When I was a wee lad, I tried wine and liked it. No problem there. But beer and liquor tasted nasty to me.
When I was in college, I decided to learn to like beer. I tried a bunch of different beers until I learned to get past the bitter taste, and now I’m a big fat beer snob. I can debate the merits of an IPA versus an ESB with the best of them, and I’ve described a beer as having flowery overtones without cracking a smile.
But liquor still tastes nasty to me.
I can drink gimlets till the cows come home, and anything foofier than a gimlet is more-or-less fair game (White Russians, whiskey sours, etc.) But straight liquor tastes more like something you’d use to clean your floors or fuel your Boeing than like something you’d drink.
I want to get past this, as I got past the bitterness of beers. I want to learn to savor a good Bourbon, to delight in a cognac, to sip Scotch as I talk about existentialism with my buddies in the dimly-lit corner of the local pub.
But I don’t know where to start – I don’t even know what would be good sipping liquors, and I can’t tell the difference in taste between the Jack Daniels and the Hennesy Cognac I just bought. And to compound the problem, I’m on a budget, being a nonprofit worker.
Can y’all help me out? What would be something good to start with? Brands? Types of liquor? What should I look for, flavorwise?
Well, FWIW, I usen’t to be able to drink the harder stuff either, but when I was about 20 I was given a scotch and coke by mistake. It was a mixer, but the coke masked the sharp alcoholic bite of the scotch.
I moved onto scotch and water, then eventually to single malts.
Once you get used to the sharp hit and the burn on the back of the throat, you can start to taste the flavours of the booze proper. This, of course, isn’t always a good thing.
These days I’m a big fan of good quality irish whiskies and many of the single malt scotches, but I don’t care for cheap stuff. I can drink them, I just don’t like the taste of them. I also go for certain brandies - especially Remy and Hennessy, but that’s about it.
I don’t drink for the alcohol - if you offered me a Bushmills 16 or one that tasted the same without the alcohol, I’d go for the latter - but I drink certain liquors for the taste. I’ve never liked bourbons, vodkas are bland and the less said about rums and tequilas, the better.
In short, try it with mixers at first - they’ll mask the bit that’s hard to get past - and acclimatise yourself. Eventually you’ll work out what you do or don’t like, and you can experiment on those.
A thirty-year-old single-malt scotch, however, is not booze.
If you don’t have bottomless pockets, try Cardhu– it’s nice, and not too expensive. (aged 12-15 years.) It’s got a bit of a smoke to it that sets it apart from most whiskies in it’s category.
Personally, I think a good scotch should always be neat, but you might find soda water makes it more palatable for you.
Sorry about the rambling first post. Let me get more specific.
Go to the bar and buy a Johnny Walker Red and coke with ice. Have the first sip and roll it around your mouth, despite the fact that it may not be entirely pleasant. Swallow, eventually.
Drink the rest of it, taking note that you’re trying to taste it rather than just drink.
Then do the same for a bourbon (JD or JB - they’re much of a muchness) and coke with ice. Compare and, as they say, contrast to the scotch.
Then try a dark rum and coke with ice. Look out for this one - it’ll be a bit more potent. I’d suggest Bundaberg UP, but that might be pricey in the US. I don’t know the equivalent.
That’ll probably be all you’ll want to try on one sitting.
The next time you’re at the pub, try the white spirits with coke - vodka, then Bacardi, then a tequila.
Work out which one you prefer, then try less ‘masking’ mixers. Soda water, say, then water.
Leave things that don’t mix (gin, brandy, etc.) until you know whether you like the harder stuff in general, or at least until you can taste through them.
Get a bottle of 1800 Cuervo Gold and put it in freezer, keep it there, let it get COLD overnight even. Then just start out by taking little sips…get you a little lime salt and put a few pieces on your tounge (or slice a lemon and salt or whatever) if it’s still too strong.
BUT it shouldn’t be, it should go down like honey. Actually a little too smooth for my taste.
Limeade with just a dash of rum. (Like a few tablespoons or something.) That’s the best suggestion I can offer, since that’s about the only drink I’ve tried that I actually enjoyed.
Personally, I never have enjoyed drinking spirits, and am not motivated to try to develop a taste for them. I don’t understand the point! Everyone else’s mileage obviously varies, though.
How, oh how has this thread progressed this far without mention of the noble Gin and Tonic with a squeeze of lime? And all of this time I thought y’all had taste.
I also think what you eat with said liquor can help. Depending on the meal, I can really enjoy a fine brandy, and I’m a big fan of smooooothe Canadian Whiskey.
Not that I’m an abolitionist proselytizing about Demon Liquor, but why? This is a poisonous substance that your body doesn’t want. It is entirely possible that you are abnormally sensitive to alcohol, or to the flavors of it. If you try several different expensive liquors and they all taste like the finest turpentine, stop. It’s not for everybody. On the other hand, if you try some good stuff and it’s okay, then proceed.
Just thought I’d point out the Carrie Nation point of view.
(you could also try some nice liqueurs, like Amaretto or Drambuie on the rocks)
Thanks, all, for your ideas! (although Ethilrist, thanks but no thanks on the demon-rum lecture :D).
As I said, I currently drink some mixers: gimlets in particular are fantastic. I’ve never learned to like anything containing gin, OTOH: it’s too much like Pinesol in flavor for my taste. And sweet liqueurs are, IMO, nasty, in a way that I’m not interested in learning to like. I’ll drink from the hummingbird feeder if that’s what I’m looking for.
I’ll give the 1800 Cuervo a try – that’s the kind of thing I’m especially looking for, ways to appreciate unadulterated liquors. Gorgon, what foods would you recommend eating with brandy or with Canadian whiskey? This is a great idea: I learned to like beer by pairing it with good food, and I can definitely see how this would help with liquor.
Bignik, I might try the drinking of various liquors with a Coke adulterant (or some other adulterant). It might be a good way to mask the alcohol falvor, so that I can taste the drink’s other flavor. Would something like lime juice serve the same purpose? Coke & booze just tastes cloying to me when I’ve had it before.
And I’ll try Cardhu when I get a chance to try Scotch.
Thanks again, folks! This makes for very interesting reading.
