My First Drinks!

[Ethan.Bassist.]

(I hope you all don't grow tired of these 'just turned 21' threads)
Hey all! Just turned 21 yesterday and I went up to McMenamin's Edgefield, which, if you know the place, is awesome. If you don't know the place, I'll explain. It's an old poor farm turned hotel with a pub, a fine dining restaurant and numerous bars all on the grounds. So you don't have to worry about driving place to place. It was a very very enjoyable night. I went with my three best friends and we had a lot of fun (without getting drunk either!)

Before dinner came I got a sampler platter of beers; all McMenamin's house brews. They were okay. I found that I'm not big on the hoppy beers (actually, beer in general). Especially the IPA: It was so bitter! I'm still going to try different beers because I'm sure there's one I like. And I'm sure my tastes will grow into them eventually. Probably had one or two beers worth just trying the samples. I'm going to try a Fat Tire tomorrow night.

What I really enjoyed was the hard a and mixed drinks.

With dinner I had a Monkey Ale. It is their new Monkey Puzzle (a hop infused whisky), ginger ale, Angostura Bitters, and lemon. It was pretty good. Though I think I'd have liked it better with normal whisky. Twas still kinda hoppy. But it was really good. Also had a sip of my friend's Gin and Tonic. So delicious and refreshing! Loved it. In fact I got a bottle of gin! I'm looking forward to having one sometime in the next couple of days.

After dinner we went to the Distillery Bar and had a special limited run 13 year old Pear Brandy. It was very very good! She put a little in a snifter and let me smell it. Then she rested the snifter over a glass of hot water to warm the brandy and boy, it absolutely amplified the aroma. It was heavenly! Definitely a slow sipper though. It was my first Brandy (in fact every drink was my first) so I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but it was very good. So warming. I only wish the half-bottle wasn't almost $50!

Then we went to the pool hall and I got a Mojito which was delicious. The rum was good. I liked that you can definitely tell it was distilled from sugar. Very distinctive. The Mojito is a very refreshing drink.

Slice of Pizza.

Then I had a shot of Don Julio Tequila (Silver I believe). He rimmed the glass with salt, so I did the whole salt, shot, lime thing. I *think* it was good. Went by fast though. I'd prefer to sip it next time. Not big on shots.

At this point, I'm a champ. I'm feeling great. I knew at the Mojito that there's NO way I'd be able to drive, but just walking around was no problem (because I don't walk 60mph). In fact, I expected my clothes to start falling off after the tequila, but no such thing happened.

Then we went back to the pub where I got a Moscow Mule (vodka and ginger ale for those that aren't familiar). That was also good. I really enjoyed it. If you haven't guessed, I like ginger ale. I can't wait to try some drink with good ginger ale.

This is when I could start feeling it. Started getting tipsy. I got really giggly, and started losing vocabulary and enunciation. Licorice and absinthe were particularly challenging to say.

So I was about done. My friends asked me if I wanted one more drink. I told them if they had absinthe I'd have another. If not, I'd quit and go to bed. They didn't have absinthe, but my friend recommended Sambuca. So I got that. It was about 1.5 oz I think. More than the brandy that's for sure. I enjoyed it. It was a little syrupy (I've heard absinthe has less think of a mouthfeel) and tasted like Good and Plentys. But it was delicious. They served it with the traditional 3 espresso beans signifying Love, Live, and Happiness. And that point, I was bona fide tipsy. I was feeling good. Every thing after the Moscow Mule, while I remember it fully, feels more like a dream that 'real life.'

Woke up, only the very slightest of headaches. No nausea. No vomiting.

What a great night! Tried most of the 'food groups': Gin, Whiskey, Brandy, Vodka, Beer, Sambuca (Well, anise), Rum, Tequila. All without getting wasted. The key is food, water, and pacing. Probably won't drink that much again though. For one, it's expensive. For two, I prefer to stay fully cognizant. Even though my friends got a kick out of my giggling.

Now I know. I know what to think when I'm reading through these threads. Thanks for reading my long and detailed account and I look forward to joining the conversations!

Take care!

Ethan.

 

[Jrcole]

Here's a fun thing to do. Go to a bar and order Grey Goose and Vodka. Be adamant that what you want is a Grey Goose and Vodka. And you're not kidding. Effectively, you're ordering a vodka and vodka. If your barkeep has a good sense of humor, he'll just smile and give you a vodka on the rocks. The first time I ordered it, I got thrown out, because he assumed I was drunk, and I hadn't even had a drink yet! Hilarity!

 

[BlackBard]

Ethan,

Hold on there, buckaroo. Just because you are now legal is no cause to loose all reason. If you really want to learn to drink "like a man," show some self restraint. You can either just down as much alcohol as you can stand (maybe even more) or you can learn the finer points of what the spirits can offer up to you. I recommend the second course of action over the first.

If you want an education in this area, you might start by learning about one type of beverage at a time, say starting with beers. Find out something of the history of brewing, how beer and ale are made, what the ingredients are and how they affect the taste, etc. Educate your pallet. This requires a slow and deliberate approach, much like learning about shaving. If you just jump in, with no idea what you are doing, your results will not be as good as they might be if you take the time to practice learning a new skill, whether it is shaving, drinking or any other worthwhile activity.

Good luck.

PS Acting like a fool, as in the previous post (Jrcole), will not score you any points, either. People will just take you for an idiot. If that is what you want, then fine.

 

[spindlecone]

I know you don't want to hear it,But from a recoverd Alcoholic (12 yrs) I was 21 once,go easy.

 

[kt66]

Do people in the US really wait til they're 21 to go out drinking? Are IDs checked as a regular thing? Seems really alien from a British perspective, but OTOH we have binge-drinking teenagers vomiting everywhere at the weekends...

 

[Greyfox]

Congrats on your 21st. Just remember that moderation in everything is the key.

 

[Veritas II]

Congrats on your 21st. Just remember that moderation in everything is the key.

...including, sometimes, moderation.

 

[Kwaka_Chris]

Moderation is the best thing ever, I have drunk alot of things in the past that have exceeded moderation, usually resulting in lovely purge or two. BECAUSE of that, most spirits are ruined for me, and I cannot even drink them without gagging at the scent, feel and taste of the high ethanol contents. A few exceptions remain, brandy, sweet fortified wines, the occasional gin, and lower alcohol content anise drinks such as Jager (usually has to be mixed though).

Its quite sad, that I'd like to enjoy being able to taste test drink such as scotch or bourbon, but one sip and my stomach turns.

 

[Ethan.Bassist.]

Ethan,

Hold on there, buckaroo. Just because you are now legal is no cause to loose all reason. If you really want to learn to drink "like a man," show some self restraint. You can either just down as much alcohol as you can stand (maybe even more) or you can learn the finer points of what the spirits can offer up to you. I recommend the second course of action over the first.

If you want an education in this area, you might start by learning about one type of beverage at a time, say starting with beers. Find out something of the history of brewing, how beer and ale are made, what the ingredients are and how they affect the taste, etc. Educate your pallet. This requires a slow and deliberate approach, much like learning about shaving. If you just jump in, with no idea what you are doing, your results will not be as good as they might be if you take the time to practice learning a new skill, whether it is shaving, drinking or any other worthwhile activity.

Good luck.

PS Acting like a fool, as in the previous post (Jrcole), will not score you any points, either. People will just take you for an idiot. If that is what you want, then fine.

Don't worry, it may sound like I went hog wild, but I really didn't. My goal of the night wasn't to down as much alcohol as I could stand. My goal was to try as many different spirits as I reasonably could in the time I had without getting drunk. Mission accomplished. I find it more attractive to taste them all once before working through them one by one. But it is definitely something I won't repeat. I don't find the attractiveness in drinking to get loose or drunk.

And none of this was blind tasting. I've been learning and researching about different spirits for a couple years (casually. History Channel specials on Distilleries are my favourite). While I can use some refreshing, I know how and with what most of the spirits are made. I love learning about liquors and such.

The part I enjoyed was being able to take each drink slow and really focus on what I was tasting in addition to what I was smelling (first thing I did actually with each drink was to smell it. And smell it. And smell it. THEN taste it.).

In retrospect, I did give quite the positive light to my tipsyness. While I do get really giggly, I don't really enjoy drinking to the point of being tipsy. Plus, the array that I had that night was just way too much both in quantity and variety for a normal night.

So don't worry, moderation is the name of the game now.

Thanks for the tips though, guys!

Do people in the US really wait til they're 21 to go out drinking? Are IDs checked as a regular thing? Seems really alien from a British perspective, but OTOH we have binge-drinking teenagers vomiting everywhere at the weekends...

To go *out* drinking, like bars and stuff? Yes...mostly. To drink period? No. I'm definitely in the minority waiting till my 21st to drink. It varies, but yeah, you can count on getting carded. I got carded at every place I went to on my bday and every place I went to last night. Got carded even to just get into a bar/restaurant yesterday. I don't know what things are like over there, but bars and restaurants can get in pretty big trouble if they are found to be serving to minors.

 

[Slash McCoy]

There is such a thing as too much moderation. Be moderate with that moderation stuff.

When you are too drunk to walk, you GOTTA drive.

Water is for washing. Booze is for drinking.

I am a bad example, but I have a lot of fun.

Old drunks never really die... they just smell that way.

All women are drop dead gorgeous when the whiskey haze is thick enough. If not for Jim Beam, I might never have been born.

You can't feel guilty about something you don't even remember doing.

If you drink cheap booze, you can afford more of it.

Alcohol is a preservative. That's a good thing.

It's also an antiseptic. Die, Germs! DIE!

Jesus wouldn't have turned the water into wine if he didn't think getting a little bit jolly was okay.

That's about all the pearls of wisdom I can offer on the subject at the moment. Congratulations. Happy 21st. Be sure and sober up before you try voting or buying handguns or other grownup stuff like that. Enjoy your youth. Oops... too late. It's already gone. Don't worry... when you get my age you can have a midlife crisis and go through a second childhood.

 

[Ethan.Bassist.]

Haha, thanks Slash! ...though I imagine voting after a few would be MUCH more enjoyable than sober.