The Finer Things (Alcohol & Tobacco)

[jdto]

Originally Posted by d.loseth

What are some of your favorite dark lagers, I'm not sure I've actually had a true dark lager.

I have a couple of local (Ontario craft) ones that I like. My favourite is from a place called the Stone House in Varna, ON (near Grand Bend), which makes a German Dunkel style dark lager which is amazing. Waterloo Dark is another good one, as is Side Launch Midnight Lager.

[RP]

I live in a rural Virginia county (Albemarle) that is home to approximately 35 wineries included those owned by Dave Matthews and President Trump (intended purely as a non-political statement of fact) and approximately seven microbreweries...

[Heroditus]

Originally Posted by d.loseth

I have an eccentric uncle who lives in a shack in the bush with no running water, he rolls by hand and uses no filter, i always found that fascinating, i as a young teen i was driving his truck in a very bumpy field in winter to a lake where he was going to teach me to do donuts, we were bumping along off the seats and I kid you not i watched him roll a cigarette with one hand while helping me steer as we were getting air on the seats from the bumps lol, that's what thousands of hands rolled cigarettes does i guess, one handed in any situation if necessary!

He sounds like the kind of person Guy Clark would have written a song about.

[Wellington]

Originally Posted by Heroditus

He sounds like the kind of person Guy Clark would have written a song about.

Haha yes true!

[imwjl]

Sorry on tobacco, and we're lightweight drinkers but seem to enjoy quality when we do.

There are two small distiller gins made in our state that seem to be more aromatic than some so my wife gets those. I love the unpasteurized ales from a few local brewers.

One of those gin bottles has been here about a year. We split a beer last night. Two weeks ago was a rare two beers in one day. My surprise in this is I love fun stuff but negative after effects of intoxicants are no fun so I think that's helped me moderate.

It was funny when our kids didn't understand the moderation part. When they got a little order they'd see people consume far more at events and then realized they had lightweight or moderating parents. Something in school must have prompted it because I remember being asked if having wine in the house meant we're alcoholics. I should bring that up again to the college student.

[Neil K Walk]

It’s a matter of quantity over quality IME. Just tell them the dangers of drinking Milwaukee’s Best.

[KenL]

I haven't told this story for a long time. Back in '82, a much-younger me was an assistant manager at a very fine steakhouse in Omaha. On NYE, we opened the doors at 4pm and filled up immediately, and stayed that way until 10pm, when the crowd finally began to dwindle. Record night, the cash register was stuffed with cash (remember cash?) and the pockets of the wait staffers were bulging with it.

The owner, a nice and generous man, was very happy. So he had the bussers clear a table for us managers, and invited us to join him for dinner, anything goes. And he brought out two bottles of 1955 Chateau Lafite Rothschild from the vault for us to drink with dinner. These bottles were $250 each at the time.

So I popped the corks and decanted both, and poured myself a glass. I offered some to the other managers, but they were drinking other stuff that they preferred. Fine with me, I stuck with the wine. We all had big steaks, and sat there for a couple of hours enjoying a fine dinner. Next thing I knew, both bottles of wine were empty- I had drunk them both. $500 worth of wine in one sitting! Guess I was thirsty!

Was it good? Well, it was musty, took a while to get used to it. That's vintage wine, it's an acquired taste. How did I feel the next day? Really bad, worse hangover ever. Took a couple days before I felt right. But, what the heck, it was an opportunity that would never come around again!

Would I do it again? No, don't think so. Maybe a couple of glasses, and that's all. Older and wiser now.

[Cypress Knee]

In the early '80's I went to an officer's dining in. Airborne Infantry unit.

There is a protocol for the evening. At the end of the dinner the CO told Mr. Vice, the junior officer present, to light the smoking lamp and the big cigars came out.

Those of us who didn't smoke still lit one up and puffed on it. It wasn't very long before the entire room was obscured by the thick smokey haze.

It took two trips to the dry-cleaners to get the smoke out of my dress blues, and I had a headache for the rest of the weekend.

There was also the "Prop Blast", which among other things involved drinking grog out of a silver bowl from Saint Mere-Eglise to the count of four-thousand multiple times. The morning after effects from the grog were no fun either.

[foxo]

Originally Posted by KenL

I haven't told this story for a long time. Back in '82, a much-younger me was an assistant manager at a very fine steakhouse in Omaha. On NYE, we opened the doors at 4pm and filled up immediately, and stayed that way until 10pm, when the crowd finally began to dwindle. Record night, the cash register was stuffed with cash (remember cash?) and the pockets of the wait staffers were bulging with it.

The owner, a nice and generous man, was very happy. So he had the bussers clear a table for us managers, and invited us to join him for dinner, anything goes. And he brought out two bottles of 1955 Chateau Lafite Rothschild from the vault for us to drink with dinner. These bottles were $250 each at the time.

So I popped the corks and decanted both, and poured myself a glass. I offered some to the other managers, but they were drinking other stuff that they preferred. Fine with me, I stuck with the wine. We all had big steaks, and sat there for a couple of hours enjoying a fine dinner. Next thing I knew, both bottles of wine were empty- I had drunk them both. $500 worth of wine in one sitting! Guess I was thirsty!

Was it good? Well, it was musty, took a while to get used to it. That's vintage wine, it's an acquired taste. How did I feel the next day? Really bad, worse hangover ever. Took a couple days before I felt right. But, what the heck, it was an opportunity that would never come around again!

Would I do it again? No, don't think so. Maybe a couple of glasses, and that's all. Older and wiser now.

Reminds me of the time I was 17 and invited to my dad's boss's new year's party. He was a multi-millionaire and the drinks fit his wallet: a case of Cristal Rose Champagne which is about £500 per bottle. The man himself didn't touch the stuff though - he only drinks screwdrivers. I decided to dig in and got through a good two and a half bottles of it before hitting the harder stuff, then fell violently ill much to my dad's horror.

With years more experience behind me I can confirm that it isn't actually that good. The nicest Champagne I have tried was a Bollinger 1997 Grande Annee which though not cheap is far more reasonably priced.

[saxonblue]

I gave up smoking 12 yrs ago & then it insidiously crept back about 12 months ago up until a point around new year I hit it on the head again . Despite this I prefer see myself as a lapsed smoker rather than an ex smoker so as to avoid complacency if that makes any sense.

Anyway for the vast majority of my smoking years I avoided tailor made cigs & went for hand rolled without filters. Brands I was fond of here were Champion Ruby & Port Royal (the latter being slightly infused with wine & rum).

Even though I'm at a point now where I find the smell of cigarette smoke (particularly tailor mades) annoying/obnoxious I am still captivated by the aroma of unburnt tobacco, I love it, it's like fresh ground coffee in that regard. Still like to roll up for friends occasionally just to get a whiff.

As for drinking I'm not at all a spirits drinker, just beer & red wine for me. Ausssie made, including some local region pale ales top the list (though I do like SNPA occasionally) but happy with mainstream draught (Carlton) at the pub.

Traditionally have probably drunk too much but being on a construction job for last few months with literally zero tolerance (& we get breath tested every morning) I've managed to break the back of that to the point I may have at most a drink or two in the afternoon during the week, if not then none at all.

[Steve DeRosa]

Pretty much sums it up for me:

[hairpuller]

Don't smoke anything, but do love a good IPA, and being that I live in the middle of wine country, I appreciate a nice Russian River Pinot Noir with my grilled salmon!

Funny thing is my go to red wines are southern Rhone varietals! Can't beat them for quality and value.

scott

[M Sarad]

I drink mainly Tequila and a bottle of red wine twice a month. My ex wife got into the wine business in 1990. She was able to purchase top level French, Italian,, and California wine at wholesale. The two most memorable wines were a 1949 Chateau Lafite and '52 Gruard LaRose. Like playing old Martin's, they were incredible. Theafite was past its prime, but the nose was pure, fresh violet petals. The Gruard at 49 years old was a closet queen, vibrant, fresh, and powerful. For our wedding we were given 2 bottles of Lynch Bages. At the Fern Grove Inn in Guerneville we opened it up for a group of people. It kicked all the California reds in the ***. I met one of the attendees years later and he exclaimed," You were the guy with the Lynch Bages! Unforgettable."

Unfortunately, the ex, while having an extraordinary palate, was a terrible business owner. She quit paying income tax, employee tax, wrote bad checks, and sold her business to her partner without telling him the liquor license had been revoked. The DA was after her for the checks, distributors for unpaid bills, local restaurants for getting stiffed for wine tastings, she left town in a hurry.

[Photojeep]

Don't smoke and quit drinking alcohol about a year and half ago.

I have no problem with others drinking alcohol and I would probably still be indulging if it didn't raise my BP and give me a bad stomach ache.

I am an insanely blessed person who does NOT deserve any of them. My goal is to continue not needing any prescription medications for the rest of my days on this earth.

To those who enjoy these "finer" things I say, "Cheers!" but my time amongst you is over.

Best to all,
PJ

[Wellington]

Man so many funny and interesting stories, thanks everyone!