Drinks!

Split from this thread: https://greaterthangames.com/forum/topic/international-tabletop-day-gathering-4994

I'm large and Scottish. You will need to drink at least three for me.

Craig. You're not large. Scottish, sure, but not large.

Le sigh. Everything is relative, when you compare yourself to ten years ago. 

I'll have one for you and Nick, Craig. 

For me, just have what Christopher is having; we have similar tastes. For Nick, Hefeweizen, and be sure to take about an hour to drink it.

Russ, what should I drink in your honor? I'll make a list of proxy drinks for my friends who cannot be there--I'll need something British for Anna as well.

Iced tea, half-sweet, for me. (Teetotalar of half-Southern extraction.)

The room temperature drippings from under the tap, it is.

Mine's almost always hard liquor, with taste far less dicerning (or expensive ) than Christopher and Craig. Fireball Whiskey mixed with a hard cider has been my most recent drink, with the usual default of a Long Island Iced Tea on stand-by.

Might as well suck on deodorant.

I like a nice dry cider, preferably from oak barrels, but I do also like proper beer as well. I'll pretty much drink anything that's not too sweet.

Good luck getting those in the states, sadly.

I'd say someone have a drink for me, but the gaming club I'm part of (so a large number of the Sentinels fans in Sydney :P ) will be having our own event. And Sentinels will be played.

Alas, my sense of taste is not very good; I can't actually distinguish much of what you would describe in tasting something.

Which I'm kinda okay with. Means it costs less for me to drink.

Actually, that is totally doable in St. Louis! There are several places that have Strongbow on tap (which is at least semi-legit cider), but a few local microbrewries periodically make good dry cider.

Also, I have 20 gallons of dry cider in my basement that I made last fall :D

I'll be hosting an event here... and there will be plenty of booze. We'll throw one back for your birthday as well, Evan. 

Plenty of dry cider on this side of the states as well. 

I was hoping you'd rise to that challenge, Paul. So, uh, need any help drinking that cider?

@arenson9 Actually, if you remind me, I can probably bring some to Gen Con!

Strongbow is my usual fallback I'm-in-a-pub-that-doesn't-have-anything-interesting drink. It's okay. Not my favourite, but I'll drink it.

It seems that since cider got suddenly way more popular a few years back, everywhere you look there's some hideously sweet monstrosity in a bottle pretending to be a sensible drink. Cider for people who don't really like drinking, I guess. Most of the draught stuff I see is that way too, like apple flavoured soda, which is pretty annoying.

And don't get me started on pear cider. Impossible! Cider is made from apples. A fermented pear beverage is called perry.

 This. All of this. Every single word of it. A++, would agree again.

Im glad people on this forum are very open about their alcohol prefrences. I'm actualy currently working on a sentinels drinking game. I have most of the rules hammered out, and a mixed drink for each hero. but i havent actually made most of the drinks. I was worried to talk about it here because i didnt know how well it would be received, but now that i feel more confident ill post the rough draft here soon

Yeah, I feel about the same with Strongbow, though I don't mind some of the bottled fruit ones. The Kopparberg Cloudberry one is frankly weird though!

That reminds me, my brother is having a barbecue on Saturday, I really must grab some Wyld Wood or Aspalls…

When I lived in Michigan we still made our own cider.  I can't drink most bottled stuff.

Someone drink some good Tequilla for me.

Cider makes me sick. Probably due to my sophomore year of college. Still can't stomach the stuff.

I noticed this past Fall that cider popularity sky rocketed in Philadelphia. Bars started dedicating 2-3 taps of just ciders which was very unusual. People like their lagers here. A lot.

I'm with Nick on Hefewizen, but I love most German beers. I have a friend who makes his own cider with local apples, so I will be getting some in the fall. Also, bourbon. Always bourbon.

I am disappointed that everyone is suggesting 'ordinary' drinks here, they may be alright for us common plebs but this is the leader of Team Fancy! His drinks should be as fancy as him.

I would tell you drink some sort of Lager for me, as that is usually my prefered tipple but I shall be responsible, be sure to drink a glass of water before you set out on this almighty celebration for me, so I know you're not going to swear off alcohol after the first night you are legally allowed to drink, you have many years of fine drinking to come! (yes, I know it's not fancy but someone has to think of the children legal adults)

Good point. Then for me I suggest some kind of cocktail without caffeine (I sleep badly enough without stimulants) - anything sharp (say raspberry mojito), or floral (something with creme de violette) but not too sweet.

I reckon a coloured drink in an interesting glass is pretty fancy. 

Have some mead for me as well.

One of my favorite drinks may contain one or more of the following:

• Kerosene
• Propylene Glycol
• Artificial Sweeteners
• Sulphuric Acid
• Rum
• Acetone
• Red dye no. 2
• Scumm
• Axle grease
• Battery acid
• Pepperoni

I'm reminded of a scene from Bottom. 

Urgh. Can't seem to get line breaks to work. 

http://www.miwiki.net/Grog

Although it seems to have been ignored so far, I'd like to thank everybody for not explicitly ragging on me for not drinking. I've got reasons, among which are that I don't want to find out what kind of drunk I might be, 'cause I'm unpleasant enough when I'm angry and sober.

Makes sense, and fair enough, jff.

Personally, although I do like the occasional drink of a Saturday night, I very rarely get drunk. And when I do, I'm either an earnest drunk or a slightly sad drunk which is not so bad. 

Drink, don't drink, I don't care. Much as the person in front of me at Starbucks doesn't make me fatter with their terrible drink, it affects me not a lick.

People who don't drink are awesome, esp. if they are willing to give me a ride home.  

I guess I've caught enough flak from people (especially family) over the years over not drinking nearly at all, ever, that I'm a bit sensitive to it.

My wife doesn't drink. She simply has never liked the taste of alcohol. In high school I was a teetotaller for a while. This was in Hong Kong where despite a drinking age of 17, it was common for minors to drink.

I don't drink.  Technically, it wouldn't be legal if I wanted to, but I'm at college.

Anyone who gives someone else flak for choosing to not drink is an asshat.

It's usually in the form of "You need to lighten up..."

And I know there are more non-drinkers out there, but when I did grad school in Wisconsin, it often seemed like I was the only one. I guess I've just gotten pre-emptively sensitive on this topic.

I know a lot more people who drink that I feel shouldn't than the other way around... and I know plenty of recovering alcoholics, so I never push the issue once someone says they don't want a drink. 

I sort of know how it is, since I don't drink anything with caffeine and many people can't seem to understand that at all, choosing instead to take pride in telling me exactly how much they can't function without that particular drug. (Not judging anyone, it's just not an effect I enjoy myself).

I guess a lot of people need others to validate their own life choices, and feel attacked and threatened and get defensive when someone doesn't make the same choices they did.

Vegetarians get it a lot too. It sucks.

Personally, I don't care in the slightest what people do as long as it doesn't adversely affect others. Someone not having a drink has basically no effect on me at all. 

In a similar vein, my aunt has given up smoking several times and each time she's been persuaded to start again during drinking sessions with "friends" who obviously didn't like the fact that she quit when they didn't.

She's only in her 50s and she has hypertension, she's had a stroke and now has stroke-induced dementia. She's still smoking. 

Yeah... People are scary.

I can understand harassing Vegetarians.

They are killing the planet.

I am the only one in my circle of friends who doesn't drink. Never been properly drunk either. A lot of my friends and family are weirded out by it, but are cool with it on the whole, because I don't interfere with their drinking (unless it's a life threatening situation- which has happened). Now, when I'm hanging out with my friends late at night at a convention, some of them have a habit of breaking out the whiskey and then I'll drink about 5mm of Single Malt in a shotglass (provided it is peaty as heck) which happens only about twice a year. And I'll try a tiny sip of any drink once, because I am curious like that with food as well.

What is really, really rubbish though is that when I go to conventions, there are some people who 'not drinking' is a curable condition. You would not believe how many times I had my non-alcoholic drinks spiked with booze.The clumsiest attempt of which was a quarter of a bottle of aquavit in my cup of tea, which was ridiculously obvious, but there have been more subtle attempts and some of those by people were actually sort of 'friends'. 

So, yeah, that's how you get paranoid.

Wait, your family harrasses you for NOT drinking?

… want to trade?

I'm a vegetarian who doesn't drink much.  It can suck, but it isn't terrible.  I associate with some pretty solid people, and I generally can avoid idiot conversations.  "I already ate at home," "I'm the DD tonight," "I've got work in the morning," "I'm not that hungry, so I'll just snack."

I've just never developed a taste for meat, and the strongest drink I've seen my parents consume is O'Doul's (non-alcoholic beer that actually tastes pretty good).  It's just something I've not been around much.  My dad's family is part of drinking culture, and a couple of my relatives are in bad.  My uncle drank himself to death two Christmases ago, but thankfully he was able to hold his newborn grandson at least once before he passed.

Do forgive me for bringing the mood down.  I don't have anything against alcohol (or meat) and I know my limits on those rare occasions that I drink.  I'm fond of a number of alcoholic apple ales and ciders, Blue Moon, and have recently discovered the majesty that is Rum Chata.

The point is: drink responsibly, have a good time, and remember that your vegetarian friends will never, ever steal your bacon.

That's love, friends.

I just want to be clear that I don't actually care if people eat plants or animals or not.

I had some horribly obnoxious Vegetarian friends, who were also big into carbon footprints, who tried to make eating meat a huge moral debate, so I started talking about how eating plants was destroying the planet and increasing carbon in the atmosphere, while eating animals was the environmentally conscious thing to do.

Now it's become a running gag.

But peer pressuring others to do drugs is cool!

I'm a teetotaler myself (though I do love the non-alcoholic kind of cider very, very much, and have been tempted to try the hard variety).  Alcohol destroyed the lives of my first set of parents, and I already know I have an addictive personality; I don't need anything that will biochemically reinforce the addiction.  So know that you are not the only one to make such a life choice, and that I at least fully support you in it (doubly so given that you're a parent; your children will not grow up to be like me, and that's a tremendously good thing).

People who drink quite often also drive cars while drunk, causing accidents which take lives, destroy property and drive up insurance rates.  And even more often, they puke in public, make a lot of noise in the middle of the night, and otherwise make life unnecessarily obnoxious.  Smoking is far worse, since it poisons and stinkifies the air for a huge radius around the person doing it.  So yes, other people's choices very much affect me, and I'm not shy about wanting to limit their ability to do such things anywhere near where I happen to be; what people do in the privacy of a home that doesn't share walls with mine is their business, but I believe my right to go out into public without being exposed to the consequences of their stupdity trumps their right to be stupid.  (They have that right, it's just lower in rank of importance - "cannot" trumps "can", so my right to not be smoked around exceeds another's right to smoke when around me.  Making small personal sacrifices for the sake of others's welfare is the whole point of society.)

I'm sorry to hear about you're aunt's "friends", though; such spiteful behavior (essentially a version of Tall Poppy Syndrome) is a huge source of our world's overall suckitude.

I've given up eating and absorb all the energy I need directly from the Sun. It has been a rough winter.

Drinkwise, I recently tried a Sazerac for the first time and recommend it highly.

Like I said, it's usually in the form of "You need to lighten up," although there have been occasional pointed comments if it messes with somebody's plans for what to serve. I had a rocky-ish relationship with my father for several years, and my sister has suggested at least once that he and I need to go get drunk together to clear a bunch of the air. But, like at least one other noted, I know I've got a bit of an addictive personality and don't really feel like taking my chances.

I'm conscious of an old superstition against toasting in water, though, and will generally make sure I've got something else to use for the toast if I'm expecting one. It's one of the rare times I will imbibe.

The whole "in vino veritas" thing has been floating around for a long time; it's true that alcohol lowers inhibitions, so a person who's drunk is less likely to be capable of lying.  But if both members of a dialogue are drunk, the chances of one being clear-headed enough to ask a question that he needs the other to answer honestly are probably not greatly improved.  A person is perfectly capable at any time of just choosing to lower their inhibitions and/or choosing to be honest, so I would deny that getting drunk ever provides any real benefits to the people involved.

Agreed. Making amends with someone usually requires a bonding experience that both participants enjoy and find meaningful. For some people, it's drinking, for others it's going to a ball game or just sharing a meal together.

I'm surprised that I have not found my people hear - my people being gin drinkers. 

I may or may not be able to make it to Evan's birthday drinking, but I believe that you can never go wrong with a gin and tonic, gimlet, or tom collins. Gin martinis are good but only with good gin/olives and you have to be sure not to be served anything in a martini glass. Martini glasses are the worst. 

A couple years back, my entire Halloween costume consisted of a tuxedo (because I happen to own one that still fits) and a martini glass. I had several people who didn't know what I'd been plannning recognize it right away.

I told EvanDan in another place that this is one of my preferences. And, for the record, it's just "martini." The only one that needs a descriptor is that vile abomination, the "vodka martini."

I don't not drink. That is, I drink so rarely, a lot of people don't realise I do.

So I was at a formal meal last night with my choir. I don't remember how we got there, but the guy opposite me (who has known me for around 9 years) said to me in surprise at one point in the conversation, "But you don't drink!"

In answer I waved my half-empty wine glass at him. It turns out that every time he's seen me in a social drinking type situation, I haven't actually been drinking when he's been looking at me. Or something. 

Now it's true that I don't usually drink very much. But there have been many choir social occasions when I've had more than a few, so I have no idea how he got that impression of me. He must have just forgotten or something. Weird. 

That's usually a sign you've been drinking before the meal!

(Yeah yeah, I know what you actually meant)

Yeah, one glass of wine the entire night. Last of the big drinkers here! ;)

For me, tiredness and alcohol don't mix that well. I enjoyed what I had, but didn't fancy another. Water was fine. 

I have an entire laundry list of things I'll be drinking for you fine folks. I'll be sure to get a before/after picture.

[quote="imprimis5"]

 And, for the record, it's just "martini." The only one that needs a descriptor is that vile abomination, the "vodka martini."

[/quote]

I agree, but I've found that most bars don't. :(

Welp.  That there's yer problem.

Minnesotan here, and honestly, I thought that we did a ridiculous amount of drinking until I went over to Wisconsin and witnessed the absolute liquid debauchery that takes place almost nightly.  Spending a few weekends in Madison during St. Paddy's Day or Marti Gras (or any of the other various excuses to day-drink) was enough to show me that Minnesotans don't really drink; we sip like children lapping at a water fountain in comparison to those miscrients on the other side of the river.

It reminded me of the movie Beerfest when the two drunken heroes challenge the germans to a chugging contest only to realize they were in way over their heads.  If you thought you were the only one in Wisconsin who didn't drink, that's probably because it was true.

But all of that aside, I'm so glad that micro-breweries have taken off at a ridiculous pace over the last decade and that Minnesota is one of the leaders in amazing local beers.  Anyone in the Minneapolis area must go and try a few flights at Dangerous Man brewery.

Protip: Be certain that laundry soap is not on said list.  Trust me on this one.

Going to college in Wisconsin, I can attest to the level of drinking. In the words of Lewis Black, they aren't alcoholics, they are professionals.

I guess this could go on both the "Drinks" and the "Books" thread, but I recently read Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776 and I don't think most Americans can really comprehend the level of alcoholism that was present in colonial America. 

I think we are all amateurs compared to those folks. 

The good old days when politicians could rink on the job.  No wonder they were able to compromise.

I have a friend who has an unusual condition where occasionally he will move about drunkenly (despite having nothing to drink!)  We found a solution, however.  If he actually does drink, the symptom goes away.  So, there's one case where drinking was actually helpful.  Just for the record, I do not drink.

They truly are professionals.  The Minnesota vs Wisconsin rivalry doesn't help things.  Because of course my friends and I challenged our Wisconsin friends to an olympic competition of beer pong, tippy cup, and drunken frisbee.  And of course, they absolutely wiped the floor with us.  It was ridiculous.

Being up in Riverfalls or Madison on the weekend is the equivalent of any other city's St. Paddy's day.  They don't joke around.

There's an "in Soviet Russia"-type joke in there somewhere, but I can't quite pinpoint it…

Milwaukee and Wausau were quite enough to enjoy. I was lucky enough to partake with people with good taste in drinks, so I think that made me a more educated drinker, (hopefully not too much of a snobbish drinker). That being said, those people are nuts when it comes to sitting down and drinking. The boot game is not for amateurs…(Beerfest doesn't do it the justice it deserves, that is a lot of beer at once).

Hey kids! Last day for you guys to submit what you'd like me to drink for you if you can't make it to the game day in St. Louis (AKA my 21st birthday party)! I'll take a picture with your name on an index card and your drink in hand! If you can't think of anything, I'll just have a shot for you! Just ask! It'll be like you're all there with me in spirits!

One pint of their finest tap water for me :D

YOU'RE INSANE

I found the tap water there to be quite palletable.

St. Louis is actually known for having unusually delicious tap water.

I knew it was famous for something. 

Ha. Just checking to make sure that EvanDan55 made it through his Rite of Passage with nothing more (and absolutely no less) than a splitting headache and a decidedly uncooperative stomach the next day. 

I wish it to be known that whenever I see the title of this thread, a shrill voice in my head goes "Drinks for sale!"  It's getting quite irritating.

Espcially as the quote I'm getting it from is "Sweets for sale!", and has nothing to do with drinks at all.

Slightly more on topic, in general I've found that the temperature of water has a much greater effect on its flavor than it's source.  

That's true about a great many drinks. For example, it's the reason most beer in the USA is sold chilled. Colder drinks help numb the sensation of taste, so you won't be able to taste it as well as if it was room temperature.

Hate to disappoint, but no–I did not have to suffer a hangover. I am yet to experience one, and plan on keeping that record. The secret is lots of water and bread.

It was a lot of fun.

Talk, talk. Where are the pictures? 

Didn't take a single one. Those will come later. ITAP didn't have the mixed drinks I needed to complete the list. And I didn't want to show favoritism amongst you fine folks. Soon, though, I promise.