You do like booze, don't you?

Scotch, Laphroaig, 10 year.  The peaty Islays have always been my favorites with 'Leapfrog' being our house bottle. I'm figuring cost as a factor here, the 15 year is great but even farther out of my price range than the basic.  I can only dream about the 25, 27, 30 and the mythical 40. 

Mmmmm, that's good Whiskey.

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

Like coffee, I only drink it for the side effects - not the taste.  I usually drink wine -- Pinot Grigio for white; Chianti or Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot (yes, Merlot) or Pinot Noir.  I'm not a oenophile.  I like a good Margarita.  In the summer on a beach I like a Pina Colado with a paper umbrella.  At Indian restaurants I will drink beer.  Indian beer. 

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Gin but most of the time I can't afford the good stuff.  So, I go with beer - Miller because I am poor or Leine's Summer Wheat if I have some extra cash.  I also dig hard cider, particularly Strongbow, but that is pricey as well so I will settle for Woodchuck.

But gin is my drink, a good gin with tonic and extra lime.  Love Sapphirre.  Not a fan of Tanqueray because I like it dry rather than sweet...

Redbear's got the right idea! Peaty, peaty bogged Islay Whiskeys! Now, Laphroaig is all fine and good, and I would not disparage it, but try Lagavulin for a real smoothie, and if budget is a consideration, Bowmore is quite respectable! On the wine front, I have always been a Frenchie Fan, the solid St. Emillions, Pauillacs and others of mostly Bordeaux. But... now that I live in NorCal, I am getting winewashed by the local vintners. there are some stunning BIG reds up here! And on the new Journey project, Jon Cain got me going on some really nice Pinot Noirs. 'Course, if he's buyin', I'm tryin'! Try Stemmler Pinot for a mid-priced winner ($45-55). Locally, Point Reyes Winery and Navarro are purty darn nice! OK, back to work... Oh, wait a minute- Beer. I agree with Negra Modelo - one of the best Mexican beers out there. If you have a Trader Joe's store near you, try their house-branded 'Hofbrau Bock'. It's made for them by Joseph Biersch and it's not only a great beer, but STRONG! Use it to wash down your Lagavulin and you've got a helluva night ahead of you!

American Beer is like having sex in a canoe!

Its fucking close to water!

& Melon Colada

I haven't tried all the Trader Joe's house beers.  Beer -at least the good stuff- seems really expensive lately (10 bucks for Alaska Amber? huh?), so the $5-$7/ six packs at TJ's look even better.  The last six-pack I picked up there was the Black Toad, which I liked.  I think its a porter.

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

Well I started this for a consideration of the 'hard stuff', distillates without adjuncts or alterations but am tickled that it has gone the way it has.

Mr. Neff you are an unusually intelligent and perceptive individual.  It is interesting how often those descriptors apply to people who agree with me. Oh well just another of lifes great mysteries.  I here you on both the Lagavulin and the Bowmore.  My roommate, who is also my older brother, is the real expert set me to the liquor store today with $70 and this list; 1)Laphroig(which got), if not 2)Lagavulin, if not 3)Ardbeg (unlikely he told me as it is hard to find) and if not 4)Bowmore.  Yup, we like the peat.

Cider I love but generally find the U.S. offerings to be to sweet for my taste.  Blackthorne, which is imported from England IIRC, is nice and tart and my favorite although it's strong and I tend to get too hammered too fast, often before two!  Spensive to. The funny thing to me is that when I've made hard cider in the past (it's really easy to make; Clean your carboy, fill with cider (raw) add yeast and let sit at room temperature till it's finished.  The bottling is just as big a pain though.) it has not tasted like much of anything.  Probably I needed to use a yeast that died back at a lower ABV.

My favorite sweet is Baileys Irish Cream.  I like this so much I limit myself to one bottle a year which, assuming I can get out on Wednesday, will be this week.  Start with it in my coffee in the morning and finish with it on the rocks at night.  I could have got it today but it wouldn't have lasted till Thursday.

The only mixed drink I really do is Gin and Tonic although this past summer we had a bottle of tonic left over from 2007 which didn't get cracked.  Loosing my chops I guess.  I also make something called A Bitter Old Bitch which is a G&T with a couple of drops of bitters.  To be technically accurate the Gin should be Bombay Sapphire as Vickys picture gives the drink its name.

I get a little misty when I think of the good old days of rum and cokes and California Coolers.  Back when I was young, innocent and stupid(er).  

Happy Drinking people and be a safe as you want to be keeping in mind that there are people who care about you who would probably be bummed out if you did somthing to yourself.

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

You're welcome Mr. Neff.  Thank you for the tips, I will pass the info on to those who can use it best.  Rye from Alberta makes perfect sense to me but at the same time seems wrong some how.  Well that's bias for you. 

One of the nice things I've seen in the last few years is the rise of craft distilleries in this region, Oregon specifically, following in the footsteps of the craft brewers that have become so prominate in the last twenty years or so.  Of course I don't know the names of any off the top of my head but one of my booze gurus has fed me a couple of nice items from down the south.  Maybe the same thing is happening up north.

"It's not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind." - D. Cooper

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." - P. Atreides

"Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe" - L. tzu

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper