Pints with pals: rating Cambridge’s college bars
Anuk Weerawardana speaks to James Hyde, the proud founder of @ratingcambridgecollegebars, on what is arguably the most integral aspect of a Cambridge college: its bar
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How did @ratingcambridgecollegebars begin?
Myself, Henry Broome, and George Shaw gained the brilliant habit of going to the Griff every night. Between our riveting ‘intellectual’ conversations I brought up an idea about visiting different Cambridge bars and reviewing them instead (mainly to get us out of the same bar every night). I would love to say this came from my own initiative, but this was heavily inspired by @ratingcambridgecollegebrunches, who walked so RCCB could run.
In your ratings, you include quotes from your members. How inebriated are you usually when the quotes get recorded?
I would love to say very, but in reality, not at all. I guess we’re just very strange people, especially myself, as I often make up other members’ quotes.
“If I was to be held in any cellars, I would want it to be Clare Cellars”
What makes for a good quote?
Andreas usually goes for a pun, such as his infamous quote to describe Sidney Sussex Bar: ‘Call it Sidsnus because I am addicted’. However, this just shows his poor sense of humour and falls flat compared to the rest of the group’s humour. A very random unrelated quote is a favourite of mine, such as my ‘Jesus is the one who knocks’ in the review of Jesus and ‘If I was to be held in any cellars, I would want it to be Clare Cellars.’ to describe Clare College Bar.
A lot of factors are looked at when rating these bars (price, beverage quality, atmosphere, etc). What would you say is most important?
We actually have weighting in our code to calculate the overall grade for the bars. This means that a rating out of ten in certain categories will count more towards the overall result out of ten. Quality of pint has the highest rating of 0.23, so this is the most important when we review a bar.
What’s your go-to drink?
We always try to have the college-exclusive drink --- usually a pint.
“Sidney Sussex Bar. Incredible prices and vibes, you simply can’t go wrong”
What would you say is the best college bar you’ve been to?
In my well educated opinion it’s got to be Sidney Sussex Bar. Incredible prices and vibes, you simply can’t go wrong.
What is the worst college bar you’ve been to?
Before the renovation, it was definitely Lucy Cavendish, but since renovations it is a lot better (shown by our re-rating). Therefore, I would go for Fitzwilliam College Bar as it is way too overpriced and the home of our arch-enemy rating account: Cambridge college brunches.
What happens after rating a college bar? Do you just go home, or is it off to the Revs queue?
Our traditional routine was off to Spoons on a Friday night. They were simpler times, Anuk.
What does it feel like to have lived my dream (climb the horse statue at Jesus College)?
We did this on Sal Widdecombe’s last night in Cambridge. A truly emotional affair. With emotions running high and an order from Sal Widdicombe to climb that horse we went and did it before being politely told to get down by a Jesus Porter. It was a truly empowering experience and one I would highly recommend.
What can we expect to see in the future from @ratingcambridgecollegebars?
We are aiming for world domination. We want to rid the rating landscape of our enemies, ‘@soupycamb’ and ‘@ratingcambridgecollegebrunches’. We will do this and then finally complete all bar ratings before we graduate.
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