I often get surprised looks when I tell people that, despite being born and spending a fair bit of my life in a country renowned for beer-drinking, I hate most beer. To be precise, I hate bitter beer, and I don't like many beers with hops in them, other than a well made Scotch ale, Weißbier and amber ale, where the hops don't define the flavour at all. These beers I really do love.
It seems that I got a head-start on some of you in terms of drinking - as I grew up in a pub where my mother was the proprietor. I had my first unintentional drink at 8 (some weirdo at a house party swapped my lemonade with his gin - a drink I have a loathing for to this day - and I downed it in one; I soon went up to bed thereafter) and my first intentional drink, some weird cocktail concocted by my uncle, a year after that. From what I saw (childhood-wrecking stuff) from the winos and terminal alcoholics at the bar, I thought I'd be teetotal or nearly so for a while, but it just taught me to drink in moderation - most of the time. And drink I do..
I love wine, and dedicate myself to getting the best I can afford reasonably from time to time. It's something I grew up with, particularly when I moved to L.Am. where it seemed to be served every year, even to kids sometimes. My favourite drink however is whisk(e)y. Ireland produces some fine whiskeys but it is Scotch that I fell in love with. There are few drinks that offer such diverse an experience as fine single malt.
I also dig: mead, cider (Magner's and Bulmers, both Irish, are the best, but have recently have got into French and Belgian ciders), brandy, some liqueurs and fortified wines.
I hate: gin (I was once given it neat by my now-ex, I projectile vomited), vodka (tastes bland - ok if mixed down enough I suppose, but it's not my sort of drink), poitin (don't ask), Bailey's (sickening), advocaat (due to my mother's snowballs, but also, I don't like eggs that much) and quite a bit of rum (one night, I got fucked on LSD and drank two-thirds of a Malibu rum bottle neat, never fucking again.)
It seems that I got a head-start on some of you in terms of drinking - as I grew up in a pub where my mother was the proprietor. I had my first unintentional drink at 8 (some weirdo at a house party swapped my lemonade with his gin - a drink I have a loathing for to this day - and I downed it in one; I soon went up to bed thereafter) and my first intentional drink, some weird cocktail concocted by my uncle, a year after that. From what I saw (childhood-wrecking stuff) from the winos and terminal alcoholics at the bar, I thought I'd be teetotal or nearly so for a while, but it just taught me to drink in moderation - most of the time. And drink I do..
I love wine, and dedicate myself to getting the best I can afford reasonably from time to time. It's something I grew up with, particularly when I moved to L.Am. where it seemed to be served every year, even to kids sometimes. My favourite drink however is whisk(e)y. Ireland produces some fine whiskeys but it is Scotch that I fell in love with. There are few drinks that offer such diverse an experience as fine single malt.
I also dig: mead, cider (Magner's and Bulmers, both Irish, are the best, but have recently have got into French and Belgian ciders), brandy, some liqueurs and fortified wines.
I hate: gin (I was once given it neat by my now-ex, I projectile vomited), vodka (tastes bland - ok if mixed down enough I suppose, but it's not my sort of drink), poitin (don't ask), Bailey's (sickening), advocaat (due to my mother's snowballs, but also, I don't like eggs that much) and quite a bit of rum (one night, I got fucked on LSD and drank two-thirds of a Malibu rum bottle neat, never fucking again.)
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