I love this. 
Good work, man!
Not to hijack, but if the primary effect is to be relaxation, and you dislike alcohol, could you try yoga? Or a young boy-toy into massages?
I concur, the Framboise Lambic is quite delicious and fizzy.
A good sweet wine, if you are open to trying such, is late harvest White Reisling.
Wow, kind of weird see our local winery mentioned by an out-of-towner. I’ll second this recommendation as well. My wife, who barely drinks alcohol due to the taste, loves this stuff. To me it tastes a bit sweet, but overall it’s not bad.
Rather than diluting the drinks and sacrificing the flavor, couldn’t you just toss back an 8 oz tumbler of water immediately before or after your drink? I would think that having a little extra non-alcoholic liquid in the stomach would help with some of the after effects you’re having. Maybe you’re just more susceptible when the concentration of alcohol is higher in your digestive tract? (I’m not sure if this is even a good guess. Feel free to correct me on this, medical-type people. I’d like to know if this is logical.)
Good luck with the booze, Eve!
The peach mead is most excellent. Launcelot is an excellent accompaniment with dinner. And it keeps well after opening.
Heh. One of my friends has friends in Bloomington, and he brought back a bottle on his last trip there for us to try. It’s now sold locally at one of our hipper grocery stores.
I don’t know why alcohol gives me a headache and stomach cramps—I’m fine with a small glass (say, half a coffee mug) of low-alcohol hooch. I think I’ll stop by the friendly Hooch Hut after work next week and go window-shopping. Maybe I’ll jot down a few brand-names and you all can tell me whether it’s rotgut or not.
Or, I could take up heroin. I hear that helps you lose weight, too!
A good solution, too, might be a fruit wine. These can be sweeter than a grape-based wine, and can also help with that whole Southern belle image.
Elderberry or blackberry wine might be a good place to start.
Those are not belle-ish, those are old-ladyish. Blackberry wine is, specifically, old-Jewish-ladyish, which Eve will be soon enough but there is no need to rush things.
Nothing quite like a Morgan-Davis blackberry spritzer while you’re playing canasta, though.