Bancroft was much more in touch with the run of the world than my religious upbringing ever allowed me to be. This fact was none more obvious than in his understanding of all things alcoholic. I just simply recognized all those tempting drinks as the devils brew, whereas Bancroft amazingly, knew each one of them by their first names like Bundy, Johnny, Jim, Jack and Glen. I was so fascinated by his mixed drinks knowledge base but I did not dare partake of those evil % ALC/VOL drinks, least I go to you know where. So, sensitive to my aversion, Bancroft came up with a non-alcoholic ######## for me that would help me not look so wossy in the company of my work mates. “Make it a Lemon Lime and Bitters Thanks mate.” It certainly carried a much more with-it manly ring than my previous timid requests for a glass of lemon squash with ice. Many an afternoon was spent relaxing on his balcony at The Gap Brisbane sipping on our homemade LLBs – much like those gin & tonic colonials of old. I still remember the brew 5 ice cubes + 30ml Cottees Lime Cordial + 300ml Schweppes Lemonade + 3 drops of Angostura aromatic bitters. That’s right, just 3 drops makes the drink taste great 4, and you KILLS it! Folks let me give you a tip, if you are going to invest your hard earned money in a drinks company forget about Angostura! One bottle per person per lifetime is hardly a volume turnover formula for strong cashflows and massive profits. It was hardly a surprise then to discover in later years that it was in fact a product of lay-back go-easy Trinidad & Tobago MUN! Now the church youth group had a planned get together at the home of one of the earnest elders of the church on the up coming Saturday night. The usual procedure called for each person to bring a plate of food and share it in a fellowship-tea type arrangement. I explained to Bancroft that my task, as youth leader, was to look after the drinks as per usual, a big bowl of fruity punch spiced up with a few bottles of ginger ale (my favourite) just to give it some real added kick. As I told Bancroft of the meeting he expressed a real interest in joining in the night’s activities and said he would bring along something to contribute as well. Well we all got together at the church elder’s place and everyone was most careful to show their respect with their initial circumspect behaviour. Everyone made their contribution to the food and drink, including Bancroft. I loved the punch that we created that night and I made it my job to not only served it around but drink copious quantities of the delicious stuff as well. As I remember it everyone had a great and jovial time that night including surprising, the now most animated most reverend church elder. Now I am not saying that I remember a lot about the evening activities but the friends that tucked me into bed at my cousin John’s place, said later that I was truly the life of the party. The boisterous party type behaviour of the entire church youth group got my cousin John thinking about what might have been in the water so to speak. Oops! Apparently Bancroft had put the wrong non-alcoholic cherry flavoring into the punch. The next day, the church elder was most grateful of Bancroft’s early morning offer to come round and help tidy up the place, as he himself was not feeling that great. Still, if he was impressed by that offer, he must have been far more impressed at the way Bancroft insisted on taking all the rubbish away with him as well complete with the three empty bottles of over-proof Cherry Brandy concealed in a brown paper bag.
