The drinking man’s thread - The Bear and Badger

davyK

On the drink for 12hrs yesterday on a 2 dinner biathlon. Oddly enough I feel like shit today.

davyK

On the drink for 8hrs yesterday. Oddly enough I feel like shit today.

poprock

I had two glasses of wine and a massive rum last night. Three drinks, nowt else. And I’ve suffered a mild hangover all bloody day. I did not deserve this.

GooberTheHat

Lots 6drijk tonight. Already feeling it. Mommy!

davyK

Bought a bottle of Canadian Ice wine in Lidl. Never heard of it before. Is a dessert wine.

Moot_Geeza

I might lay off the drink until Christmas Day. Our new cocktail cabinet is a bit too appealing.

davyK

I've had enough to be honest - all my set piece Christmas outings are done now. We might have a low key Office Party but that will be it until Christmas.

GooberTheHat

Yep, all my Christmas drinking is done now.

davyK

Another Friday another lunchtime start.

I recall buying rounds of Green Chartreuse shots and a round of Drambuies.

Don't feel quite as bad today. Perhaps my body is adjusting. I steered clear of the beer though.

b0r1s

Work Christmas party was completely comprised of cocktails. Mainly old fashioneds and Godfathers. Until someone suggested shots at the point I was just agreeing to stuff. Pretty much lost the whole next day to a hangover. God knows how I used to do back-to-back nights out when I was younger.

Moot_Geeza

Godfathers?

b0r1s

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/godfather

Moot_Geeza

That's bound to be nice, thanks. Will try.

Moot_Geeza

Anyone dabbled with pre-mix cocktails?

This brand is tasty:

Vesper Martini | Gin, Vodka & Quinquina | ABV 38.2% | Premium Bottled Cocktail 500ml : Amazon.co.uk: Grocery

Only tried this and the negroni but I'll be restocking on both when they're done.

davyK

Going to a Guinness only bar tomorrow afternoon with a chum.

Part of the expanding footprint of White's Tavern for those who have been over here. Just opened this week - stuck my head in at lunchtime to check it out optically - looks a bit "fake old" but it's nice, and the girl behind the bar looked too young and pretty, but I remain hopeful.

Will report back.

Moot_Geeza

Tried Guinness 0% for the first time yesterday. It's not bad - tastier than a lot of standard stout, in fact. This stuff has come a long way since Kaliber but I didn't think the Guinness would be any good. I may have had my last ever Supermalt.

g.man

There’s an alcohol free Guinness now? I must look out for that.

nick_md

Yeah Guinness 0% is surprisingly good.

nick_md

Pair it with the 7% foreign export.

LivDiv

Yeah Guinness 0% is superb.
The only taste difference is the lack of alcohol snap at the end, naturally.

It's actual Guinness with the alcohol removed and that's exactly how it tastes

That Guinness export is one of the few drinks I miss. No way of making a 0% of that, would never work.

Moot_Geeza

nick_md wrote:

Yeah Guinness 0% is surprisingly good.

It's also quite nice with port in.

davyK

Worst Guinness I've tried was the stuff brewed under licence in Nigeria. This was not the export stuff (used to be known as XXX Guinness). The John Hewitt pub in Belfast had it as a guest beer several years ago. We still talk about it in work, "the day we tried Nigerian Guinness".

Bottled. Tastes like Guinness topped up with the cheapest sherry money can buy. Think it's 9.5% or something. Fucking vile.

davyK

Whites Guinness bar is nice then. They print a slogan in the head of the pint using an ink jet device fuelled with coffee. Gimmicky. They plan to release an app that lets you select an image...camera supported. The tourists will love it.

They have original and west indies porter bottled. The nigerian bottle is a coming attraction and i have been assured it is a nice drink so will keep an eye out for it.

There is also the one brand of irish whiskey on sale.... Roe and Co. Comes in blend and cask strength. The blend is good. Havent tried the other one yet. Vanilla notes in the blend when straight.

The draught pint is pretty good too. Worth going if over here and like Guinness.

g.man

I think Whites was one of the places we were recommended when we were out in Belfast getting our visas.

davyK

Likely would. The original tavern is still there. Up the entry surrounded by the extra bars that have been built around it. Very nice old bar.

Moot_Geeza

Inspired by current chat in the mental health thread, but probably best not to clutter that up with musings:

The cost of drinking out is crazy. I've got a work drink with ex colleagues near London Bridge tonight and I'm actually sulking about the fact that I'll be coming home £70 lighter, just for a trip to a bog standard boozer (food was involved last year).

Since covid semi-regular pub trips have (mostly) turned into semi-regular BYOB indoor drinks with friends, where everyone piles into someone's house rather than spending £6.50 p/p. It's been a game changer tbh - I don't miss the pub because what's not to like about better booze cheaper, pals only and YouTube on tap? We usually watch a crap film too, which is great. The expense difference between drinking indoors and going out (out) is outrageous. I could roll up with a Grey Goose under my arm and still save £30. I still go to the pub once a week tbf, but only for an hour while Tilly's at a particular after school club. I was in there the other day and had a double Bells - £6.90, which isn't too bad these days. The hour ticked on through, so I ordered another. Then I realised I'd spent £13.80 on two drinks. There's a Lidl two doors down from the pub, where I could have bought a 70cl bottle of my favourite blended whisky for an extra £4. Put it into perspective a bit.

My point is: the discrepancy between drinking out and drinking in has never been more pronounced for me, especially as there are so many affordable top tier taste options with spirits etc. Why go to the pub for five pints of IPA when the same money could get you two crates of the same beer from a supermarket? I'm also sad that pubs keep shutting ofc - my favourite local bit the dust a few months ago - but I'm not helping so I can't complain.

Anyway, ramblings. Anyone else just not feeling it these days?

Kow

The only time I go out for drinks really is in the summer when we can sit outside at a table in the evening and, to be honest, I'm really only there for the free food and social aspect. I broke the habit with alcohol about 5 years ago and it has never come back. I'm happy to have a couple of beers but just as happy not to have any. Haven't had a hangover in years. I think anyone who grew up in Ireland, and probably Britain, before the last twenty years, lived in a society where excess of alcohol was not only normal but was expected. It's a very hard habit to break. I mean what were you expected to do on a Friday night if you weren't getting hammered?

GooberTheHat

I've had a few work nights out over the last couple of weeks and, bar one, I've stuck to the non alcoholic drinks (some of the beers are actually fine). Still had a good night, but also had the ability/good sense to get myself away at a decent time when everyone else was starting to descend into that boring/obnoxious drunk mode. Plus I felt great the next day in comparison. I don't miss it.

Still happy to hang one on for special occasions when I'm with people I love and trust though.

Kazuo

I'll be drinking cask strength whiskies with a couple of pals tomorrow afternoon. Previously the norm would be pairing those with pints, which led to tapping cigarettes, which led to a lot of mess and some evil weekend-long hangovers. Last time I found pairing with a nice 0% beer instead made all the difference, meant I could appreciate the whiskies and still keep a clear-ish head. My pal stuck with the usual pints and was totally ruined after about 2 hours. Hopefully he learned his lesson for this time.

Moot_Geeza

The 0% beer chaser is an an excellent idea.

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