What's your tipple?

Up intil a month ago I would say a nip of really fine malt wiskey was my favourite spirit. I enjoy an good bold Bordeaux, and inevitably enjoy a good ale, and we have a few rather good breweries round here! Now I would have to say that a good Polish Vodka is something I would enjoy more! Cutural cross-fertilisation of ideas is not at all a bad thing in my view!

Fredrik.

PS: A Gin and Tonic (even better with Vermouth) is a pleasnt drink befopre lunch on a day where nothing else is to be done later, like feeding cattle or whatever...

Yes, Fredrik, I read the polish vodka thread. Must try that sometime.

I also love a single malt, but I prefer a good brandy. The grape is king for me.

Mark

Miller Genuine Draft (330mL bottles) barley beer.

Although, they are no longer imported from US, much to our disgust.

Dear Mark,

I have been poured a good brandy a few times, and I did struggle to keep a straight face of enjoyment on, as it would be rude not to, but I did not get through it very fast. I am not so hot on more than one glass of Port either, though one is very nice!

Can't stand all these bloody awful things like Campari and am not fond of Pink Gin. It's got some form of Bitters in it, if I remember right? I used to have to pour them for my father as a youngster, and tried it and hated it instantly!

Do try a good Vodka though. It is not fire-water if you get a decent one, though so far I have only had the Polish genuine article. I have been told that Finlandia (obviously not Polish!) is very fine indeed.

Fredrik

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:


Grape, grain, hop or other?

Mark

Wine.
Good wine rolling flawor in the mouth is an experience.

quote:

Can't stand all these bloody awful things like Campari and am not fond of Pink Gin. It's got some form of Bitters in it, if I remember right? I used to have to pour them for my father as a youngster, and tried it and hated it instantly!

Dear Fredrik

Absolutely agreed! I also cannot stand cocktails in any form as I find them sickly.

I have tried Russian vodka before and enjoyed it, but perhaps the most potent spirit I have had was some Greek moonshine called tsipouro which a restaurant owner brought out for some after hours drinking one night when I was on holiday. It was in a 'Johnnie Walker' bottle!

I think that was about the most inebriated I've ever been that night!

Regards

Mark

Dear Mark,

The strongest thing I ever tried was Aquavit, which Norwegians drink out of a glass not much bigger than a thimble, but on a wine glass sized stem. Allegedly it goes down in one. It was very pleasant taken a miniscule sip at a time. This policy pleased my Norwegian grandfather who seemed to think downing it was a waste. Very Lutheran, and Norwegian in one respect! He was a fan of Finnish Vodka, but it is probably more found in Norway than here!

Now I am going to brew a coffee and hit the hay, much too sober! Fredrik

Goodnight, Fredrik.

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
As I sit here slowly getting sloshed on a (good value) 15% red from Puglia (oaky with blackberries and a hint of chocolate), I wonder what other members' preferred beverage may be;

Grape, grain, hop or other?

Mark

I love my first chilled Stella when I get back from off-shore....we always have a fridge full up in The Den remember!

I'm not a big grape drinker, unless they're fortified as Port is my weakness, along with the stinky cheese!!
A 10 or preferably a 20 year tawny, a decent late bottle or a special vintage - I love the lot......along with the stinky cheese......

I have a bit of a sweet tooth and find a pudding wine after a good meal (normally special occasions) goes down a treat......have a Tokaji in the fridge back home at the mo, chrimbo present from my old man....

Cheers!
Ali

quote:

most potent spirit I have had was some Greek moonshine called tsipouro

AKA R(h)aki. I believe Italian Grapa is similar. Whatever they are both usually like paint stripper,although some Greek Raki we had in a small village in Crete was almost drinkable.Often served as a freebie at the end of a meal. A digestif I suppose, my misses usually sticks with the pretty couloured alternative drink.
My normal drink is bitter (Fullers if possible) red wine or maybe a G&T depending on my mood or avialability of said products.

I am very boring these days and not experimental............... freezing cold Chardonnay (Australian). Favourite is

Though I do like a drop of Champagne for a special occasion, a nice cold lager (Kronenberg 1664) and a pint of strong beer with twigs in it. Though not all together.

The Diccus

Chaps

Drink tastes a lot better when you buy it sensibly, in other words from within the EU where sensible levels of tax apply.

Mrs Mick and I now have over 20 bottles of Gin, less than £5 for a Litre) from our frequent Spanish trips and I still have cartloads of Malt Whisky.

A Gin and Tonic is one hell of a drink during the warm summer months and a Malt is better during the cooler seasons, especially late at night.

How Gordon Brown can justify a bottle of Malt costing £30 over here when you can buy the same brand at around £7/£8 in Spain is beyond me.

No wonder we are all spending months over there.

Regards

Mick

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
........I now have over 20 bottles of Gin, less than £5 for a Litre)

Getting ready for nuclear strike, Mick?

No he's just a piss head.

I ordered a tanker of tonic water.
Maybe we can spend those months together?


Ps: Adam brings lemon.

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Mrs Mick and I now have over 20 bottles of Gin, less than £5 for a Litre)

Gin goes off in time I'm afraid.
Six months to an absolute maximum of a year (it will yellow as part of the process). Either throw a very large party or sell/give some to your friends. Or join AA. Keep it in the coolest, darkest place in your house at the very least.

The various finance ministers of Europe have all subscribed to an agreement to harmonise alcohol duties across the EU. So far this has resulted in France, Belgium (and others) putting alcohol tax up (with commensurate domestic outrage) and the Irish and Swedes (the only two countries whose booze taxes are/were higher than the UK) benefiting from the reductions their governments have signed up to.

Brown is ignoring this commitment and continues to raise duty on the basis - get this - that the rises are less than the rate of continental inflation, not UK inflation.

Someone in the UK Booze trade body worked out that it would be about two centuries before harmonisation would be realised if he continues to do this (I'm aware that a great many assumptions about the variables need to be taken into account here).

You should all - of course (I am professionally bound to advise) - drink wine, which apart from being the king of alcoholic beverages, less fattening than most others and a better accompaniment to food, is (if it's red) demonstrably GOOD for your health.

The better news is that alcohol tax in this country, whilst high, is fixed (£1.26) so expensive wines (around £12+) are very likely less expensive here than elsewhere, where duty is levied as a percentage.

Bottom's up.

Rod

quote:

(if it's red) demonstrably GOOD for your health.

Red Wine contains some elements which are allegedly good for ones health. I will except this as far as it goes. However it is better to get those healthy elements from another non-alcoholic source as drinking a bottle or two of 'healthy' red wine a day will NOT be good for your health at all. The argument that certain substances are good for your health therefore wine which contains some of the same substances is also good for your health is fallacious and put about by the drinks industry. A glass per day may have a benefit over cost to one health but in greater doses the effect becomes the opposite.

quote:

Originally posted by erik scothron:
and put about by the drinks industry.

Not entirely true.

Resveratrol is found in grape skins and therefore wine (red prevalently as white winemaking does not involve the skins to the same degree). This substance, although now isolated (from vitis vinifera/grapevine origins) and available via non-alcoholic means, IS demonstrably good for the health. Google the word for yet more links if you think mine is spurious. There are, in fact a number of other anthocyanins and polyphenols in red wine which offer anti-oxidant properties and are the subject of ongoing considerable research.

Mine was a throwaway comment, but I have studied this to a very high level. Your "put about" comment suggests to me that you may have some kind of axe to grind and somewhat dilutes the point that you quite validly make that consuming lots of any kind of alcohol is bad for the health. I took this as read, and I concede that I should have added "in moderation".

What you cannot argue I think, however, is Louis Pasteur's comment: "there is more philosophy in a bottle of wine than there is in all the books in all the world."

I loathe the phrase "drinks industry". This quite genuinely includes gutrot sugary "soft" drinks and hard spirits, both of which, for differing reasons, are bad for the health. I work in wine. The "wine industry" if you must, but wine nevertheless. An agricultural product that has enhanced life for millennia.

quote:

Originally posted by rodwsmith:

Resveratrol is found in grape skins and therefore wine (red prevalently as white winemaking does not involve the skins to the same degree). This substance, although now isolated (from vitis vinifera/grapevine origins) and available via non-alcoholic means, IS demonstrably good for the health. Google the word for yet more links if you think mine is spurious. There are, in fact a number of other anthocyanins and polyphenols in red wine which offer anti-oxidant properties and are the subject of ongoing considerable research.

Dear Rod,

Exactly my point. I contest none of the above.

quote:

Mine was a throwaway comment, but I have studied this to a very high level. Your "put about" comment suggests to me that you may have some kind of axe to grind and somewhat dilutes the point that you quite validly make that consuming lots of any kind of alcohol is bad for the health. I took this as read, and I concede that I should have added "in moderation".

No axe to grind at all, it's just that I have noticed a whole bunch of 'advertorials' in the press and elsewhere which generally I dont like. PR companies and advertising agencies get coverage in the media providing they buy advertising space. The scientific evidense for the claims made in the advertorial (posing as an article researched and written by a journalist but actually written by the PR people)is often innacurate and highly biased. The argument that red wine contains 'X' proves that wine drinking is good for you without further explanation is of course a nonesense. By adding 'in moderation' makes all the difference as you rightly point out. I appreciate your comment was a throw away remark, it's difficult to write and cover all the basis all the time, I was just feeling pedantic. I put 'drinks industry' lest you though I was taking a personal pop at wine producers/sellers. I have nothing against wine, indeed I'm very fond of the stuff.

quote:

What you cannot argue I think, however, is Louis Pasteur's comment: "there is more philosophy in a bottle of wine than there is in all the books in all the world."

Wanna bet? LOL. Philosophy is the love of wisdom. I put it to you that the more one drinks the less wise one becomes. I have a whole bunch of books on philosophy, especially Buddhist philosophy which makes western philosophy look pretty infantile and I have a couple of cases of Sancerre in my kitchen (admittedly it's wine not red). I bet if I sat down with 'Ocean of Nectar' by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and studied it carefully I would be more wise then if I had drunk the nectar from my hoard of Sancerre. If Pasteur meant that wisdom does not automatically come from reading books on philosophy I would agree with him. If he meant that some come of automatic joy does come from drinking wine I would disagree with him.

quote:

The "wine industry" if you must, but wine nevertheless. An agricultural product that has enhanced life for millennia.

For some it has enhanced life, myself included. I adore a glass of wine with friends or dinner or both. However, for some, it has led to alcoholism, violence, rape and unwanted pregnancies. Wine is no universal panacea for the ills of the world but the practice of true widom is IMO and I would love to discuss this with you over a glass....of nice red wine.

All the best,

Erik

Dr Pepper. Although lately I've become partial to Vanilla Coke and of course Cherry Coke is a pleasant alternative

Dear Mr Smith,

Nothing in it then!?

This reminded me of going into Crief Hydro many years ago not realising that the Wee Free's have a big influence and the place was dry!

I asked for four beers, and got no reply, only a really filthy look and four large Cokes turned up.

I felt I was done, becaus I prefer sweet, milky tea to Coke!

All the best from Fredrik,

Who has to report that the Vodka party had to be postponed till next weekend for sadly logistical reasons!

Fredrik

Vodka is best avoided. It is rumoured that it makes you impotent as well as giving you horrific hangovers.

Regards

Mick

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
..........as giving you horrific hangovers

......and it goes around and around and around........................

Dear Mick,

I am sure you are right, but there is a saying that a liitle bit of what you like does you good!

In my life I have drunk a half litre of Vodka, and I guess that if three us had consuned a litre tonight little serious harm would have come of it!

On the other hand in no way would I think of having even a daily dose!

ATB from Fredrik.

President says it's time to change!