The Alcohol Thread

Sadly, the last time I was in Portugal was almost 11 years ago and back then drinking beer was not really a thing for me, so no. Also not sure but I don't recall seeng them.

And yes, I'd say so, but I am hardly an expert.

edited 21st Oct '14 2:30:38 PM by 3of4

Being Finnish I'm obviously into beer and vodka - the former more than the latter. Finlandia is a very good vodka (I believe it was voted the best in the world in a blind trial, but from what I've heard of these awards there are so many competing awards that almost any drink will be rated best in the world by at least one panel eventually.) I've also had some Estonian and Russian vodkas, and to be honest I think they're so similar that to me they all just basically taste of vodka.

I'm also good friends with whisky. I can't really afford expensive stuff so my favourites in any type of drink tend to be cheap or at least affordable as a rare treat. Laphroaig was previously mentioned here, so hopefully I managed to copy the name without misspelling it. It's my favourite whisky out of the ones I've tried so far. I'm talking about the 10 years stuff - I haven't tried the 25-year-old variety.

Back to beer: I like Finnish beers (you like what you're used to) but I would have to join the bandwagon and name Guinness as my favourite beer. I only ever drink it at pubs, though - it's just not as good if it's bottled or canned. In England I tried a variety of local beers and I tended to like them, but not quite as much as I like the beers available at home. I don't tend to like American beers, while German and Czech beers are to my liking.

I don't mind wine but I rarely buy it. I prefer red over white, and champagne (and other sparkling wines) over red - though you can't drink large quantities of it. I like tequila (with lemon and salt, obviously) and absinthe but I rarely indulge in either of those.

I drink beer maybe once or twice a week, usually a couple of cans when I'm watching football or ice hockey and sometimes just for no reason. I typically get drunk maybe once a month, on average. In my late teens and around the time I turned 20 I used to drink almost every week, so these days when I get drunk I tend to not feel like drinking again for a while, except if there's sports on.

Alcohol is very expensive in Finland, especially if you want strong stuff or if you want to go to a pub. The rising costs are probably contributed to the decrease in my drinking, but not so much as to make me stop drinking entirely. When I do get drunk I tend to get really drunk. Usually this happens when friends or family have invited me to drink (often it was only meant to be one or two cans/pints) and we just don't stop drinking because we're having so much fun.

Thank you. And I hope you'll get back here someday.

I never drank canned beer ever since I tried a Portuguese beer in that form. It tasted badly, in a metallic sort of way, so yeah.

I only drink Guinness on bottles because there's no British nor Irish pub in my city. When I studied in Lisbon, I managed to drink a few there in one of the Irish pubs.

Btw, what's the best brand of vodka?

edited 21st Oct '14 2:39:54 PM by Quag15

There are probably some expensive brands of vodka that are absolutely brilliant but out of the ones I've tried - i.e. ones that a Finnish student can afford - I'd say Finlandia and Absolut are the best (even though Absolut is Swedish and thus to be hated.) Smirnoff is considered cheap crap but because cheap drinks are the ones I can afford I don't have anything much better to compare it to, so if you ask me it's pretty good.

A couple of pubs in the city where I live have Guinness on tap. They're not British or Irish pubs; I presume they've added it to their catalogue because of popular demand, as Guinness is a pretty popular beer in Finland.

I've never had a canned beer that tasted tinny or anything but I've heard people say that in some countries canned beer tastes funny. Maybe there's some difference in the cans or the canning process.

I think the only Vodka I ever tried (and in the distinction of the only time I was really drunk) was some old bottle I found in my grandfathers wine cellar. I think it was a german made one and actually very good.

Hence the really drunk part

Bought a nice bottle of Lagavulin 16 year old today. Can't wait to crack into it this evening.

Sounds delicious. Here I'm stuck with Chivas Regal and Cardhu.

What, Jack Daniels? Why would I even touch that stuff?

Nothing wrong with Cardhu, apart from Diageo trying to pull a fast one a few years back by selling blended whisky as "pure malt".

Chivas Regal's OK.

Shame you are so deprived of malts though.

There is a great pair of videos on how to taste whisky and how it is made on YT, with the master blender of Whyte & MacKay: Part 1 & Part 2.

edited 7th Nov '14 6:55:47 AM by Achaemenid

What are your thoughts on Glenlivet, Achae?

Disclaimer: I'm definitely not the board's resident whisky expert, and the only one I've ever actually had is the 12 year old. My thought would be that it is an excellent entry-level whisky - from what I recall it is very intense and sweet. I remember it being a very easy drink. Nice stuff.

EDIT: This channel is the be-all and end-all of spirits. Hundreds of reviews of hundreds of whiskies, mezcals, vodkas, rums. Top top guy.

edited 7th Nov '14 8:35:01 AM by Achaemenid

Anyone trying absinthe for the first time, ask how to drink it before doing so. TRUST ME.

After a impulse-buy of a bottle, I found out that I actually am starting to make a Guiness each evening a habit...

There are worse habits out there, but it's not very healthy. Drink cactus juice.

Its the quenchiest?

Precisely.

edited 7th Nov '14 8:45:55 AM by TheHandle

I've had absinthe both with the sugar and stuff and also straight. I think I prefer it when it's just absinthe.

Began my Lagavulin. I'll review it later, on the second tasting.

Right: Tasting Lagavulin 16 y/o. Been a while since I've done this, so, a treat for me:

• Color: A nice, rich amber honey type of color. But not too dark, though. Of course, color tells one nothing about the taste. Lagavulin add caramel to get their color too, which is sort of cheating.
• Nose: Smoke, ash, seaweed, and pepper. Very faint hint of sultanas towards the end.
• Palate: Very smoky, peaty flavor. Salty, with a strong taste of medicinal iodine and pepper. Gradually gives way to sherry and dried fruit. Salty taste is strong throughout. Archetypal Islay malt, really. Tastes exactly like one would expect a whisky that has been distilled on a sea-swept island.
• Finish: Starts off oily then recedes into a dry heat. Hints of sweetness throughout, with a tail end of sherry and dates and maybe vanilla? Good long finish.

I then added water. Lagavulin 16 y/o is not a cask strength, so only a few drops are needed, to bring its 43% down to 40% or so. Some people will tell you that you should never add water, or that you should always use distilled water - nonsense. Use tap water at room temperature, if it is safe to drink, which it is here in Copenhagen.

• Nose: Opens up quite a bit, with a real vanilla taste with hints of sugar and sherry.
• Palate: Fruitier than the previous tasting. That peaty smokiness is still dominant, however.
• Much as before, but with the vanilla flavor brought to the fore more than the last time, and with the sherry and dates richer and lengthier.

Verdict: Not hard to see why this is one of my favourite malts, and why it does so well competitively. The quintessential Islay malt for a reason.

edited 7th Nov '14 2:49:47 PM by Achaemenid

You may not be the resident expert, but you have just written what could be a semi-professional review.

edited 7th Nov '14 2:56:15 PM by Quag15

Much to my dismay I seem to have become a bit sensitive to alcohol, by US measure, that is higher then 5% by volume. So low or almost no alcohol drinks seem to be my future. Before I was drinking Vodka as my preferred liquor and either Pabst or Red Stripe for my beer. Though If you can get me a good wheaty drink that isn't bitter with too much alcohol or hops I thoroughly enjoy those.

So what is it that Absinthe does? I have heard the rumors but have never experienced it.

edited 7th Nov '14 4:58:35 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Rumors of Absinthe's hallucinogenic properties were greatly exaggerated by stuffy bourgeois and by poets trying to be edgy.

Speaking of which, alcohol goes great with cannabis. It can result in some very strange munchies, though; I found myself eating fish fingers and custard and loving it.

edited 8th Nov '14 4:14:43 AM by TheHandle

Cigars. Whisky and cigars.

Tuef: you need to try one of my mixes, then. I can make em so where you won't even taste the alcohol, despite there being Bac 151 in it.

What can I say? I have a gift. But yeah, more than drinking them, I love making drinks. It's an art and science, and probably one of my favorite hobbies. I am a perfectionist when it comes to making drinks.

Damn straight.

Mark: Those are the dangerous ones. Where the high alchohol flavor is masked by tasty. There lay the road to sloshed.

I have to wonder has anyone sat down and examined the chemistry and science of mixing drinks? I know we have been looking over the making of it with detail.