I just turned 21 and I feel overwhelmed with the huge variety of alcoholic drinks available. I've been doing a lot of reading and googling, but there are so many obscure brands and styles that google doesn't seem sufficient, so I figured maybe this board could be of assistance.
I've tried a lot of the basics - cheap vodka and rum, Bailey's, Jameson, a variety of popular mixed drinks, a few different wines from California, and craft beer from a friend's brewery. From what I've found, I tend to like sweeter, stronger drinks with dessert or after dinner. I had pic related neat with a dessert at a restaurant and it was really good. I've also tried some port wine and sweet moscatos.
Where should I branch out from here? What are some other sweet, after dinner style drinks I should try? Any other recommendations? Anything obscure that I should be aware of? Also, is mead any good? I'm thinking of getting some but it's $35 for a bottle and that's kind of steep for something I may not even enjoy.
Personally for me, I hate sweet alcohol. I like gin, red wine, a variety of different whiskey's, vodka and dark beer. My personal taste now is a result of about 5-6 years of experimenting and trying various things. I am just about 22 now, but I don't live in fatland so drinking laws here are much more relaxed. When I was 16, I loved wine coolers and sweet things, now I hate it. I liked Jameson when I was 18, but now I find that it's too sweet of a whiskey for me. I resented gin when I was 17, but now, I love to drink neat brokers and I legitimately like the taste. My point is, don't worry about it so much. Try whatever you want. And if you don't like something now, keep experimenting with different things and after a while give the thing you didn't like initially another try. It is amazing how much your tastes and perception of things can change over time. Don't stress about having to become some scotch or wine connoisseur or whatever.
James Miller
I've heard that from a lot of people who have been drinking for a few years. It seems the general trend is to start with sweet and move away as you become more experiencing. It's just crazy to me how much shit there is out there. Honestly, until a few weeks ago I had no idea that there was this much of a variety, even in drinks that you'd think would be really similar.
Brandon Kelly
Mix parrot bay and Mike's hard lemonade. Very sweet, and you'll get really trashed
Nicholas Cox
I started with a peach Bellini and moved onto drinking about 16 shots of vodka at once (on occasion) I like a glass of good wine, but I prefer to cook pork chops with it instead.
Aiden Phillips
Not really looking to get super drunk, but I'll give it a try. >peach Bellini Never heard of this but it sounds good, if a little feminine. >16 shots of vodka at once At my size that would kill me, and from what I've found I don't particularly enjoy vodka
Colton Bailey
My grandma's an alcoholic. It runs in the family.
Also peach Bellinis are nice. A light peach flavour, and a little bitterness. They're not too sweet either.
Aaron Scott
That was the first liquor I used to steal from my parents when I was 13-14, I used to mix it with orange juice and fill the rest of the bottle up with water.
Just the thought of that artificial coconut smell/taste makes me queasy now, it was ok at the time but i'd rather drink 2 day old open cans of malt liquor over that sweet crap nowadays.
Noah Evans
Oh god even seeing this picture makes me feel sick, I used to always get trashed on this at high school parties along with other sweet boozes Flavored alcohol is a mistake
Tyler Perez
Get some Glenmorangie, Ardbeg, and Talisker for scotch, get some Hennessy for cognac, Mt. Defiance for Absinthe (I'm assuming you're in the US, which is why I suggest the Mt. Defiance), and Bulleit for bourbon. For the softer beverages, red wines for wine (I don't really have suggestions. Not Barefoot), and Lagers and Pilsners for beer, with the occasional craft (My picks are Waldhaus Ohne Filter mit Extra Herb, Lagunitas Pils, and Ganter Lager and Pilsner)
Chase Hughes
Protip: if you plan on indulging more than one or two drinks avoid sweet alcohol. Sugar and alcohol together are a 1 -2 punch on the liver. Consuming sugar (fructose) with alcohol just makes the hangover worse. It also makes it really easy to drink too much.
Another thing to keep in mind: what people pay for when it comes to alcohol is two things: prestige and complexity of flavor. Anything with several different complimentary flavors and a long pleasant finish is the good stuff. There's nothing wrong with simple flavors, but complexity is what connoisseurs seek out.
Christopher Cooper
Cool, thank you. That gives me a lot of things to work through. Be able to detect complexity is probably going to take a while. My parents are really into wine and they can seemingly taste and smell flavors that I wouldn't have the slightest guess at being there.
Henry Foster
You don't have to identify the flavors. Just ask yourself the question: Does drinking this take me on a little journey? It smells this way, hits my tongue a little differently, then I pick up some other flavor and the one that lingers in my mouth after swallowing it is nice, and it lingers for a while. If that's the case I'm drinking something good, whether it's wine, liquor, beer or cider. Not that there's anything wrong with simple, but complex is more interesting. And when you can find complex flavors in an inexpensive drink you've found a bargain.
Camden Lee
Quit being a fag and drink beer like a normal person. Or don't drink at all. And whatever you do, don't repeat your feeling on sweet fruity shit in public.
Ryder Lopez
>drink beer like a normal person How are things in the Midwest?
Angel Hernandez
Beer is more of a hipster thing where I live. Also I don't really like fruity necessarily, just sweet.
Aiden Gray
Humid today, very lovely otherwise though.
Not him by the way.
Wyatt Ross
alcohol is a waste of time and money. it also makes you sick. it is poison, after all. KYS alcohol spamming piece of garbage.
Joseph Nguyen
>alcohol is a waste of time and money. it also makes you sick. it is poison, after all. So is a huge amount of the food commonly found in the developed world. I guarantee you've eaten something in the last week that provided almost no nutritional value and was in fact damaging to your overall health. Even if you haven't done that, unless you exercise, and do so properly, then you're slowly killing yourself.
Jeremiah Baker
Here's a thought - how about not starting. -t. alcoholic
Nathaniel Kelly
Stay away from flavored alcohol. The best way to enjoy it is by getting original receipts and learn to mix good cocktails. Don't slam them down and don't make buckets of it either. Drink plenty of water in between all alcohol beverages. Beers are better when you have full body types. I enjoy the harps layered beer of dark and tan. Don't drink light beers. All carbs and no vitamins. Hops are very good for you. Remember, everything in moderation. Yeah, my dad Bartended and I too. The old receipies are also much better. Find an old book on the classics. Also, don't eat carbs when drinking. Proteins are better.
Charles Barnes
this
frankly I'm surprised OP made it to 21 without developing some sort of preference
Evan Diaz
Hate to break it to you pal but the majority of adults aren't alcoholics
David Parker
>eat boring, bland health food everyday >exercise regularly >don't drink, smoke, or do drugs >die in a car accident at age 35 anyway healthfags BTFO
Blake Hughes
pretty much everyone likes sweeter alchohols at first, its the least harsh on your pallet and your brain is tricked by the sweetness to enjoy it (your brain craves sugar more than its against alchohol)
try branching out into Rum, the spirit made from mollasses, sweet, caramel, coffee flavours from here try some rum cocktails like the daquiri, rum punch, hurricane. rum hands itself to juices and fruit. think tropical and you cant go wrong.
whiskey. general rule, irish whisky is the easiest for those starting into an appreciation of whisk(e)y, then go onto bourbon, and finally single malt scotch, read into the different scotch regions as they have a serious effect on the flavour of the whisky
gin is a great cocktail spirit, sure you can enjoy a G and T but have you considered trying it with various fruits included? try cucumber and grapefruit with it and boom gin hands itself to mixology and cocktails really bring out the best in gin in my opinion
All people of the world start and experiment with all varieties of alcohol in their lives.
All end up at the same final destination.
Scotch. Johnny Walker Black + Perrier (delivery system).
Nothing too fancy. Won't give you sugar hangovers. Won't get bloated. Won't take 1000+ pisses a night (i.e. , beer). Make you smell sexy and sophisticated to women and men alike.
Trust us on this one.
Logan Murphy
>scotch >no sugar
wew. literally everything in the store has sugar, from vodka to single malts to cognac.
take the samogonpill
Christopher Gutierrez
So is sex, if not procreating, but I still fuck whenever I can.
Any rum recommendations for around 100USD? El Diplomatico Exclusiva and El Dorado 12 year are two of my faves. I've also had Ron Abuelo 12 year which was nice. I'm looking for something that isn't as sweet as the first two I mentioned, ideally.
Kevin Butler
I'm wary. My father's an alcoholic and it apparently runs on that side of my family. If I notice any kind of dependency or trend toward addiction I'll cut it off permanently. I haven't developed a preference because of the above mentioned family alcoholism. It was very tightly controlled and I didn't decide that I would try anything until just before my 21st birthday. >try branching out into Rum Is rum ever consumed alone? Doesn't it tend to be used in cocktails more than anything? >general rule, irish whisky is the easiest for those starting I've had Jameson a few times and I seemed to like it, so it looks like I'm starting in the right direction. >gin is a great cocktail spirit Never tried it, but I've got an uncle that swears by it. Any specific gins I should look for?
>gins my favourites are Star of Bombay, Hendricks, Melbourne Gin Company, Four Pillars and 40 Spotted, though the last 3 might be hard to find for non-ausfags Tanqueray does just fine for a budget gin
Aiden Murphy
Stay tf away from hendricks it makes you constipated If you have the money try bombay sapphie, if not go for potters
I also love sweet drinks op and my go to has been gin + cola + a tiny squirt of those mio water flavorings-pineapple coconut Sounds pleb but idc its delicious and refreshing
Ryan Rodriguez
Maybe its not Hendricks, im thinking of some cheap gin with a red label. Stay away from it op, go with the blue labeled potters..
Ethan Gutierrez
Alcohol is a personal preference, what tastes good for someone may not be as good for someone else
Find a type of alcohol and try different brands of that particular alcohol to see what you like or don't like It will take trial and error, buying new alcohol can be exciting but risky seeing as you might not enjoy the alcohol
Christian Sanchez
What are you talking about? No liquors have sugar in them. Not even Rum, made from literal sugar. All calories are from the alcohol and any taste was carried over from the fermentation process.
Jeremiah Lopez
Have you had the Penicillin yet? It is one of the modern classics, 12 years since its creation and its super popular. Its a really refreshing ginger lemon and scotch cocktail that has a bit of super smokey scotch floated on top, so that the smell deceives you with smoke and breaks into a nice laid back experience.
Juan Fisher
>drink bitch pussy 3% alcohol like a real man
Tyler Thompson
Gin is what everyone's alcoholic uncle drinks. Be prepared for a nasal clearing, sorta like wasabi. Gin, tonic, and some grapefruit juice would probably go together well. Like an alcoholic San Pellegrino or La Croix.
Adam Moore
I'm not a fan of sweet alcohol myself. I like some sweet beers, but wine has to be dry or semidry for me. Advocaat's pretty nice, it's a sweet drink made from eggs, sugar and brandy. Great winter warmer.
Landon Sullivan
Underrated post
Angel Davis
I somehow missed this post yesterday. I'll keep it in mind, seems like generally solid advice. I had no idea that hops had any kind of health benefits. >It will take trial and error That seems to be the only way, it's going to be expensive though No, never even heard of it. I'll definitely try it out. Never heard of this thing either. It doesn't look like it's very widely available in my city, but it sounds really good. I'll definitely keep an eye out.
I'm glad the thread's got as much attention as it has, there's a lot of good input. Has anyone heard of these cocktail caviar things? Are they any good? My aunt gave them to me for my birthday and I'm not sure of the best way to use them.
Daniel Cox
Just be careful and know how much you can handle. Don't take any notice as to what other people think, if you like it drink it, it's that simple.
Easton Perez
Don't. Stay away. Please.
Cameron Miller
Get cheapest bottle of bottom shelf vodka you can find. Mix with juice or soda of choice if you want it sweet.
Or drink it straight after keeping it in the freezer.
Leo Fisher
>Have to be 21 to drink Oh Murrica
I would say to just keep trying things.
Also, assume that your palate will change. If you didn't like something on the first go, it might be worth trying again later. I remember hating beer at first because people kept giving me IPAs. Later I had stout and loved it, turns out I just don't like hoppiness much.
Ethan Edwards
>I tend to like sweeter, stronger drinks Enjoy your cirrhosis + diabetes
Joshua Flores
If you want to be respected, drink 5 bottles of Laphroaig. Your phenol receptors will be destroyed so you can taste what Islay scotch is.
Joshua Gomez
>red wine How the fuck do you like that stuff? Merlot is trash.
Jackson Reyes
OP only thing I'll add is don't drink anything larger than a standard serving. Single shot of whiskey mixed with coke? OK. Bottled local brew? OK.
But multiple shots at once? Not worth it unless you're major depressed and even then it doesn't solve the issue.
Adrian Powell
You people are fucktardidly stupid.
If you can honestly tell me that Single Malt scotch is even in the same realm of sugar content than a fucking Jack & Coke, Mike's Hard Lemonade, etc. ,etc. just off yourself now.
Ethan Torres
Southern Comfort, sorry if it's already taken
Kayden Campbell
Consider a nice rum. It is a hard liquor but it is sweet. Sort of a inbetween. You can make hot buttered rums and sip it straight.
Julian Gutierrez
If you like sweeter stuff: Port Wine Ice Wine misc. Fruit Liqueurs and Punch (some like it very cold, some like it warmed up a bit, try both)
generally speaking, no, mead is not good. That is why the only people who still drink it are Norse Myth enthusiasts and LARPers...
Dylan Robinson
Not having a clue where to start isn't a problem. Not having a clue when to stop is.
Jaxon Evans
Why not go with quality instead of getting plastered on cheap shit? Single-malt scotches, cognacs, and armagnacs are all quite nice.
> I'm thinking of getting some but it's $35 for a bottle and that's kind of steep for something I may not even enjoy.
For anything new, try it at a bar or restaurant first. Sure, you'll drink one way-overpriced shot, but then at least you know whether you like it or not.
