It's entirely too happy around the TiB lately for my shriveled black heart, so I'm going to post a poll with a depressing choice: Something terrible happens, and for the rest of your life you can only drink from one category of the three general types of alcohol - wine, beer, spirits. Just to be clear, it's not that whatever you didn't pick disappears from the Earth or something like that, they're still around - you just can't drink them. What do you choose? I'm honestly not that much of a drinker but I still had to think hard about which two to sacrifice. Spirits was easy to let go because I hardly ever drink hard liquor so I wouldn't miss it much. But the choice between beer and wine was tougher. I drink a lot more beer than I do wine but honestly when I think of substitutes I would have a lot easier time filling in for beer's absence than wine. I prefer to drink beer with pizza and tacos, but can drink something else instead and still enjoy my meal. But wine, when I think of the things I drink wine with (primarily pasts dishes) other beverage choices are quite lacking. So for lack of acceptable alternatives, I'll take wine. Focus: What's your pick?
Probably wine. I'm sure that's a surprise to everyone here. Liquor-wise I'd mostly be giving up Rum'n'Cokes and Hard Vanilla Cokes. Oh and I guess those crazy mixed drinks like the kind you get at TGI Friday's. Yeah, I'm a big drinker. Never had a beer I enjoyed, although I've had a couple that were tolerable.
I think... I'd pick wine as well. Three in a row? Wow. The thing is, I love beer, a lot, but it'll make you way fatter than wine will (even though they'll both just make you fat). I really hope I never have to choose between the two. Liquor is meh to me. Drinking it is alright, but it's definitely a third compared to beer and wine.
Even though I would grieve for 40 days and 40 nights for the loss of my beloved red wines, there is no way on God's green earth I'd give up spirits. I'll be standing, whiskey in hand, yelling defiance into the teeth of a lightning storm taking place outside the hospital where they're treating my cirrhosis before you take away my precious liquor. Seriously, why would you even posit such a horrible nightmare? No more Speyside Scotches? No more Woodford Reserve bourbon? No more Ron Zacapa rum? No more Sidecars, Daiquiries, Mojitos, Japanese Slippers, Pina Coladas? You must be out your damn mind, fool. I'm going to go home and spoon my liquor cabinet while it gently consoles me.
Chalk me up for liquor. Beer and wine are both hell the next day, either the shits or massive migraines. No-brainer.
Spirits, no question. I don't drink wine, and I'm fat enough without replacing Vodka and soda's with Beer. Also, bourbon bbq sauce? Amazing. Beer batter? meh. Malibu, Baileys, Vanilla vodka and a tub of premium chocolate fudge icecream in a blender? Awesome. Beer and chocolate fudge ice cream? Not a winner. And really, I'm fat enough without all my drinking being beer.
Spirits. I already can't drink beer because I get hungover before my buzz even wears off. I do love wine, and it's usually the drink I reach for when I'm at a house party, but there is such a wide array of spirits I could go on drinking for the rest of my life without getting sick of any one drink.
What's with everyone calling them "spirits?" How about just saying hard alcohol or liquor like a normal person? For me, I'm going with beer. Relatively cheap, lots of choices, few disappointments. Plus, you don't have to worry about an inexperienced barmaid making a shitty drink and screwing you on the actual alcohol content via lots of ice. With beer, you know what you're getting every time.
I've relatively recently gotten into liquor, so I could let that go easily. The choice between wine and beer is a much harder decision. I appreciate wine, and we drink a lot of it at my house. The Mrsanthropic and I honeymooned in Napa. I recently saw wine described as "poetry in a bottle", and i don't think that is far off. However, I was a beer guy first. I think the great variety of beer, and complexity of a good beer, are underrated, and beer can be paired with food just as wine can. I also brew my own. It's tough - but beer it is.
Trakiel, you are a sick bastard for posing this question. Since my wife is allergic to beer, I've taken to drinking beers few and far between. However, I'm a big fan of Young's Double Chocolate Stout, and I get a craving for them something fierce. I do enjoy quite a few beers, including Shinerbock, Ghost River (an excellent brewery here in Memphis) and many others, but if it was necessary, I'd go without. Wine and liquor on the other hand... Nothing goes with a steak the way a good Malbec does. Sitting on a patio, a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or Pouilly Fuisse is fantastic. In winter time, an Oregon or Washington State Pinot Noir is a beautiful thing. Big, fruity reds burst on the tongue like no other. Finding a great wine is always a treat. And sangria-one of my all-time favorites. Make a good batch of sangria, and it's on like a pot of neckbones! However, vodka and club soda (especially 3 Olives Rangtang or Kettle One Oranje) is my distance drink. When it's cold, bourbon and club, VO and club, and Jim Beam Rye and club, are my drinks of choice. Pinnacle Whipped vodka shots (get it really, really cold, and it tastes just like whipped cream) get a party going. Hendrick's Gin and club soda with fresh cucumber is like no other. And a perfectly made vodka martini, straight up, dirty, super cold with bleu cheese olives will net me $10's and $20's in the palm all day long (and when I drink them, are fantastically delicious). If I really had to decide on just one of those two, I'd probably just go completely dry the rest of my life. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a drinking problem.
+1 I'm old and set in my ways. When I got to a bar and order a beer (never draft), I know exactly what it will taste like. If for some reason it's bad, not cold enough or something, I can send it back for a replacement without any questions. Just about the only time I drink liquor these days is when I mix it myself at home. Also, another reason I choose beer: I enjoy the social part of social drinking. I have a pace that I'll drink while chatting around the room or whatever. I like holding a beverage in my hand, and turning it up at regular intervals. If was drinking something straight or mixed, I still put it back at the same rate out of habit. (Same thing with wine.) I'd be on the floor pretty quick.
Definitely beer and it's not all that close for me. I enjoy wine occasionally, but it really wouldn't be that hard to give up. I need to drink beer pretty much every time I drink, but I can't drink only vodka or rum for the entire night. Fuck that. I'd also add that beer you can drink constantly throughout the night whereas you can't do that with hard liquor unless you're making a bunch of fruitastic chick drinks with drops of alcohol. Now everyone is going to tell me about all the awesome (read: shitty) vodka drinks that you can have 15 of in a night.
Wine and it is a no brainer. I am allergic to yeast but never liked the taste of beer anyway. I can drink wine like a normal person instead of inhaling shots of patron and chasing them with margaritas. So it would certainly be wine for me.
Beer all the way. I like wine and I love whiskey, but to me, beer is just the go-to drink. There are endless varieties--all affordable and nearly all of them good. If there's only one downfall with beer, it's that it's best served cold, which could be a problem if there's no ice or fridge around.
Oh, jeez. I was very quick to click on beer, and almost hit the button. But then I realized that would mean no Drambuie ever again. I'm going to need to think about this.
Spirits without any hesitation. I may be enjoying beers, ciders and wines more in the past few years but if I'm ever craving a drink, it's always rum. Drinking liquor is a lot more visceral experience than beer. The burn of cheap vodka, the immediate warm glow from bourbon, the instant regret of tequila and the intoxicating refreshment of a good strong g&t. Fuck beer, fuck wine. Give me spirits any day.
Beer is tasty and the perfect social drink for when you're hanging out with friends. However, I like hard liquor better and there's more variety in the types of drinks you can use it with. I'm usually a huge fan of wine but I think I'm taking a break from it for a couple weeks...
Beer. Not just because you can get drilled off of it, but it has so many occasions where it can be used: After working all day slaving for the horrible, horrible robots (God damn you to hell, robots!!!) I won't want whiskey. I don't drink vodka catching up with old friends at the ol' Rapture Waterin' Hole. After Mad Max-esque wasteland sports involving a Priest's severed head as the ball and tree wood chippers as goals, I want a cold one. Not to say I don't have my various loves of various liquors, I just think beer would be the smartest overall choice. At least for me.
Liquor totally. Though saying "spirits" makes me feel all proper English or Victorian. For me its about the diversity. When its cold, I love whiskey in all its combinations. Warmer weather calls for gin and tonics. I love tequila in all forms. I work for a beer company and I really do enjoy beer, but I enjoy liquor buzz so much more and the day after feels so much better. Wine I can take or leave.