Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Adult Beverages

Last night, I enjoyed a very nice meal out with friends. As part of this meal, I discovered a few things about various beverages of an adult nature.

1) Gin tastes funny. One friend ordered a gin martini made with cucumber. I could taste the cucumber, which in my opinion does not belong in any kind of beverage, and I could also taste the gin - which also does not belong in any beverage. Gin just has a funny, slightly nasty tang to it that makes it clear to me why people add tonic water to it: tonic water is more nasty than gin so it makes the gin taste acceptable. No gin beverages for me. Ever.

2) Herbs do not belong in martinis. Another friend ordered a martini that included mulled thyme. Thyme is good in so many different foods. I just don't like to see it floating in a chilled beverage.

3) Too many fruity things in an alcoholic beverage disqualifies it from being an alcoholic beverage. That goes for flavored booze as well. I heard one person describe a chocolate martini as a candy bar with a kick. No thanks.

4) Grey Goose makes a great martini! For myself, I decided to order a classic. A vodka martini made with Grey Goose vodka. It's powerful, for sure, but it also has a combination of flavors that is very appealing to me. It is clean and classy.

4b) I agree with Alton Brown of the show Good Eats: James Bond drinks a wimpy martini. Anyone who orders "shaken, not stirred" is ordering a beverage where the ice breaks and melts quickly in the martini, thus diluting it severely. If Bond was a real affectionado of martinis, he would want it pure, not watered down. Shame on you James.

5) Scotch is an acquired taste, and if you have not acquired that taste, scotch smells and tastes disgusting. I don't want to have to work hard to acquire the taste for something that is that expensive. In reality, I don't think I could acquire it even if I wanted to. I can't get past the smell of it!

So a new question is: Why did I write an entry about booze? The reason? I needed to write SOMETHING, because I haven't written in a long time. So, any comments should focus on what is good or bad in adult beverages. I will preface this by saying that you will not change my mind, so just speak your mind as expressing why you like or don't like something.

3 comments:

Angelina Fishy said...

A group of us went to the French D.C. in West Palm Beach a couple years ago, and we all went out to dinner together one night. There was a guy at the restaurant that night, dressed in an odd costume. When I called him over to see why he was wearing such a get-up, after explaining that he was a Beefeater's rep, he got us all complementary beverages made with 'his' Gin. They were one and all completely revolting! I agree with you about Gin. Gross.

Anonymous said...

My maternal grandmother was a Brit, so I inherited a fine appreciation for gin from her. I must admit it's not for everyone, but personally I enjoy its peculiar taste.

And I love me some scotch. Yes it's expensive - so when I want some I go visit my brother and drink his. :)

Asia said...

I remember liking that one sip of gin I had a very long time ago...

But scotch...bleh. It really did taste like scotch tape. Don't ask me how I know that.