Favourite Alcoholic drink.

[Mr Vlad]

Hello you lovely folk. I'm not sure if there's a thread on this subject but if there is then I apologise. 

Why have I started this thread? Well I've happened upon an alcoholic beverage which has blown my socks off.

One or three of you may know my tipple is Real Ale. For example Abott Ale, Old Tom, Old Peculiar. Abott is what I mostly drink when I'm out.

When I'm home then it's Deep South and Canada Dry. Deep South is Asdas take on Southern Comfort but to me it's just nicer. Oh and it has to be Canada Dry to go with it.

Now what have I recently come across and finally bought a couple of bottles of? Grey Goose Vodka. Geeeeez what a superbly fabulous drink this is. They serve it in Wetherspoon pubs, that's where I first came across it (my wife likes Vodka and red bull but because I want the best for her I'll not get a Vodka less than 40% abv. Absolut Vodka is 40% but there's a chemical taste behind it. I saw Grey Goose at 40% and got that. OMG what a taste) and I'm hooked.

So as far as a Pint goes (can't get Old Tom in a pint but go with me) my favourite pint is Old Tom followed by Old Peculiar followed by Abotts. As for shorts it's Deep South but followed by Grey Goose. 

I'm not a Vodka guy. Last time I got excited by a Vodka was 20 years ago when Morrisons had a 40% Vodka named Moranov. That was a fabulous Vodka. Had to be, like all good vodkas, put in the freezer for at leat 24 hours. 

Characteristic changes after being in the freezer are so noticeable. The fluidity changes. Smoothness is aplenty. 

I've not mentioned wine. I use to be staunch full bodied Red but I like a good Dry white.

I look forward in reading what you lot like.

[GMB]

 

I quite like this for a daily tipple. Goes well with chips and beans.

[dutchie01]

For daily use a nice bottle of white Spanish Verdejo will do just fine. Change it to cava every now and then.  For me wine only, no longer drink beer fills me up immensely and stay away from the hard liquor, too strong. Used to like brandy but stopped years ago. Seems the body changes with the years! 

[Rabbers]

5 hours ago, GMB said:

 

I quite like this for a daily tipple. Goes well with chips and beans. …

Yes, especially the ‘82, wouldn’t you say?

[GMB]

Yes, the 82 is just about ready to drink, but for special occasions like Sundays with a beefburger accompanying the chips and beans then the somewhat firmer fuller bodied 1978 La Tache would go down well.😬

[GMB]

5 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

no longer drink beer fills me up immensely and stay away from the hard liquor, too strong. Used to like brandy but stopped years ago. Seems the body changes with the years! 

I think we must become less tolerant of abusing our bodies with alcohol with age. I used to enjoy a good old landed cognac but cannot take it nowadays. Maybe it's our bodies way of telling us how much we can drink. I know my limits and dare not exceed them for fear of feeling really bad the next day. One beer and one shared bottle of wine with dinner is the limit now. At least it's an excuse to stick to quality and not quantity.

[Rabbers]

53 minutes ago, GMB said:

… One beer and one shared bottle of wine with dinner is the limit now. …

I had to read that twice to understand you didn’t necessarily mean with the same meal.  On the other hand a cold post-prandial beer can have a quite rapid diuretic effect if so desired.  

[Mr Vlad]

Interesting reading how some have a drink with a meal. 

Long gone are the meals out except for a Sunday carvery but that doesn't count to me. A bitter shandy accompanies that.

A very large Deep South is had with my Friday evening treat which is a mixed kebab on naan. Lamd donner. Chicken donner and Sikh kebab x2 with a large salad and yoghurt sauce. 

[GMB]

I think living in France taught us that evening meals must be accompanied with the correct wine. Our French doctor who insisted on 6 monthly check ups asked how much we drink. I said "about 5 litres" she said that was OK as it is approximately the usual one bottle per day, with a meal,  as in most French households.  I said no, sorry, 5 litres a night.

[McRattlehead]

Duvel Belgian beer for me.

[dutchie01]

Duvel, one of the most dangerous beers around. It will hit you if you drink it as a normal beer you will need a taxi home if lucky. The way they drink it in Belgium tells it all. Glass from the freezer, cold beer slowly slowly poored into the glass leaving the residue in the bottle and then well, just take your time. Nip it taste it and enjoy it. Slow food, slow drink and you will be fine. Cross the line and you will regret it.

[Mr Vlad]

Oh Gray your doctor is sommat else. A couple weeks ago I had the NHS health check. Was asked about how much I drink. I lied. I at least halved what I drink and the nurse said I drink too much!!!!!!   Your doctor must be a pi$$ head lol. 

Oh Dutchie. Your Duval light ale is as strong as Old Tom. This is only served in a 300-330ml bottle. At beer festivals they'll only serve it in a half pint glass. If I stay on it all evening I'll happily drink 5 bottles of it. Start at 6pm and finish 11pm. Not a drink to rush, but to savour.

[Jgtcracer]

Unsurprisingly a good single malt is my tipple of choice, neat or with ice.  In the winter I may add some Drambuie to make a rusty nail. I’m currently drinking through the Bladnoch Dragon Series and a 12yo Macallan. I’m in the industry so feel I must do my part to support it!

Can’t do pints. Even when I was a sailor it was a struggle.  If forced to pints I’ll drink cider.

 Don’t go anywhere near wine which is ironic, the wife can’t survive without it!!

[Illogan]

I afraid, that I'm happy to say  a couple of belting Islay Malts serve my palate well.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask, or Lagavulin 16 year old. Either 10% room temperature water, or neat.

And a favourite wines are a ten year old Barolo, or, maybe Montrachet or a decent Chablis.

The real issue is that I have a champagne taste, and a beer pocket!

 

But what little I have, I enjoy.

 

 

[PCM]

Islay Single Malt, Vodka, Champagne

[Jgtcracer]

8 hours ago, Illogan said:

I afraid, that I'm happy to say  a couple of belting Islay Malts serve my palate well.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask, or Lagavulin 16 year old. Either 10% room temperature water, or neat.

And a favourite wines are a ten year old Barolo, or, maybe Montrachet or a decent Chablis.

The real issue is that I have a champagne taste, and a beer pocket!

 

But what little I have, I enjoy.

 

 

I really struggle with peated malt, though know those two well, laphroig in particular.  Peating is something I’m close to at the moment so the wife doesn’t appreciate the smell I bring home every night!

[PCM]

3 minutes ago, Jgtcracer said:

I really struggle with peated malt, though know those two well, laphroig in particular.  Peating is something I’m close to at the moment so the wife doesn’t appreciate the smell I bring home every night!

I LOVE the peated malts! Horses for courses...

[dutchie01]

France before the war the government launcheda campain to reduce drinking of wine. They did this by printing posters with a warning to not drink more than 3 litres of wine. Per Day!. In the fifties this was reduced to 1 litre again per day. Below a pic of a schoollunch before the war where you guessed it red wine was served.

 

 

[Rabbers]

Although I cherish the memory of some wines and distillates I have found exceptionally good and always buy again when I have the chance, I nowadays resist singling out super-favourites for the simple reason that the availability of high-quality choices in recent years has become so vast that I have come to regard the buying of unfamiliar products as an enjoyable adventure.  I can quantify this by referring to my personal wine cellar, which contains at any one time  250-300 bottles.      I doubt if ten years ago the majority of these consisted, excluding a few oddments, of more than twelve or so different labels.  Today I would guess the labels to be upwards of thirty, and the temptation to widen  my options is growing all the time. 

[Mr Vlad]

Blimey Rabbers. You have a wine cellar with between 250 and 300 bottles of wine? 

Where's our invititations to a wine party? You can't drink All those bottles by yourself surely. 

[Jgtcracer]

53 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Blimey Rabbers. You have a wine cellar with between 250 and 300 bottles of wine? 

Where's our invititations to a wine party? You can't drink All those bottles by yourself surely. 

We have wine ‘rack’ in the kitchen and that will keep the wife going for weeks….I bet nothing in it costs more than £20 each too.

My whisky cupboard on the other hand is a bit daft.  I’ve fell into the trap of having bottles I don’t want to open…..

[TraktorDriver]

Water is the real adult drink. Followed by a proper coffee made with proper beans in a proper Barista Coffee machine.

If all that fails, a Pinã Colada will suffice for me. 😅🤣

[Rabbers]

3 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

France before the war the government launcheda campain to reduce drinking of wine. …

In my recollection the campaign was revived several times until at least the 60s with posters in the trains and stations of the Paris Métro.  Many true Parisians were totally against the campaign, arguing (wrongly in my view) that the elimination of cheap red vin ordinaire from its combination with garlic and Gauloises on the breath of your fellow Métro passengers would reduce the city’s traditional charm for visitors. 

[Rabbers]

2 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Blimey Rabbers. You have a wine cellar with between 250 and 300 bottles of wine? 

TBH Vlad, a cellar of 250-300 bottles is no big deal in my neck of the woods, which is a wine-growing area.  In fact, many houses have proper below-ground cellaring facilities for thousands of bottles.  In my own case I am limited to three alcoves of single-bottle depth, each sufficient for approx. 100 bottles, built into the stonework and dating from c. 1500-1550.  I attach a photo of one of them, and I think you’ll agree it would be a shame to leave it empty.  Yes, sooner or later, all the bottles I lay up will have been consumed at an average minimum rate of one a day.  The bottles are usually almost immediately replaced, not out of any urgency on my part but because looking at full shelves gives me a feeling of contentment and, perhaps, of some sort of security. 
 

[Mr Vlad]

That's a lovely looking wine rack Renato. The missus said wow when I showed your photo to her.

I'm too embarrassed to take a photo of the top shelf of my fridge freezer. I'm down to 6 bottles of Deep South.  Think a trip to asda is called for soon lol.