Be Excellent To Each Other

Unable to sup due to past illness. One more could see me off scenario. Anyone on here teetotal like my grownupself?

By a glorious coincidence to this thread, in a mere hour and a bit I shall be off to the Pipes & Ales AGM here in Cardiff. Lord Rixondale in attendance. We shall be discussing procedure for the next hideously punishing annual Cardiff pub crawl (currently standing at eighteen pubs) and whether we shall allow the insanity of our Pipes & Ales Director Hendricks to add yet another pub onto the route as is tradition. An increasingly dangerous tradition dating back six or seven years. We're going to try and argue him down to 15 pubs, but unfortunately he holds veto.

There shall also be punishments meted out to those who didn't follow protocol last year, such as drinking half pints or skipping beers or other shenanigans. As usual, the meeting will decay into crys of "GERMAN!" and "HORSE!" and talking like Biggles.

I would post the wonderfully amusing agenda here, but alas rubbish work email attachment won't let me.

Pipes & Ales is like the Temperance Society's most greatest and mortal enemy. Relentlessly un-teetotal in its outlook.

...

Right, now that obligatory wibble is out the way, really sorry to hear about your drink-depriving illness, Stan. It's no laughing matter. I've heard of people unable to quit despite Doctor's orders and killed themselves doing so. I guess once you've adjusted though you don't miss it so much. God stand between me and such a illness. I don't really know anyone but one chap (who's an alright sort, doesn't make a show of it and it's purely a lifestyle choice) who's teetotal. I fear I like the taste of wine, beer and whiskey too much for myself to go in for it. I do disapprove of those who merely drink to get drunk though. That's a staggeringly depressing thing to do.

Enjoy mr pete. I'll have a horlicks and pray for your safe return.

Thankee sir, thankee. Updated my post now to reflect on actual subject matter. I shall imagine you drinking it in time honoured old early 20th century faded sepia advert, in a comfy chair beside the fireside with a darling child at yourside, myself - your son - in an oval-shaped thought bubble boozing it up on the thunder-and-lightning wracked Western front with grim good cheer. "Think of the Proud Drinking Sons of England, and Toast them with a Horlicks" type affair.

Anyhow, to try and take my mind off the fact I can never ever ever imbibe overpriced, or underpriced for that matter, sauce again I've recently experimented with 'legal highs' just to see if they stand up to the gear I may or may not have taken when rave was around. I purchased some party pills and then a week later some naphyrone aka "NRG-1".

My findings disappointed me somewhat. The "pills" were wank and the naphyrone stuff ha the worst comedown I've ever experienced. Anyone else dabbled with these shit things? I still need to find summot instead of juice.

Suggestions gratefully recieved.

I have a colleague at work like this. He does the stereotype English binge-drinking routine, every weekend, and is basically slowly killing himself. He's been told by his doctor that if he doesn't quit drinking (not cut back, but stop entirely), he'll be dead within ten years.

So, anyway, he just keeps drinking.

Myself, I'm teetotal through choice. I know it's dull but I've simply never felt the urge to try anything. I don't have an attitude about it though, and don't try to 'convert' others.

What the hell is wrong with drinking to get drunk? I think it's staggeringly condescending and pretentious to call it a depressing thing to do. Yeah, I like to drink nice beer and be merry, but every now and again I want to get pissed. That's, surely, why most people drink isn't it? The fun giddiness feeling? There's fucking nothing depressing about that.

I go through long periods where I don't drink, and for the most part all I'll really do is have a beer or couple of glasses of wine with a meal. Occasionally I'll go out and drink a fair bit, but not often these days. I never liked getting completely wrecked, it just feels rubbish, and knackers you out the next day.

A couple of my friends don't drink. They'll still come to pub meals and such though, and I tend to drink very little when they're about because they're fun to talk to and it's easier to talk to someone when you're about equally sober.

in vino veritas

Malc

Different shades of meaning there Mr Wogan. Doing that on occassion is fine and silly and fine, but rather I mean week in, week out excess. Being unable to go out drinking without the object being to get drunk. And I mean proper staggery incoherent confused drunk, not pleasingly poor-judgement fun giddiness drunk.

Sorry if I came across as condescending and the like. I do get drunk on occassion - witness Pipes & Ales for pure excess, it's just the Cardiff St Mary's St drink-till-you-can-drink-no-more relentless binge that gets my lip curling in distaste.

Maybe I've bumped into too many sozzled valley boys and girls here. Hmm.

Anyway, my apologies and a glass of wine with you, Wogan Sir!

There's "drunk", and then there's "I'm not drunk; I can still stand. I should drink more."

Followed by " where the fuck is my car?" the next morning.

Oh, right, I jumped in with both feet. As you were! I didn't realise the week-in-week-out bit, which is certainly correct.

I only binge drink. By that, i mean that I don't drink at all unless I'm going out for a big one.

I don't drink and spend the money I save on cakes, thus remaining as unhealthy as all my friends.

I enjoy the taste of ale, brandy and my new love bourbon. I can happily have a couple and call it a day but when I've had four I get carried away. It doesn't happen a lot though these days.

Legal highs? Illegal ones are the best but they kinda make your brain ache after a while. Eat weed, maybe.

Well , I don't drink alcohol at all and never have done.

I do not have any problem with people around me drinking , and will eat food which is cooked in alcohol , just never been interested in it.

This is the stance of my friends who don't drink, too. It was mine before I started drinking as well.

I suspect they also cringe a bit when they see people slurring, uddling their words, rolling around the floor, falling off their chairs, etc. But then if that's the case they really should just consider me a lost cause.

You ain't had bourbon until you've tried the best. Find yourself some Makers Mark.

Yes.

Good Christ, yes. I'm really hoping to be embalmed with MM when I kick the bucket.

I don't drink either. I'd much rather drive places then get taxis and spend loads in pubs. I don't have a problem with those that drink though.

I find some of them quite amusing!

Can someone explain what the fuck rye is please? I had it in Canadaland and it was lush. I can't find it here. Is it just a funny forrin word for "nice whiskey"?

As far as I know, Canadian Club is an example of Canadian Rye, which do not necessarily need to be made with a majority of rye. It won't rock your world like a good Scotch, say, Lagavulin, but it's a nice, smooth whiskey.

Apparently Jim Beam Yellow Label is an example of American Rye, which must be made with at least 51% rye, but I haven't tried it.

Whiskey is horrible muck you see, much despite my father's good offices and attempts to educate my palate in that respect. Rye however, set off little fireworks on my tongue in my tummy and in my brain. I'm worried to discover they're basically the same thing.

Our wedding present from a friend who used to work for Makers.

Christ, you're so wrong Jesus is coming back to glare at you. A super-glare, no less. Try Ardbeg, Talisker, Craggenmore, Jura, Pulteney, Laphroaig, J N R...

Other than the alcohol, which is a depressant.

It's not a depressant, it's a drink!

Sixteen years to go!

Cor.

< reaches for cue ball in sock >

Bill Samuels Jr is a legend. He didn't want to work for his dads distillery so headed off to California to work for NASA. Turns out he was rubbish, so came back to work for his dad - who was only interested in making bourbon - and found his real talent was running the company and marketing the brand.

One of his genius ideas is to create limited editions of MM by varying the wax colouring - the bourbon is still the same, but these specials are sought after. The city winning the Stanley Cup, World Series or Superbowl tends to get sent 100 cases of Makers in team colours which rarely make it to the shelves. In 2001, they ran out of bourbon, ended up sending special empty bottles to retailers and they sold out as well.

Part of the company was sold to Diageo a couple of years again, not that they needed to but it opened up new distribution channels. Completely personal, friendly deal between Bill and the chairman of Diageo. A couple of months after the deal was completed, some accountants came in from Diageo and said that MM should increase production and they've calculated that they can produce and sell another 30% bourbon and if they change X and Y...

Bill said "Boy, have you ever bought the wrong company!" and while they were sat in his office, speed dialled the chairman of Diageo...

(Disclaimer: I'm a Makers Mark Ambassador... which is a sort of promotional/fan club but hell, one of the few companies I would willingly move to the US to work for. Besides, after getting enough people interested in the UK that it actually showed up on their sales charts, I figure they owe me!)

I generally don't drink as I find it hard to find a drink that is nice to drink. I enjoy a bit of wine now and again, a bit of Leffe is quite nice in the right circumstance and I also like a little bit of Amstel occasionally.

Mostly though I don't drink. I don't need it to have a good time.

I must confess to never having actually tried Makers Mark. I will look out for it in a bar.
Should it be drunk straight, or with ice, or coke, or what?

I've never known a Mint Julep work as well without it.

Straight, ice or with coke.

Mint Julep, definitely.

One of my favourite ways is to mix it with ginger beer and squeeze some lime into it.

I like how you've stuck a load of dirty tasting ones in there, possibly not the best for someone that doesn't like whisky

I want special Makers Mark plz

If you've never had it, then definitely neat or on the rocks. It's nice to mix with stuff, too, but you need to really get it alone at first. It's fantastic.

Yeah, that's what I figured.

Thanks you pack o piss heads. So what mind altering shit should I sniff/drink/eat/jag?

Ditto. But I do it very, very rarely. Twice this year so far, and that's more frequent than most years.

With the Manchester, Lakes and Unplugged meets all in 2010, I may even break my extremely breakable record.

I'm basically a teetotaler - I will drink, but only on very particular occasions.

It's through choice, I just don't really enjoy the taste of alcoholic drinks all that much. Lager shandies I can cope with because they're relatively sweet.

Plus it helps that I'm normally the designated driver as a result of said teetotality (is that a word? It is now!) and thus get my soft drinks free in quite a few places

I just don't get along with whiskey at all. Or any spirits really. Nothing worse than someone reverently handing you a glass of their expensive malt and having to suppress retching and bleurghing to save their feelings. You'd be surprised at how often "no thanks, I don't really like whiskey" is taken as a challenge.

"No, you'll love this one. It's the smoothest taste in the world"

"Retch. Bleurgh."

I like Whiskey. But only Irish or American. I've never been able to drink Scotch Whisky. Many people have tried, and failed to persuade me on what I am missing out on. This has then gone on to saying I'm prejudging them so they go with a pepsi challenge style blind tasting to prove me wrong, and they prove me right.

Of course this also means the same happens, someone who doesn't know me that well, or doesn't know the difference, will buy me an extremely expensive single malt as a nice gesture, and hand it to me with a 'It's whisky - you love whisky', and I have to surrepticiously drown it in so much coke that you can barely trace the 'main' ingredient.

I don't like cheap shit like Bells but at a push I'll have it with loads of ginger ale.

I cannot stand anything like Ouzo.

The last time I enjoyed whiskey it was at a Llamasoft party five years ago and I was already incapable of tasting anything. The time before that I think I was eighteen. Someone left a half-bottle of JD at my last house party (Steve? Dom? anyone see anyone with JD? It's in Hull now) and I tried it neat, then with coke. Awful stuff. I'm alright with very spicy food though I do have my limits, but I get that to some people there's no point handing them a scotch bonnet if they retch at habaneros. Damn those who see a mountain to be climbed when I refuse the stuff. Give me gin and tonic and you're a genial host, give me whiskey awkwardness and you're a bully.

The thing to remember about whiskey is that whoever bottled that stuff could easily have made ale instead.

Oh, it's a not drinking thread innit? Well, I find there are four stages in life of what you can drink:

1: Nothing
2: Everything
3: Whatever early adulthood has taught you you like
4: Whatever you can manage in later life.

I just 'bank' it 'for a special occasion' then the next person I have round who enjoys the stuff leaves with the bottle. This is also why I am relieved to be out of Wales now - only been back four days and despite going out three times I have noticed that there is far less of a 'get it down you' culture. Everyone knows I love beer and sometimes being drunk, but I'm already feeling a lot more comfortable and happy with the ambient booze levels in my life. In Wales, I'd fear any measure of spirits poured by a friend as it would very infrequently be something I'd enjoy drinking.

I get the whole retching thing with beers and lagers, seemingly regardless of which. And so I don't like beers and lagers.

People say ‘Oh, you'll like this one. It's nothing like the others. It's sweeter and less like piss.’ but I'll take one smell of the stuff and start retching. There's something in beers that makes me stomach churn.