Victory Gin

Text and illustrations Torggata Blad

Torggata Blad has investigated what happens when you put ingredients from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four together with various memes, old and modern symbols of resistance into a drink mixer and shake well.

In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, an endless war is waged between Oceania, where the plot takes place, and the other two totalitarian superpowers, Eurasia and Eastasia. Whether the wars actually take place, or are only part of the states’ control strategy, it works as intended: the ruling classes are allowed to retain power unimpeded while the lower classes remain passive and believe themselves protected from the supposed enemy.

Orwell supposedly had Stalin’s Soviet Union in mind when he wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four. But now, 75 years after the novel was published, much is happening that bears similarities to what Winston Smith, the book’s main character, experiences. It is still the case that the ruling elites incite wars that enrich themselves, while the civilian population – who have everything to lose from war and conflicts – kill each other on the battlefield. The same old propaganda tricks of constructing an image of the enemy are constantly being served to new generations, easily disguised as the war on terror or as a defense of one’s own culture’s superior values; all while seizing other people’s areas and natural resources more or less covertly.

In Animal Farm, by the same author, we find the statement «All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others». Another variation of this could be «All propaganda has similarities, but some propaganda are more similar than others». This is what is tempting to point out when comparing the slogans that Oceania’s Ministry of Truth uses to justify its warfare – WAR IS PEACE – with recent statements by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg: «Weapons are the way to peace». Knowing how well Norway profits from the ongoing wars (in addition to all the oil we fuel the climate crisis with), such statements from a former Norwegian prime minister do not make it any less embarrassing to be Norwegian.
Propaganda can create disempowerment and make people disillusioned, for example, by creating an impression that our equals are our enemies. Torggata Blad has for a period of time been concerned with investigating what works best as an antidote to propaganda and other forms of abuse of power. Satire and different kinds of humorous mockery are methods that stand out, but not all places have the same freedom of expression, and thus satire must be performed in secret or in coded form – which has been common throughout the ages. Now we ask ourselves: can drinks act as an antidote to propaganda and criticism of power?

Let’s return to Nineteen Eighty-Four: In order to keep the population passive, the inhabitants of Oceania are rewarded and numbed with, among other things, Victory Gin – a gin of rather lousy quality. At the Chestnut Tree Café, where Winston Smith – towards the end of the novel – sits broken and trembling, with others who are also completely destroyed by the system, its brainwashing and torture, the specialty is Victory Gin served with cloves in it – which probably dampens the disgusting taste.

On a couple of previous occasions, Torggata Blad has launched various Nineteen Eighty-Four-quoting prototypes of Victory Gin; it was served with poetry cake at the book fair Booked in Finland, during an election vigil cabaret at Blitz and as a component of our First Aid Kit Against Neoliberalism. In this issue, we are launching a new version which will form the basis for a wide range of satire in the form of symbolic drinks.

Drinks may be seen as something a little superficial and decadent, but when used correctly they can actually offer an excellent Trojan horse disguise for protests or expressions of solidarity in situations and locations where banners and megaphones are not so easily used – be it embassy receptions, power-wagging cultural events or other zones in the corridors of power. Like most drinks, they can be further developed and paraphrased ad infinitum. (It may well be as mocktails.) And what’s more: they can be used for parties and celebrations as well as for resistance and the fight against power. To quote ourselves – where we (as we always like to do) quote David Graeber: Never forget to set aside time for optimistic celebration!

Hongkong Sling

Instructions
Pour all the ingredients except soda into a shaker with ice, shake well, and strain over ice into a highball glass. Top with soda and decorate with as many yellow drink umbrellas as possible. The drink must, naturally, be served with a straw.

The drink is based on the classic Singapore Sling, but without ingredients that cloud the yellow color. The decoration refers to the yellow umbrellas that Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists began to use, both as a symbol and as a useful protection against police water cannons, pepper spray and rubber bullets. They have recently had to expand the symbolism and protective equipment to include yellow helmets and gas masks.

Gin Fist

Instructions
Shake everything together and pour (with ice) into a highball glass. Fill up with soda water and garnish with a lemon slice. Drink with a raised fist.

The drink is based on the classic Gin Fizz, and the name naturally refers to a timeless and widely used symbol of resistance – a gesture that has been used by many, including anarchists, the Black Power movement and Black Lives Matter.

Rubberduck of Bangkok

Instructions
Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish the drink with a small, yellow rubber duck. When the ingredients are poured into the glass, the foam and the turquoise liquid provide the perfect bathtub-like environment for the little duckling.

In Thailand, yellow ducks in various formats have been used to signal protest against the government. Large inflatable figures that have provided protection against the police’s water cannons, together with thousands of smaller ducks (in the form of headgear, mascots etc.) have given the demonstrations a colorful and carnivalesque touch.

The use of ducks in Thailand is probably inspired by a meme that Hong Kong activists spread on the internet in 2013. In the famous photograph of the unidentified man facing the tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989, they replaced the tanks with yellow ducks.
*** In response, the Chinese social media platform Weibo blocked the keywords «big yellow duck».

After the Thai authorities banned the use of ducks in public gatherings, pro-democracy activists turned public sandwich-eating into an anti-authoritarian gesture. This form of demonstration has also now been banned, but it may inspire to serve a classic sandwich together with this drink.

Completely Blank

Instructions
Fill a chilled long drink glass 2/3 with ice. There must be a lot of ice. Pour in 4 cl Victory Gin. Fill the rest of the glass with Indian tonic – it must be quality tonic.

Squeeze in some lime juice. Stir lightly with a cocktail stirrer and serve. The drink can be decorated with a piece of white paper of freely chosen size and mounting method. Here, there is little that distinguishes the drink from a classic Gin and tonic, other than that the obligatory decorative lime wedge has been replaced with a piece of white paper, and Victory Gin is used instead of quality gin.

You wouldn’t think it was possible, but even blank sheets and posters without text or motif can be cracked down on when it is first perceived that it is an expression of criticism of power. One of the first examples of this expression of protest took place in Kraków in 1924, when a newspaper responded to official censorship by including blank sheets of paper as a special supplement. These were confiscated and a court upheld the seizure on the grounds that they had ridiculed the authorities «without presenting definite facts».

Since then, white sheets, banners and posters have been used for various protest actions in a number of countries, including those against the Chinese authorities’ zero-covid policy.

The Russians have also resorted to blank slates. A Soviet political joke describes a disgruntled man holding up a white piece of paper in the street in protest and, when asked why, the protester replies that everyone knows what the paper is supposed to say. Nowadays Russians demonstrating against the invasion of Ukraine are arrested for holding up blank sheets of paper.

Myanmargarita

Instructions
Moisten the rim of a cocktail glass with a lime wedge and put it in the freezer. Dip the glass in crushed salt flakes. Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and pour into the cocktail glass. Garnish the drink with three Lady Fingers (Savoiardi biscuits) placed crosswise over the glass or arrange them on a plate next to it.

The three-finger gesture, popularized in The Hunger Games, has recently been adopted by pro-democracy activists in Myanmar. When serving this drink, the Lady Fingers act as the symbolic hand sign. The drink differs from the original in that tequila has been replaced by Victory Gin.

Both – but don’t bother about the bread

Instructions
All ingredients except nutmeg are shaken well in a shaker with crushed ice, strained and served in a chilled old-fashioned glass. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg.

The drink is a slightly modified variant of Bourbon Milk Punch, and its name and content obviously refer to the story where Rabbit asks Winnie the Pooh if he wants honey or condensed milk with his bread. «Both!» answers Pooh, and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, «But don’t bother about the bread, please.»

Since 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been haunted by memes comparing him to Pooh. In 2017, Xi had enough, and thus depictions of Winnie the Pooh were banned. Prohibition makes it extra fun to invent jokes, so Winnie-the-Pooh allusions have not exactly decreased in number after 2017, and in 2023 the Taiwanese defense forces also joined the trend and created a uniform shoulder badge with an image of Winnie-the-Pooh fighting against a Taiwanese black bear.

Peace on the beach

Instructions
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into the glass. Feel free to attach a thin, triangular slice of watermelon to the edge of the glass and decorate further with a couple of mint leaves.

The drink is a paraphrase of the drink Sex on the beach, but with gin instead of vodka. The watermelon has become a symbol of the Palestinian struggle for liberation, and is used, among other things, in cases where it is not permitted to display the Palestinian flag.

Viva libre

Instructions
Fill a chilled long drink glass with 3–4 ice cubes, freshly squeezed lime juice, Victory Gin and coke. Stir.

Decorate with a slice of lime that is shaped like a V – either by cutting out a V-shaped hole or by making a V-shape from the slice of lime.

V for Viva and V for Victory. The V gesture has been used for a long time – both by authorities to consolidate their sovereignty and by the people in protest actions. When the Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Jina Amini died in 2022 after being imprisoned because of a visible lock of hair, large parts of the Iranian population, and especially women and young people, took to the streets to demonstrate.

«Woman, life, freedom» became a common slogan in the protests, and the V sign was adopted both to symbolize victory for the riots and as a gesture to illustrate the cutting of hair Iranian women are required to hide. During the autumn of 2022, the protests developed to include demands for regime change in the country.

This drink is a gin-modified version of Cuba Libre and is dedicated to the brave «Woman, Life, Freedom» protests. Coca-Cola hardly needs to increase its sales, therefore we encourage the use of other similar soft drink variants.

Rusty Key

Instructions
Fill a large whiskey/rocks glass with ice cubes and add the whiskey liqueur and gin. Stir and squeeze a piece of lemon peel over the drink so that it is flavored with some of the oil from the peel. Decorate with a fine strip of lemon peel (twist). Drop a key of freely chosen shape, size and metal type into the drink.

Rusty Key is based on the drink Rusty Nail, but the Irish whiskey has been replaced with Victory Gin. The drink’s name alludes to the fact that the key has become a symbol of the Palestinians’ right to return to the areas from which they have been displaced. Many Palestinians still have the keys to the homes they had to flee from in 1948.

Dried out Martini

Instructions
Chill a cocktail glass in the freezer for a few minutes. Place olives in the bottom and pour in Victory Gin. Garnish with a dried olive branch, e.g. from one of these olive trees we never manage to keep alive over the winter.

This drink’s name, and its extremely low content of Noilly Prat, refers to all areas that have been parched due to warfare, disagreements over water distribution and wells that have been destroyed in order to prevent people from returning to where they have been displaced from. Olive trees can tolerate barren soil and a climate with little rainfall, but when even they dry out, it is rather dry.

An olive branch is a widespread symbol of peace, especially in combination with a dove. Olive trees and branches with symbolic meaning are mentioned in both the Koran, the Bible and, among other things, in The Odyssey and The Iliad by Homer.

Collateral Murder

Instructions
Fill a tall glass with ice cubes and pour in Victory Gin and tomato juice. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice, Worchester sauce and Tabasco sauce. The amount of Tabasco can be adjusted according to the desired strength. Carefully sprinkle a pinch of ground black pepper and a pinch of salt over the drink. Gently stir all the ingredients together with a cocktail stirrer. Garnish with a cucumber slice cut out like a crosshair mark. This can be a bit of a hassle to achieve, but is definitely worth the effort.

The ingredients for the Collateral Murder drink are confusingly similar to what makes up a classic Bloody Mary, with the exception of the vodka being replaced with Victory Gin, and the drink being garnished with cucumber instead of celery sticks.

Some people, their names and faces can end up becoming a political symbol. Wikileaks’ founder, Julian Assange, is one such case. The activities of Wikileaks have ensured that important information has been made available – something the US has not particularly appreciated. One of the most iconic examples of war crimes revealed by Wikileaks is the episode known as Collateral Murder, in which US soldiers in Apache helicopters shot and killed an unknown number of Iraqi civilians during three attacks.