packed metal slugs is loaded into a canvas bag. Grapeshot can also be improvised from chainlinks, shards of glass, rocks, etc. When assembled, the balls resemble a cluster of grapes (hence the name). On firing, the balls spread out from the muzzle at high velocity, giving an effect similar to a shotgun, but scaled up to cannon size.
Grapeshot was devastatingly effective against massed infantry at short range. It was used to savage massed infantry charges quickly. Cannons would fire solid shot to attack enemy artillery and troops at longer range (although the shrapnel round was invented to increase the effect of grapeshot at a distance) and switch to grape when they or nearby troops were charged.
Photo by 1way2rock (Creative Commons)
