A Drinking Life

wvumtnbkr said:

This is hitting too close to home right now...

 

I have probably 4 guinesses almost every night.   

 

I'm realizing as I get older it has more and more impact on me.

 

I gotta slow down....  

 

I like bourbon too.  Maybe I should just switch to bourbon.  I only have 1 or 2 then go to sleep.

 

E36 M3.  I gotta slow down.

 

Glad I got that out there and off my mind...

The bourbon is way better than the beer health wise. Do that.

wae said:

  Won't touch the Canadian stuff and whatever Ireland does to distilled spirits should be considered a war crime.  Japanese whiskey is very interesting, albeit a bit harder to come by and a little spendy.  

Everything he said.  I knew there wws a good reason or two why we're friends.

I do want to TRY a certain Japanese whiskey, whose master distiller trained in Kentucky and makes what is apparently one of the best bourbons in the world (but it can not legally be called that - "bourbon" is almost as protected a term as Scotch) but WOW is it expensive.  Not Pappy Van Winkle expensive but also not something I'd want to pay for, either.

I also agree with your (deleted for brevity) assessment of mental state - if I am bummed out for whatever reason, alcohol is the last thing on my mind. 

Knurled. said:

wae said:

  Won't touch the Canadian stuff and whatever Ireland does to distilled spirits should be considered a war crime.  Japanese whiskey is very interesting, albeit a bit harder to come by and a little spendy.  

Everything he said.  I knew there wws a good reason or two why we're friends.

 

I do want to TRY a certain Japanese whiskey, whose master distiller trained in Kentucky and makes what is apparently one of the best bourbons in the world (but it can not legally be called that - "bourbon" is almost as protected a term as Scotch) but WOW is it expensive.  Not Pappy Van Winkle expensive but also not something I'd want to pay for, either.

 

I also agree with your (deleted for brevity) assessment of mental state - if I am bummed out for whatever reason, alcohol is the last thing on my mind. 

I've tried that. It's Suntory-something. It was fantastic. I did not expect what I got out of it, it was very scotch-y, with almost a peaty salt finish. Managed to go to Morimotos for a secret whiskey tasting and the distiller youre talking about had booze there. It was some of the best stuff I've ever had- but you're right, it's quite expensive. I wince when I get to 50$ a bottle, and it really starts to hurt at 60+

In reply to Mndsm :

I was on the Bullet train heading into Tokyo and tried Suntory Whiskey. It was $10 US ( in 1969 dollars ) a shot.  
   Let me say I was greatly disappointed.  While I don't have a highly developed pallet.  I at least can tell decent or good from really bad.  

Gary said:

In reply to infinitenexus :

I like your taste in wine! I really appreciate that you said that you like a "dry red." Yes! For me, that is the key. And that's why I like French red wine. It's dry. We did a Viking river cruise to the Bordeaux region a year ago, and visited many vineyards there and tasted everything available. I already had a great appreciation for the region's wine from a couple previous trips to France. But that last trip to Bordeaux just confirmed it! So we continue to drink it heartily. We have found that there is an importer on the East Coast here in the US that has an uncanny ability to import great French wines at superb prices (under $15). If you're on the East Coast, look for the "Monsieur Touton" logo on the back label. If it's there, just buy it. It'll be excellent French wine. However, you really need to decant it for an hour or so before drinking.

I used to be a strong proponent of CA reds. I still like CA reds when French isn't available. But these days I prefer red wines from the Bordeaux region of France.

Thanks for the tip!  I will definitely keep my eyes open for that brand.

I drink in "Moderation" as well.  And like Curtis, "Moderation" is a magical place where I drink more than I should but not near as much as I'd like.  I have rules in place that generally keep me on a path of "moderation" but it doesn't take much at all for me to stray. 

If I had to pay full US price for beer, I probably would only drink about twice a month.  Fortunately for me, I brew my own and live in a farming community.  I think for about 5-gallons of brew, I pay about $10 or so...  That'll last me the month, generally.



 

Moderation is relative.

When I was making my own we would go through a 50L keg in two weeks

frenchyd said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I was on the Bullet train heading into Tokyo and tried Suntory Whiskey. It was $10 US ( in 1969 dollars ) a shot.  
   Let me say I was greatly disappointed.  While I don't have a highly developed pallet.  I at least can tell decent or good from really bad.  

Suntory hibiki. I found a bottle yesterday. 

I think the biggest thing with that label is the anticipation. I expected a cleaner, lighter more fruit forward bourbon. What I got was closer to a peaty scotch eithout the Smoky back end. Had an almost seawater finish. Was fantastically light and clean, but not at all what I expected from someone who trained as a bourbon distiller. 

Suprf1y said:

Moderation is relative.

 

Yup. Moderation for a 25 year old is different than moderation for a 45 year old, different still for a guy who has a family vs. a single person, and different still for someone with a CDL vs. a programmer who works from home and doesn't own a car. 

At the end of the day, the only real "metrics" that I'm concerned about are (1) my wallet, (2) my liver, (3) my weight (alcohol is basically empty calories). I SHOULD be concerned about what it does to the other aspects of my life, but by being concerned with the first 3 it already limits me to a point where I don't drink much anymore. I'm basically only a beer drinker nowadays, and am down to maybe 2 drinks a week. On vacation that may be 20 drinks a week, sometimes there are stretches of 0 drinks a week for months at a time, but probably averages out to 2 drinks a week. 

The big thing I'm noticing more and more is that my hangovers are getting progressively worse. Used to be that I could pound 6 beers after work and be up for hockey at 5AM no problem. Now If I have more than 3 drinks I feel horrible the next morning. It is better if I drink early in the day and switch to water by dinner.