Reflexions on booze, or Scotch, delicious scotch
It turns out I like to drink, and I have expensive tastes. And I'm vacationing in Tokyo in May. As a cost-cutting gimmick to spare some cash for Japan, I decided to cease all purchases of alcohol in the month of January. I haven't kept a spreadsheet, but I'm pretty sure I've saved at least $200 from doing this (successfully so far, and only three days left!). I was also interested in seeing what effect this might have on my weight, so in addition to abstaining from buying, I have abstained from consumption, even of free booze, which goes against every fiber of my being. Keeping everything else roughly the same, I've lost about three pounds from this experiment.
Tee-totaling sucks. The first dozen or so days were a piece of cake, but that was at the beginning of the year, and it took a while for people to come back from their holidays. Around the middle of the month I started going out more. It's a drag to drink water while your mates are having a beer after work. But this adventure may have heightened my senses. I gave my friend a glass of scotch (strictly speaking, against my rule of no economic transaction, including gifts, involving alcohol, but I've drunk a lot of this friend's liquor over the years. This was my only transgression.) and I could smell it across the room.
So I'm looking forward to being able to have a drink again, which brings me to recent developments in my style. Late last year I fell in love with scotch, and I think I may have finally found my drink, the drink I'll be happy with for the rest of my life. I like cognac, and I have sentimental attachments to Courvoisier and Hennessey, and I still drink them from time to time. I went through a tequila phase when someone introduced me to Patron and I thought that was the way forward. It's still tasty every once in a while, but my enthusiasm has faded. I was mostly indifferent to the scotches I'd tried (mainly Glenfiddich and Glenlivet), but then I tried Lagavulin, and it was as if the heavens opened up before me. The peaty path was clear. This is the one, this is the drink that's gonna sum it all up and blow it all wide open. I've tried some other Islay scotches and basked in their glory, and February will be full steam ahead for exploring the produce of that wonderful little island.
Bringing this full circle, I'm hoping to confirm by blind taste test that I either like Laphroiag just as well or can't tell the difference (for having expensive taste, I have a woefully unsophisticated palate), since it's a good deal cheaper. Though scotch is expensive, I actually think it may save me money in the end. I've noticed it usually takes me well over an hour to drink a glass. So while in my youthful gusto I might have drunk three or four beers in a couple hours at a bar, I will now drink one glass of scotch. Fewer calories, fewer dollars, different but roughly equal manliness cred, and yet more class.
Tee-totaling sucks. The first dozen or so days were a piece of cake, but that was at the beginning of the year, and it took a while for people to come back from their holidays. Around the middle of the month I started going out more. It's a drag to drink water while your mates are having a beer after work. But this adventure may have heightened my senses. I gave my friend a glass of scotch (strictly speaking, against my rule of no economic transaction, including gifts, involving alcohol, but I've drunk a lot of this friend's liquor over the years. This was my only transgression.) and I could smell it across the room.
So I'm looking forward to being able to have a drink again, which brings me to recent developments in my style. Late last year I fell in love with scotch, and I think I may have finally found my drink, the drink I'll be happy with for the rest of my life. I like cognac, and I have sentimental attachments to Courvoisier and Hennessey, and I still drink them from time to time. I went through a tequila phase when someone introduced me to Patron and I thought that was the way forward. It's still tasty every once in a while, but my enthusiasm has faded. I was mostly indifferent to the scotches I'd tried (mainly Glenfiddich and Glenlivet), but then I tried Lagavulin, and it was as if the heavens opened up before me. The peaty path was clear. This is the one, this is the drink that's gonna sum it all up and blow it all wide open. I've tried some other Islay scotches and basked in their glory, and February will be full steam ahead for exploring the produce of that wonderful little island.
Bringing this full circle, I'm hoping to confirm by blind taste test that I either like Laphroiag just as well or can't tell the difference (for having expensive taste, I have a woefully unsophisticated palate), since it's a good deal cheaper. Though scotch is expensive, I actually think it may save me money in the end. I've noticed it usually takes me well over an hour to drink a glass. So while in my youthful gusto I might have drunk three or four beers in a couple hours at a bar, I will now drink one glass of scotch. Fewer calories, fewer dollars, different but roughly equal manliness cred, and yet more class.