The Alcohol thread?

[ShiftyPowers]

I have got drunker of absinthe than off anything else in my life.... certainly close to a hallucinatory phase. But then I drank an entire bottle of it, doing the thing where you burn sugar into each class with a teaspoon...

Also I once had the real thing (ie one without legal regulation) in a bar in Paris called the Zinc Bar (some of you may know it) where they dripped it onto a sugar cube the old school way..... and that was insane.

Why would we know it? Is it in The Sun Also Rises or something?

 

[Sir Calumn]

As Parisian bars and cafes go it's fairly famous.... like the Cafe Flores, the Deux Magots, the Brasserie Lipp etc....

You probably wouldnt know it unless you've been to Paris and hung out for a while, but if you'd been in, you would remember.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Americans haven't really gone to Paris in numbers since the 1920s.

 

[Sir Calumn]

Yeah, well, Paris aint what it used to be. Half of those bars are pretty much just tourist attractions now. I've only been quite a lot because it's close.

 

[Alex]

I hear a load of Americans headed into France via parachute in 1944.

Sir_Didier_Drogba, the EU is where the limits on thujone were originally imposed (which allowed it back into Australia and loads of other countries, as they basically trusted the EU decision). The only place you would likely have found higher levels is pre-EU Czech. Even then apparently traditional absinthe never had really high levels anyway. And from all reports it doesn't have any real psychoactive side effects, it can just cause convulsions or death.

 

[Filipower]

I hear a load of Americans headed into France via parachute in 1944.

Haha

 

[ShiftyPowers]

France is not Paris.

 

[Alex]

I do realise that. I wasn't being serious. Though I'm sure quite a few Americans made their way to Paris during the same time.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

My grandpa's generation (The GREATEST Generation ) seems to carry a lot of resentment towards France. Not sure if that came before or after, but it's not the romantic sentiments that the "Lost Generation" had.

 

[Alex]

I can't blame them French people (mainly Parisians) are snooty, and Paris is a big dirty city...The nice parts are really nice, but the city as a whole is definitely not my favourite.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I love France, and I love even today's Paris, especially the dirty bits. But the French, in general, do really get on my nerves. I've tried so hard to get over the national stereotype of the English hating the French, but they're just such tossers!

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Inspired by an emerging beer gut I have decided to give up all carbonated beverages. This leaves me with a bit of a problem about what to drink at the bar as I drink mostly beer and don't care for whiskey of any kind. Any recommendations? I might just switch to straight gin (as tonic water violates my carbonation rule) and I wouldn't touch even a drop of vermouth. Anyone else with suggestions? I would prefer not to drink juice drinks as they look gay, but I'll do that occasionally.

Also, my plan for tomorrow involves lime, sugar, and cachaca. It's been unseasonably warm this winter, and has been in the 70s for the past week, so I can't think of a better idea.

 

[Alex]

Straight Gin/Gin on ice is great. I often drink it. It's basically a Dry Martini, easy on the Vermouth. AKA a Churchill Martini.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Yeah, I think that's my best bet. I think my best option for a "pussy" drink is just going to be vodka and Grand Marnier on the rocks which will probably just look like a scotch and water, but taste like a kamikaze.

 

[Alex]

Just get gin on ice and sip it. A lemon wedge squeezed in is good too.

Just sip it slow the first few times, and in no time you'll be used to it

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I like gin.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I'm in my bar alternating caipirinhas (I bought the bottle) with Vodka and Grand Marnier. Both on the rocks. Think they are both so great.

 

[Alex]

I assume in the US you get proper Caipirinhas with Cachaça too? Rarely find Cachaça here, so lots of bars make them with white rum or the make "Caipiroska", which is with vodka.

I need to make a list or take a photo of my liquor collection one day. It's ridiculous, but it's a real passion.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I bought some at a liquor store. Bars don't carry it unless it's a house specialty. Oh my god did I get ****faced yesterday.

 

[Alex]

Oh ok. That's basically the same situation as here.