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Alcohol and the measurement and consumption thereof
Luinmac
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
These are probably going to be some silly questions, but I'd like some input nonetheless.
First, I'm into my mid-20's, and I'd consider myself quite the coinesseur of "high quality" drinks. I enjoy the darker beers, imports, etc... shy away from light stuff. Anyway, when I do drink, I do it in VERY minor amounts... typically no more than two bottles in a given day. Saying this, I've never gotten "drunk" for the sake of getting drunk, and I really don't plan to.
Recently I moved into trying harder stuff, such as mixed drinks. When I read recipes, they call for stuff like "5 parts vodka, 2 parts etc..."... How do you measure a "part"? Dealing with harder stuff, I'd like to make sure I don't overdo it, but at the same time make sure the drink has the intended taste.
Now, along those lines, how much is too much? Is it wrong in any way to partake in a drink on a nightly basis? It's in the comfort of my own home, and done in moderation... so is there anything wrong with that? There's always those people saying things like "Oh you drink alone? ALCOHOLIC! Oh you drink every day? ALCOHOLIC!"... (this hasn't been said to me, but I've read/heard similar statements.
So, essentially - How much is too much is I do it without the intent of getting drunk?
Thanks
First, I'm into my mid-20's, and I'd consider myself quite the coinesseur of "high quality" drinks. I enjoy the darker beers, imports, etc... shy away from light stuff. Anyway, when I do drink, I do it in VERY minor amounts... typically no more than two bottles in a given day. Saying this, I've never gotten "drunk" for the sake of getting drunk, and I really don't plan to.
Recently I moved into trying harder stuff, such as mixed drinks. When I read recipes, they call for stuff like "5 parts vodka, 2 parts etc..."... How do you measure a "part"? Dealing with harder stuff, I'd like to make sure I don't overdo it, but at the same time make sure the drink has the intended taste.
Now, along those lines, how much is too much? Is it wrong in any way to partake in a drink on a nightly basis? It's in the comfort of my own home, and done in moderation... so is there anything wrong with that? There's always those people saying things like "Oh you drink alone? ALCOHOLIC! Oh you drink every day? ALCOHOLIC!"... (this hasn't been said to me, but I've read/heard similar statements.
So, essentially - How much is too much is I do it without the intent of getting drunk?
Thanks
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For measuing in parts, measure it in anyway you want. If something is calling for 5 parts vodka, I'd be measuring in half shots. What is that, a pony shot? I dunno, my terminology isn't up to snuff. I would not however make a drink with at least five shots of vodka in it unless I was planning to drink it over two hours.
repeat process 8 times. Fall down.
https://medium.com/@alascii
For simple math, take size of one of your regular beers * percentage of alcohol to determine how much alcohol you'd normally consume, then figure out how many shots of your hard liquor of choice that would be and tailor your 'parts' measurement to that.
You are also not an alcoholic for having one casual drink an evening, unless that drink is a slurpee cup full of wild turkey. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest a number of positive health benefits from regular, moderate drinking. As long as you never feel like you have to drink every night, you're fine.
Edit: Oh, and all forms of alcohol are not equal. Using myself as an example, a standard rye and coke does nothing to me, but a standard beer makes me feel noticably fuzzy. I'm sure it varies a lot between people and what you're consuming the alcohol with.
Nah, I never feel like I "need" to drink for any reason. I just enjoy a good drink every now and then, I like to sample different drinks, etc.
And you're definetly right about how it varies. At around 8-9% ABV, a beer will sometimes make me fuzzy/light-headed. Yet, a mixed drink, such as a White/Black Russian or a small glass of Vodka w/ Ice won't do much at all to me.
I'd like to graduate into tasting newer things that I've never tried before, such as scotch and various bourbons/whiskeys, but I'm never sure what a safe quantity is on those sorts of things, since they are much stronger. And, of course, I at least know to sip those, not drink.
https://medium.com/@alascii
As far as when alcohol becomes a problem, I'd say the rule of thumb is alcohol's a problem when it stars interfering with your personal, social, working or spiritual life. If you're late to work/class/appointments because of your drinking then you have a problem with alcohol (maybe you're not an "alcoholic" but you've got some things to work out). The "drinking alone" or "drinking every night" rules are oversimplifications, just because those describe you doesn't mean you're an alcoholic, but engaging in that kind of behavior may make it difficult for you to recognize or exercise limits to your consumption. Drinking with friends gives your friends an opportunity to say " you've drunk too much, let's get you a cab."
As was already mentioned, alcohol has been proven to have health benefits when taken regularly in small doses. It seems more socially acceptable in European countries than over here in the states though.
If you're going to drink that regularly, you should also consider drinking a couple cups of coffee each day. This study of 125000 people over 22 years shows that coffee offsets liver damage.
This made me smile
I was a barista for 5 years, so I've grown quite addicted to coffee (I saw as I down my 3rd cup for the morning)
I did not know that, and that's very interesting to know.
A good idea would to be get a shaker. Then you can mix it via shot ratios, with ice, and then have mixed drinks/shots ready at the go.
Now for a personal favorite recipe, a bomb pop:
A little grenadine syrup in the bottom of the glass, some Smirinof Ice, and about two shots of UV Blue to top it off. Stir together after admiring, drink, and if you make it, make sure to serve on ice.
And a shot you should order for a friend if you go to a bar, Cement Mixer. Everyone Loves a good Cement Mixer.
As far as enjoying a drink or two in the evening, as long as it's not affecting your life or becoming a need, there's nothing wrong with it. You're not an alcoholic because you drink alone, you drink alone because you're an alcoholic.
Yes, there's a world of difference between a nice relaxed inebriated feeling and WOO BEERPONG FRAT PARTY BRO RAPE TIME!
The former is quite enjoyable, especially since you seem more than responsible enough to handle it.
God this post is gonna come up under some weird Google searches...
PSN/XBL: dragoniemx
I'd easily drink 10 irish car bombs a night, with other various beers or mixed drinks thrown in, in between. (Irish Car Bomb = Half Shot of Bailies, Half Shot of Whisky, 3/4 pint of Guinness - Drop the shot in the pint and chug)
I drank so much Jagermeister once I literally hallucinated. I was freaking out so much because my girlfriend had grown 4 extra mouths and 3 extra eyes, and I couldn't cope with it. According to her, I started stuttering something she couldn't understand, then within the next half second I was dead to the world passed out on the floor where I was standing. Within 5 minutes I was up, and had no idea where I was or why i was there, and was trying to make sense of it all. At that point I once again dropped to the ground like a rock. I was down for 20 minutes that time according to my GF. And when I awake again, I was hugging the porcelain god, throwing up a very thick black fluid. Most likely a mixture of blood and jager.
I once drank 180$ of shots in one night, at 3.50 a shot. That's 52 shots, and yes that was one of my alcohol poisonings.
I also beerbonged 12oz of vodka, chugged a 750ml of mandarin vodka (to this day orange smelling cleaning products give me headaches and make me feel nauseous) Drank 2.5litreof 8% beer then played three rounds of drinking jenga with MGD and McCormicks Vodka for my beer and liquor. Beer Pong with electric lemonade (vodka and lemonade concentrate) until passing out. At that point in my I had never found anyone who could go shot for shot with me, including huge redneck cowboys, college football players, frat boys, or just random ass drunks that sit in bars all the time. Keep in mind also, at that time, I was 5'10" and weighed 140lbs... so it's not like I'm some huge guy who can drink a lot.
I hit the booze harder and faster than anyone I, or anyone else I know, has ever known, and paid a hard price for it. And alcohol was affecting horribly every aspect of my life.
If any of what I described sounds familiar to you, you may have a drinking problem.
These days I can have three normal beers (normal is 4-5.6% alcohol, before feeling buzzed. Or 2 good micro brews. If I get into the range of 6 or 7 regular beers, or 4 to 5 good micro beers (not all good micro's have to have high alcohol content, but IMO most of the good tasting ones do) I get drunk, but not a good drunk, a completely miserable feeling drunk that makes my entire body hurt. And I pretty much just shut down and have to go to bed.
Now I never drink to get drunk, but I do enjoy having a good beer. Nothing like grilling up some burgers or dogs and sipping on a nice cold micro in the sun. But the days of getting drunk are over for me.
Now anyways...
Hard alcohol is easy to get into, and extremely easy to over do. Especially once you start experimenting with flavored vodkas and rums. A fruit flavored alcohol in a fruit juice is extremely dangerous. They go down smooth and you can have a hard time detecting the alcohol, and realizing how much you're drinking. A lot of times people thing all girls are light weights because they drink fruity drinks, while these big tough frat boys are drinking budlight after budlight! Well more often than not those girls are drinking doubles or even triples, meaning they are drinking two to three times more alcohol per drink than those big brutish boys. So it's no fucking wonder they are getting drunk faster (not always their fault either, a lot of guys purpously order girls things drinks to get them drunk!)
These days I only drink hard alcohol that costs at least 25$ for 750ml
Captain Morgan's Private Stock for rum
Crown Royal or Tullamore Dew for whiskey
I don't drink vodka anymore, but Stoli's is probably ok for what you want, Grey Goose and Skyy are probably more than what you want
Jager's out too - though I recommend you try it.
Scotch never sat well with me, as did tequila.
Try mixing a flavored vodka or rum(one or two shots) raspberry and cranberry do well, in a small (8oz) glass of juice.
Cranberry family (cranras,apple,grape,pom etc) or just grape juice mix well.
The always famous and popular Rum and Coke. Use the most expensive rum you're willing to buy, and it then mix it strong enough to taste the rum. I literally just finished mine. 1 & 1/2 shots of rum in a pint of coke with 2 ice cubes. Delicious. You don't need the rum to be over powering through the coke, just make sure you can actually taste it.
Make a milk shake, in the blender add a few shots of Jagermeister (hard to mix if you pour the milkshake then add the jager). Or have a cup of rootbeer, and add a shot or two of jager.
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this depends totally on you as an individual. be aware, however, that you can drink a bunch of drinks and "feel nothing" and think you're fine and so you keep drinking, but it's all going to hit you at once some point later on. pace yourself. and as someone else noted, the type of alcohol you drink will have varying levels of effect on you. I can drink bucket-loads of mixed drinks without much of a problem, but a few beers or a few glasses of wine (or like two glasses of champagne) and I'm gooooooooone.
no, and you should not care what other people think of your drinking habits. as long as you are comfortable with the amount you drink, you are the only one you have to answer to. nightly basis is a bit excessive, especially if it's more than one drink a night, but this is down to the individual. if you're not getting drunk, one drink a night is okay.
your body will determine how much is too much. keep in mind that you can end up dehydrated, particularly if drink an alcoholic drink or two right before bed. down a glass of water before going to sleep. I wouldn't recommend doing it nightly, but if you keep it to one drink a night, it's not so bad. you'll start getting a feel for how much you can handle, what kinds of alcohol you like, etc.
more often than not, getting drunk is about pace, not about the kind of drink you are drinking, so space them out and you will likely not end up drunk all that often.
Aside from that, if you're worrying about it this much I wouldn't really call you an alcoholic. It becomes a problem when it begins to influence your behavior.
A drink a day isn't even approaching alcoholic behaviors, and from all the sciencey stuff I've read lately, is good for your vascular health.
So in an effort to broaden my horizons, I bought a Crown Royal. So, from what little I know about it, there are three types of Whiskeys? Bourbon, Scotch, and just straight Whiskey, correct?
What is the best way to drink, and store, a whiskey? I'll venture to guess that you keep it out of the fridge... like in a cabinet. Also, in a small glass with a few ice cubes?
Right on target.
However a lot of people like to have all their (hard)alcohol served at freezing temperatures, and thus they store it in the freezer. Hard alcohol won't usually freeze in a common freezer (though sometimes the glass does and breaks). Mostly people do this with gin and vodka, but I've known quite a few who like their whiskeys and rums at freezing temperatures as well.
My girlfriend throws her whiskey in the freezer, I disagree and like it room temperature with chaser, or straight with ice. It's strange, but I like the warm whiskey chilled with ice so much better than cold whiskey. I think it's because when whiskey gets so cold in the fridge it turns into a sort of viscous syrup that sticks in the throat.
Good point though, take the vodka and gin as cold as you can get it. The stuff is vile at room temperature... not to say I haven't had it that way and loved it almost as much.
I tried the Whiskey a few different ways.
First, swirled with a little water, as suggested in a tasting video. It's fine, but doesn't seem natural to put water in it.
Next, straight with ice - Very wierd, the ice took away from it.
Then, straight without ice - This was a longer-lasting drink. Definetly slow, short sips... but enjoyable.
Lastly, tried it last night with coke and ice. Very bad. The sugar in the coke just made it horrible.
Try that.
As for how much is too much, there's been a bunch of reports in the Australian media about how 4 drinks in one day is 'binge drinking'. I think that that's a bit low, because 4 standard drinks doesn't even make me fuzzy, but it's a decent enough guide for the most you should drink in a night if you want to drink most nights.
Are there any differences in drinking scotch, bourbon, and regular whiskey? (I say regular because I'm not sure how to classify it, Crown Royal doesn't specify if it's a scotch or bourbon, so I just call it whiskey)
There are blended malt scotches, single malt, sour mash, bourbon, etc...
All have different uses/ways to drink
Some are good mixers, some aren't.
By regular whiskey, do you mean Irish whiskey?