Opinions - What to buy on your 21st?

[Metomni]

SWIM turns 21 later today. What should he buy to celebrate? He's going through some tough times lately so he doesn't want to get completely smashed and he recently purchased some Johnny Walker so he has some good whiskey already. He's thinking some nice beer or wine.

Recommendations from big drinkers? SWIM likes the occasional drink, but is no where near what normal college students are, he always just liked to smoke, but has recently quit and now doesn't really know the world of booze.

Many thanks to any suggestions.

[cra$h]

different drinks actually do effect people differently, and it depends on how fast consumption is. for something to mix, definitly vodka for a tangy taste, rum for something sweet. whisky's great for doing strait shots, especially doing a couple rounds with friends at a bar or something. wine's known for their terrible hangovers, but I guess if you want to be classy.... and beer's great for just having a couple people over and just chillin. probably missed a couple, but swim's personal favorite is rum, since it's easy to drink strait, and even good for just sipping on a 5th, so he doens't really care too much to experiment with other drinks.

[Dexyfiend]

Happy 21st man!

Personally I'd go some nice beer, maybe something imported. Wine for sure good red like a shiraz or merlot. Any sparkling wine usually tastes lush and gets ya pissed well quick, pink champers is nice (be sure not to drink it too early cos it will wear off quickly and leave you feeling crap) but a bit pricey.
I'd stay away from spirits if your not used to them as they can get you completely rooted.

Are you absoloutly sure you want to drink??? In SWIMs experience alcohol is the nastiest drug there is and makes him do the most retarded shit, he gets into fights or into trouble with the police. Then again SWIM is a bad drinker so tends to stay away from grog. Uppers FTW!

[Tony Williams]

One word - vodka.

[Metomni]

SWIM hates vodka, can't even drink half and half's of Grey Goose. He loves gin, tequilla, rum, and whiskey. Maybe some home made long islands are in store, he's not much of a people person so bars don't really sound like much fun.

Also, in his experience, he doesn't really get hangovers, no matter what or how much he drinks. He has spent the night in the bathroom and woke up ready for his morning jog.

[podge]

Swim adivises beer for socializing and relaxing, spirits or liquer is swiy wants to get hammered. If swiy decides to drink both then drink the spirits first and follow up with beer for the rest of the night.

[Jatelka]

It's a birthday, it HAS to be Champagne.

Krug is wonderful, Krystal bling, but doesn't taste anywhere near as good. Perrier Jouet's Belle Epoque is a bit girly (particularly if drunk out of the hand painted glasses), pretty much anything by Veuve Cliquot is good, but if you're looking to push the boat out then get "The Grande Dame"

If the budget doesn't stretch to named fizz, that's fine, there are many wonderful fizzes that aren't champagne (indeed, you often pay more for the name than you do for the taste)

Can I strongly recommend Kir Royales for the ultimate party drink?

[Metomni]

Could I pick up some of the Kir Royales at any liquor place? Or would I have to go somewhere special? Is it a champaigne? How much does it usually run price wise?

I like the idea of champaigne, thanks Jatelka!

[Jatelka]

Kir Royales are 1 part Creme de Cassis to 5 parts fizz.

Creme de Cassis is relatively cheap and will cover up a world of sins if the fizz is less than tasty of itself.

Variations on this theme include substituting pretty much any flavoured liqueur for the Cassis: Framboise (raspberry eau-de-vie), Creme de Muir (Blackberry) Violet, Benedictine (Cognac base, aromatic herbs) and Grenadine (pomegranate and red currants) all taste particularly nice.

Never tried Mint or Hazlenut, but I bet they'd be nasty!

[Metomni]

I went with the intention of following your advice, but they didn't have any so I instead looked at the wines and port wines and ended up getting some Moscato D'Italia wine. I'll report back when it's gone, hopefully it's tasty.

Metomni added 39 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

Just sampled a glass with a nice cigar that I shared with a friend and it's delicious! Very happy, after work I will certainly drink the rest of the bottle with the nice Fuente we bought.

[beena]

Three Drinks:
1) Bloody Mary - double shot of vodka, single measure of dry sherry, fresh tomato juice (prefably organic), a pinch of salt, a little lemon juice (freshly squeezed lemon), worcester sauce and tabasco to taste.
2) Fat Frogs - (Make 2 drinks at a time - 2 pint glasses required) - pour equally between the 2 glasses: 1 Smirnoff Ice, 1 Orange Reef and 1 blue WKD. Actually this recipe can be played around with, try this: 1 Smirnoff Ice, 1 Blue WKD, 1 Orange Bacardi Breezer and 1 Watermelon Bacardi Breezer - If poured over lots of cold ice the drinks will separate so the smirnoff ice and wkd stay at the bottom, then the orange bacardi breezer and then the watermelon - this creates a wicked looking drink with a traffic-lights effect (red, orange, bluey-green). Check it out: never fails to impress!
3) Shooters: I think they're a must have for any party personally but especially your 21st. This one is my favourite - it's called a B52: 1/3 Grand Marnier, 1/3 Kaluha, 1/3 Baileys. Pour into a shot glass Grand Marnier first, then the Kaluha slowly over a spoon, then the Baileys also slowly over a spoon. Again the three ingredients should stay separate until you drink them! Some shooters make me gag but this one is actually quite yummy. lol. enjoy!

[GForce]

I recently turned 21 as well. I can't even remember what I went with (I guess thats a good thing) but it was either Johnnie Walker Gold Label or The Macallan 12 Year. If you're not really into drinking scotch though I always thought white russians were a good drink if you can stomach the cream.

[st3v3]

JonhnnyD recommends 2 fat blunts and any bottle of tequlia, or 2 grams spice diamond with the same mixture. there is no way he'd be walking away all sober for his 21st

[vinylmesh]

Presuming SWIY has drank before and is not a lightweight,this is what SWIY should do.

Vodka/clear rum (nothing else!) with a total alcohol content of 75mls. Mixed with energy drink with a total of 150mg caffeine and some other drink to make up the rest (don't physically mix the 2 non-alcoholic drinks though! ).Drink this as fast as possible.

When the alcohol is making SWIY urinate SWIY should drink a pint of water to replace lost fluids.

SWIY should be nice and socially drunk and in a partying mood at this stage.

3 hours after consuming the alcohol SWIY could have 1 or 2 drinks (vodka/clear rum mixed with some sugar-containg drink) or a joint or something (this isn't neccesary though.)

SWIY should have one or two glasses of water right before bed.

If SWIY follows these instructions SWIM guarantees SWIY won't get a hangover.Also the probability of having a good time is vastly increased (coz of the caffeine)



When someone starts off drinking they don't wake up with hangovers coz they're still drunk when they wake up.SWIM remembers once getting up at 10.30 feeling fresh and then suddenly around 1 being hit by their first ever hangover

[Metomni]

Thanks for your suggestions and well wishes everyone, but SWIM is pretty picky with his booze. He only really likes fine wines, good beers, and whiskey better than Jack, Rum at or above the captain morgan level, and then he'll take just about any gin or tequilla above Segrims.

Currently he's slamming some Green Label with a 6-pack of Sunshine Wheat made by New Belgium. It's delicious. He wants to try some of the fancy coffee liquors, he LOVES coffee even more than booze, so to get some of those that are really good might be fun.

He also doesn't really get hangovers, so he knows how you feel Boozer, he's like 5'11" and 130 lbs, yet he can slam an entire fifth of captain and wake up for work in the morning good as new.

It's nice, but he doesn't usually get that drunk unless someone else is unknowingly making his drinks for him, and making them stronger than he suspects.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Nice taste. Glad to see you can appreciate the finer things about scotch.

[beena]

SWIM has just been reminded of another great drink she once had in YO! Sushi bar.....It has a double shot of vodka in it (ie large vodka), a single (small shot) of sake and then for a mixer it has a green energy drink called Lipovitan B. The whole combination is very pleasant and also gets you happily sloshed.

[Nature Boy]

Happy 21st Metomni. SWIM would usually recommend whiskey for any big occasion but that ground is already covered. I guess it would be nice to have a couple of nice beers for afterwards. Can't go wrong with classic bottles of Heineken.

[GForce]

Green Label is a fine scotch whisky. I used to be a very big Johnnie Walker fan (actually black label is still my staple scotch for mass consumption) and Green Label is what got me interested in single-malts since it is mixed entirely of other single-malt scotches. In the entire line (red, black, green, gold, blue) it was definitely the most smooth and soft tasting. My personal favorite is gold, frozen for at least 24 hours as instructed, for reasons you'd have to taste to understand. I've had a few opportunities to try blue label, including my own bottle, and while it's taste is vastly complex and interesting, it wasn't as enjoyable overall as gold label was. Anyway, good choice!

[Metomni]

Even the red label is very good for its price. For 20-25 bucks you get a bottle that definitely tastes a lot finer and smoother than just about anything else under 40 bucks.

Do you have any other recommendations for scotch sir? We seem to have similar tastes and I'm trying to acquire my likes and dislikes now that I can buy whatever I want.

I've also heard, and tried (but not since I actually learned to appreciate the taste vs. getting drunk), that mixing scotch or whiskey 50/50 with water brings out the tastes more and is the best way to drink it on the rocks. Does this have any truth in it?

[GForce]

I've ordered red label at restaurants before because a lot of the "Friday's" type restaurants that us college students can afford only stock that in the bar. Personally, I think it is awful, but I mean it doesn't taste bad. For scotch there is obviously much better, and the taste almost tasted synthetic and fake to me, but at the same time it is still scotch and better than Seagram's VO or cheaper brands. I stick with black label because it is legitimately good for a staple scotch and it can be had for cheap if you know where to look. I picked up a litre earlier this weekend for about $40, and I've seen it cheaper than that before.

As for recommendations, unfortunately scotch taste has to be limited by how much money you have to spend. If you like johnnie walker I highly suggest trying gold label. It'll run you about $100 a bottle. Don't bother spending over $200 on blue label because it isn't wroth double the price, although savor it if you ever get it as a gift. Since you like green label I highly suggest you try single-malts out. Pick a good distillery in Scotland and try some of their offerings. I've been exploring The Macallan because it was recommended to me by a family member and is one of the most renown, although there are many to try from and I hope to get a chance to try at least some others. The 12 Year aged in Sherry Oak is a really good starting point for a single-malt. It is inexpensive, relatively, at ~$40 for 750ml. If you like that, you could do what I did, and try the 15 Year Fine Oak next, which is ~$60. Both are a pretty good deal for the price and complex enough to really give you a taste of the distillery. I want to try an 18 Year Macallan scotch next, but the next price bracket is roughly $100-$150, so it won't be something I get to enjoy often.

As for water, it is a complex issue. As a rule of thumb though, there is no "right" way to drink scotch. Whatever tastes best to you should be how you enjoy it. I enjoy black label on the rocks as just my staple "getting drunk" drink because I love drinking scotch, I enjoy black label, and I enjoy it even more (during mass consumption) if it is frozen and on the rocks. When I drank my Macallan bottles I tended to drink them more neat, since that is how scotch is professionally judged. However, I did try both of them on the rocks and they were both very good that way.

As for water bringing out the taste, this is true and false. It depends on the scotch. Some scotch does, in fact, benefit from the addition of water to bring out the flavors. Dillution is how cask strength scotch is transformed into a spirit to enjoy neat. You can also purchase, although they're rare, cask strength bottles of scotch bottled directly from the cask. These are intended to be dilluted to your personal taste, or drank neat if you enjoy it that way.

One note: NEVER, under any circumstances, dillute scotch with tap water. Tap water has chlorine in it and chlorine will destroy the complex flavors in the scotch rather than enhance them. People who do dillute recommend using spring water that was used by the distillery in the creation of the original scotch. That would mean finding a scottish spring water that you know the distillery your scotch comes from uses. Obviously it is pretty impractical to shop for scottish spring water, so you can really experiment with any spring water. It just has to be spring water because the chlorine in tap water is very bad for scotch. If you enjoy scotch on the rocks, chances are your ice cubes are made from tap water, and this is OK if you're willing to let some chlorine into your drink for the tradeoff of what you enjoy about the scotch being on the rocks. You could try making ice cubes with spring water which seems a bit overkill, but I may give it a try to see if I can taste a difference in black label and perhaps some single-malts.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Thank you sir. :)
	Thanks for the tips / suggestions, will have to try some when I get a chance.

[satinhide]

Just drink some Bacardi light and diet coke, or regular coke if Swiy prefers. Rum is an all around good liquor that isn't sharp but carries its own delectable flavor.

Reputation Comments on this post:

The man is obviously into fine liquor. I don't think he's going to be drinking rum and coke.

[Metomni]

SWIM just got home from work and is half way through the Moscato, but no worries, he's enjoying it very much regardless of the speed at which he's downing it. Next up, his bottle of Johnny Walker Green Label, MMMMM scotch. Soon they'll be enjoying a very nice cigar on the porch as well, can't wait.