Interesting--alcohol use note

[GoingNorth]

Janet, I LOVE "Virgin Marys". They are Bloody Marys without the vodka. I l like the spicy V8 juice and the like as well.

For some reason, alcohol in tomato juice is just gross, plus starting off the day on an empty stomach and dumping in booze really upsets my stomach.

I actually almost always have a container of Bloody Mary mix in my fridge. I drink it almost daily--that or the spicy V8 juice. If someone went through my recycling and saw all the bottles of Bloody Mary mix, they'd think I was a real lush.

I also like "virgin" gin rickies, basically tonic water mixed with Rose's lime juice and a squeeze of fresh lime. I don't like them with gin in them.

My mother taught me about the rickies years ago. It looks like a "real" drink and in peer situations it takes off the pressure to have a drink when someone buys a round.

husband used to drink iced tea with "fruit salad on a swizzle stick". Again it looked like a "real drink", but contained no alcohol.

One or the other of us were always the designated driver for "crawls", and this despite husband having been a master brewer and us having anywhere up to ten gallons of the best beer you could imagine in the basement at all times.

When we had parties at our place, we used to make everyone dump their car keys in a big jar on the counter. The rule was that if you drank at our place, you slept at our place.

Back in the wild old days, I once woke up to find someone sleeping in our BATHTUB! To this day I don't know who the guy was, but he was fed breakfast and sent home sober, LoL

 

[AnnieO]

Janet... That used to be me. Tequila was my shot of choice for years - from the time I was 21 till I was 28. Loved margaritas. Then BFF's 21st birthday and... Well... I have long stretches of time from that night that I do not remember. Everything I ate and drank tasted like tequila for three days. I haven't been able to drink the stuff for 8 years. A couple of months ago, husband had a margarita and I took a sip. Took half my Pepsi to wash away the taste. Now I adore virgin margaritas, yes, the lime flavored ones. A few weeks ago I bit the bullet and ordered a berry margarita at the Outback Steakhouse, and it was good. I think I may need something besides the lime flavor if they're going to be alcoholic. Pina Coladas are yummy - I can handle them. Mostly I don't drink though. A glass of wine here or there - a few months back I got to somewhere between tipsy and drunk (again at BFF's... Hmm) - it was okay, but I wasn't too great the next day. Now that I've made the connection...

 

[Marguerite]

I also like "virgin" gin rickies, basically tonic water mixed with Rose's lime juice and a squeeze of fresh lime. I don't like them with gin in them.

Try them with a dash of Angostura bitters as well.

Our family's favourite drink is lemon, lime and bitters. It's very simple - a plain lemonade or even better, a homemade lemonade or lime-ade (made with limes) than add a dash of lime cordial (not the bright green stuff, but the pale yellow Rose's stuff) and finally, a dash of bitters. You serve it NOT all mixed up, so the layers are still sort of swirling and the bitters are adding a pale sunset colour to the bottom of the glass (or the top). With ice.

If you want it alcoholic, you can use gin (for a gin sling) or vodka s an alternative. But if you're drinking out with a group of friends and you don't want to imbibe, then have one of these without the gin or vodka and nobody will be any the wiser. Not that it should matter.

husband & I are trying to reinvent a drink we had just before Christmas when we went to see "Mama Mia!" at the casino. They sell these in plastic martini glasses that flash different colours, it's very effective and a real party atmosphere when there are a lot of these lighting up the audience.
The cocktail was green. Very. And frozen. It tasted tropical and delicious. We analysed what was in it and have since improved on it.

Here goes -
one part Midori.
One part rum with coconut (we get a brand here called Bombora, you could also use Malibu)
Four parts pineapple juice

Freeze this mix. It won't fully freeze, although the more pineapple juice you use in the mix, the more it will freeze. But the sugars in the pineapple juice also stop it freezing solid.
Break it up with a fork, and serve.

If you can't get coconut-flavoured rum, freeze the mix with either ordinary rum or vodka or maybe no other alcohol. Then serve the slushy, but then after serving, add a Tablespoonful of coconut cream.

You can make these weaker or stronger, but if you freeze your drink after you make it, it automatically slows down your intake. You have to wait for the second one to freeze before you can have it!

Marg

 

[GoingNorth]

What always amuses me in sort of a sad way is that Jaegermeister (an herb and honey flavored liqeur) is the beverage of choice amongst the much younger set.

Why? Well, in Germany, where it's made, Jaegermeister is actually a digestive tonic. It's something you would have a shot of after a heavy meal. The herbs are supposed to support digestion, especially that of fats, and the honey is to sweeten it and cover the bitterness of the herbs.

It's served at room temp in Germany. Here in the US it is served out of the freezer, and the cold covers the herbal taste while making it taste even sweeter.