Dainton's Lemon Cut was another little cracker - a blend of rum and sharp lemon juice - again not that strong (it ended up being mixed with vodka if memory serves) but a really nice taste - hard to track down now.


There was a pretty vile run of Smirnoff Silver label on the go in Belfast at one time - it got a rather lengthy innings too. Belfast Gin had an orange tint to it that was nice - so much so that tonic wasn't really needed - but it died out rather quickly unfortunately.....

Think the vilest drink (ignoring stuff like idiotic attempts at local copies of Southern Comfort in somewhere like Ayia Napia circa 1992) I ever had was Green Chartreuse (or Green Short Trousers as my fellow pissants called it) - a real eye waterer - and its 55% abv was a novelty when absinthe was hard to come by.




Speaking of Ayia Napia - when I was there in '92-3 a bottle of Ouzo was cheaper than bottled water. A dodgy bottle of "Royal Ascot" gin was £1.30 (local currency) while a bottle of Fanta Bitter Lemon was £1.50......It made for perfect cheap pre-going out swigging.

Kow wrote:

Bottle of beer in a bar here is cheaper than a coke.

Its getting that way here in some places

If it's not in a bottle I'm not drinking it. Apart from guinness.

Fuck ale, wouldn't drink it if you paid me.

It's alright.  Pay me and I'll drink it for you.

You sound bitter.

Then you'd be lager than life.

davyK wrote:

Might be worth tracking down a nice Calvados (apple brandy) for a change or a bottle of this stuff - poire williams which I bought once. Was nice to drink but I didn't have the skill to break the bottle cleanly in order to facilitate safe consumption of the pear which must be lush.

That would look superb in the cabinet. I remember seeing it in The Whisky Exchange near London Bridge, I think I'll pop down there at lunch. Cheers.

Liveinadive wrote:

Im still keeping up the no drinking, despite going to the pub for dinner last night.

Tonight will be a tough one, had a shitty day at work and will likely be here for another couple of hours. It's going to be really tempting to not nip into the shop for a few cheeky beers on my way home.

Well done mate - keep it up.

As for this evening, grab yourself a soft drink that you really love instead. I know it's not the same but that's what I do when I fancy a beer. I've got a soft spot for Ribena so that's my wine - I even drink it in a wine glass with dinner (yes I know that sounds absoutely ridiculous but it works for me).

Or if you DO have a drink - just have 2 beers at the most. But I find that difficult and always want more once I have cracked one open, that's why my 8 cans of Tyskie are still sitting in the fridge, unopened.

Good luck with it all.

Plan M wrote:

As for this evening, grab yourself a soft drink that you really love instead. I know it's not the same but that's what I do when I fancy a beer.

I've been doing the same recently (had one night of drinking this week, another night off tonight, which for me, thats a big fucking step), so I rock a couple of glasses of Cherry Coke.

I haven't drunk for a long time now, barring the odd sip of anything new to see what the fuss is about.  I've reached the point I started at in childhood, where it all tastes pretty foul.  Not drinking definitely gets easier, partly because the desire for it eases, but mostly because it ceases to be a big part of life - your friends get used to it and you no longer get interrogated as to why you don't drink. 

I do however abuse IrnBru to a ridiculous extent.  (Caffeine, sugar, iron and quinine, what more could you want?)

As for the argument about recommended alcohol levels.  They're currently being reviewed in the UK (as they have been intermittently) but I doubt they'll change much.  They deliberately lean towards the relatively low risk level, for the simple reason (as stated) that everyone's a bit different, and guidelines can't be tailored to the individual.  So you go for the level that's unlikely to kill anyone. 

The main arguments about recommended consumption are about daily drinking, and whether to tailor guidance to certain groups.  The daily drinking thing is straightforwards really - the current guidance is for x amount per day, but actually, it's daily drinking that particularly increases the risk of cirrhosis and alcoholism.  So it may well go back to a weekly recommendation, with a statement that you should have at least 2 alcohol free days a week.  (A bit like the current 48 hour break after a binge session.)

The certain groups thing is about the risks and benefits of alcohol changing with age.  So in blokes over 40, and post-menopausal women there's a bit of evidence to suggest that a small amount of alcohol might reduce the risk of heart disease compared to non-drinkers.  Whilst in the elderly, the evidence is that the recommended levels of alcohol should be much lower, as the potential for harm is greater.  Just to make it even more complicated, in 16-24 year olds alcohol is the number one cause of death - but through binge drinking (resulting in violence, accidents, suicide).  Which potentially calls for a different bit of guidance again.

Given that Government Guidance tends to err on the side of really simplistic however, I don't think much will change at all...

Cherry Coke and Doctor Pepper.  Divine.

Thwenty cans.

Back in the day drinking was probably a bit easier to hit on the head - the choice in the market now is breathtaking - it is hard to not try something new. However the range of soft drinks is great too. Love soft drinks too - too much probably.

Ice Cold Dr Pepper is rather nice - and that dark grape juice with that almost wine/tanin taste - Welch's is it? lovely.

Dr Pepper is one of the foulest things I've ever tasted. I'm not even sure what it's supposed to be. It might even be pepper flavour.