I don’t drink. I never have. The reason? It tastes awful. Any drink that I have tried (with the tiniest of sips) has always left a strange petro-chemical aftertaste in my mouth. Alcohol tastes like, well, medicine. For all I know, that could be lighter fluid or paint thinner mixed with orange juice and it would probably taste about as good (to me).
The only way I can stomach any kind of drink (when social pressure mandates that I have one in my hand) is to order something that is so heavy with fruit juices or grenadine or anything else to mask the bitter, biting taste of the alcohol. I couldn’t even begin to imagine drinking straight vodka. And don’t even mention beer <insert puking smiley>.
The only thing I can come up with is that this volatile chemical actually tastes good to many people, judging from the number of people I see guzzling booze at parties, bars, clubs, etc. But I guess that’s why I’m starting this thread.
Or maybe I just haven’t tried a really tasty cocktail. Any suggestions?
I like the taste of beer and wine. The effect is nice as well, but for the most part it’s secondary. I also enjoy the taste of brandies, cognacs, whiskeys, and some rums. I don’t particularly care for most clear liquors (vodka, light rum or gin), which to me also taste more like alcohol and have little flavor of their own. I can drink those mixed in with other things, but don’t really see the point.
So, it’s just not the taste for you. Assuming you have no urge to get drunk or buzzed, don’t drink the stuff. I find social pressure to get non-drinkers to drink as ridiculous at best, and damaging coercion at worst. Personally, I don’t like Grapefruit juice, it’s bitter and nasty to me. I don’t understand how anybody could drink the stuff. But I know that a number of other people love it. To each his/her own.
If you can stand tonic water, try that instead of ordering a drink. Have the bartender put a slice of lemon or lime in it, and you’ve got a mock gin and tonic.
As far as why I drink, it’s because I like the taste. And sometimes, I do it because I want to loosen up (yeah, I know, I’m supposed to exercise or meditate, but I don’t. I’d rather meditate over a glass of Guinness).
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve drunk less and gotten pickier over what I want. No more Old Milwaukee for me, no sirree. [sub]unless that’s all there is in the house, then maybe a small one. No? How about Iron City Light? PBR? Stroh’s?"[/sub]
I have to say the main reason I drink is for the effect. I like the buzz and pleasant loose feeling of impending drunkenness. As I move on though, there is a steep drop off in my enjoyment. Oh, I still enjoy the hell out of it while it’s happening, but once the stomach begins rejection procedures, it’s all downhill. These days I’ve learned to mostly plateau at the pleasant loose buzzy drunk stage and sustain it for a couple hours, then come back down before turning in. It’s worked quite well, I have to say. As far as the taste, what they say is true, It’s an acquired taste. Most beer is nasty, but if you can find a good one, you can come to enjoy it. I’ve drank straight vodka quite a bit, and it really has no taste, it’s more of a fuel than a drink. That said, I drink plenty of it in vodka and tonics, and white russians. I despise gin and tequila, but like rum. I drank too much whiskey when I was younger to properly enjoy it now. If I’m drinking something for the taste though, I’m going to drink Dr Pepper. Alcohol is consumed by me for effect only. I do drink drinks that taste good to me though.
I’m not particularly fond of hard liquor. All the ‘clear’ stuff I’ve tasted is just nasty, and -most- dark stuff isn’t much better. (Rum and coke is pretty nice, though.)
I don’t care much for beer in general–but Guinness is awfully good.
What you need to try is a good beer. Not, to be sure, the swill produced by mass marketing conglomerates; or pseudo-fancy over-hopped and over-priced crap being foisted on the public as the answer to an industrial swill but an honest to goodness german or belgian bier. Prohibition was a crime against nature, and the american people, one that we have not yet recovered from.
Once you’ve found a favorite (Might I suggest a good Hefe Weissen) you can then try your taste buds out on wine-- another one of lifes simplest and best pleasures. Cheers.
Eh, I’ve never really liked hard liquor, either, but I’m usually good about ignoring nasty-tasting stuff. I prefer all the wimpy drinks, anyway… hard fruit drinks, wine coolers, champagne punch, that sort of thing. But if the occasion demanded it, I can down the vodka like there’s no tomorrow.
Why? Well, I enjoy the feeling of being slightly buzzed, to be frank. It helps me look at myself from a third-person, rather than first-person, perspective, and, to me, it’s more amusing that way.
Most people don’t like the taste of alcohol, but many start drinking anyway. This is where the phrase “acquired taste” comes from. I have a friend who drinks non-alcoholic beer because he likes the taste, but doesn’t want to have the alcohol. Alcohol gives me a burning sensation in my stomach. It actually makes me feel a little queasy. The thing I’ll never understand is why people drink to get drunk. I fail to see the appeal in numbing one’s senses to the point where they drool, stumble, and puke. I’ve always wanted to start a thread on that, but have never been ready for the flames.
I drink alcohol rarely, and when I do, it’s usually a cocktail. I only drink for the taste, but I do like trying new cocktails. As my father and father-in-law are both alcoholics (one in denial, the other sober for almost 10 years now) I limit myself to two a night and am constantly aware of my drinking and other’s around me.
So, I drink small amounts because I’m overly cautious, but like the taste enough that I don’t want relatives’ history to impinge too much on my life.
If the taste of alcohol (the petro-chemical) is that bad, I wouldn’t ever bother drinking, but have you tried the smooth drinks ? A good starting place may be a Baileys and milk. I just suggest it, because the smoother, creamier cocktails can be delightful… like a milkshake with a punch
And don’t go near beer. When travelling through Europe, I sampled many a different type of beer, and can’t stand any of them. Don’t believe anyone who tells you their beer is different. Ask them if they would have a glass of water if their favourite beer wasn’t available and they’ll all get an “inferior” beer to tide them over.
And as soon as I start to feel the slightest buzz (towards the end of the second cocktail, if it’s a strong one) I will stop right there. I can’t stand that fuzzy vague not-quite-in-control feeling.
Beer is one of the nastier substances known to man and I’m at a loss to understand how anyone can drink it. When I do drink, because I want the effect, I typically try to drink something that has the maximum alcohol in the smallest space so that I can minimize the quantity that I have to consume.
Also, and this goes for all beverages alcoholic and non, I can’t drink something if it isn’t sweet. It would be like having unsweetened ice cream or something… to me drink = sweet. End of story. Can’t help it, it’s just the way I am.
Some of the things that I find a bit easier to drink than other things are kamikazees, whiskey sours with extra extra extra extra cherries, well-made long island iced teas, and “Sublime” brand alcoholic raspberry lemonade.
Because “in vino veritas,” or whatever the Latin is for “in wine there is truth.” Now the ignorant interpret that to mean “get a guy drunk and he’ll be too messed up to lie to you,” but actually it means that with a good snootful you yourself may see things a little more clearly, at least on a gut-level.
Or maybe not: like a lot of you, I’ve had to baby-sit a lot of drunken friends and lovers who needed someone to hold their hand while they puked or needed a jawbone to take a sock at but their momma’s hand or jawbone wasn’t available at the time, and all I could come away with was not the “veritas” of the loquatious drunk mainly found only in Eugene O’Neil pays, there was an eloquence there nontheless.
Somewhere in “War And Peace” there’s a party scene where one of the guest is a live bear on a chain (always a sign of a good party), at which a game they play is to bend backwards on a snowy windowsill several storeys above a frozen cobblestone street, and chug a bottle of vodka. (now there’s a drinking game a cut above the “Bob Newhart” version!) I must admit that youful indescretion is nothing of which one should brag, but back home in the hills of SW Wisconsin there was a bridge high above a set of railroad tracks, known as Dog Alley, that served Tolstoys’ purpose for your’s truly.
The confrontation us suicidal drunkards were bending backwards to make, and at which my puking, beligerent buddies and wives were assailing, is that the point in getting drunk, in being alive at all, is not limited to the mere substance of alcohol, but with a quality inherent to life itself. And that quality, always more palpable while under the influence, is known as oblivion.
Social lubricant. Plus it is a social activity, so I do it because others are. I don’t drink to drunkeness, because I did that once and did not like it. It’s not the most pleasent tasting substance in the world, but one can acquire a tolerance or even an appreciation for it.
The best way my parents turned me off to alcohol as a child was letting me taste their beer and champagne. I absolutely hated it and wasn’t tempted in middle school or early high school to start drinking. By my own code of ethics and logic I made it through the later years of high school dry, too.
Now I love to drink. I’ve “acquired” taste for all potable alcohol, even cheap beer. I find that it’s not so much the taste but many times the odor of beer and wine that I enjoy most. I’ll hold it in my mouth while drinking and let it seep up to my olifactories.
I also really enjoy the effect. Some days I decide ahead of time to get drunk and others I decide to just enjoy a buzz. Many days I don’t drink at all. I enjoy alcohol very responsibly and the payoff is great: I never need alcohol (which is great when it’s not physically or financially available), and when I do drink, it only takes one drink before I feel it (and I’m a 200-lb guy!)
Oh, and lest anyone think me an alcoholic from my above post I only drink maybe once or twice a month, and often go many months without any alcohol at all.
I’ve always liked the taste of beer. Ever since my first sip I’ve liked it. Some beers do taste awful, but I wasn’t exposed to them until later (ie college).
I like the different flavors of beers, some nutty, some with a slight wood accent, some fruity. They’re all good!
Why do I drink alcohol? Oh, that’s a different question … it’s because when I drink alcohol, I’m a Viking! DarkRabbit
I rarely drink right now being finals week and all, but earlier in the year I was drinking every weekend. Drinking the right amount (not puking and then forgetting who you are) is good, drinking too much is bad. I’ve drank too much once and wow never again. For me it’s a time to relax, chill with friends, and let everything hang out. As for my drink of choice it varies, first it was straight Vodka, then smirnoff ice/hard lemonaide, and now it’s Hot Damn/Aftershock.
