AzJon (July 12th, 2017)
I've found that being a pu erh enthusiast opens many gates and allows for some fun interactions.
You have to actually like/understand pu erh for it to work, but every tea shop/house I've been to that is worth its salt will sort of "test" you if you say you like pu-erh. If you pass, many hours of pu-erh fun ensues. I've had three different occasions where this scenario plays out and I end up sitting with a shop owner drinking very nice pu-erh for hours just chatting and laughing. They always want to show off their prized bricks. One fella, after about two hours of drinking and laughing, pulled out a brick from the basement that was given to him by his grandfather who got it in 1934 (supposedly). It was definitely an interesting tea, to be sure. He had a larger stock of it tucked away and decided he hadn't tried it recently and it merited testing out...just to be sure the brick was still aging well.
I like dark and strong beer; should you try the Trappist beers from Rochefort, I am sure you will find they do not taste as strong as their labels suggest, although I do prefer their 6° (7.5%) in preference to either their 8° (9.2%) or their 10° (11.3%).
I live quite near a place called the Hogs back brewery, they make excellent beers and even their own cider now.
I am also fortunate enough to live near an award winning family run fish n chips restaurant that sells their beverages. It's all very quaint, I would also recommend the home made spotted dick with custard for pudding 😍
My favorite drink beside tea and coffee is milk.
(I don´t drink alcohol, it never gave me something I wanted to have)
I've had Hogsback! They're in (or near) Farnham, right? I lived in Hammersmith for a while and would take annual camping trips to the New Forest. Hogsback was always a favorite around the fire. Ex's sister lived in Farnham, actually. Really lovely area.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good strong ale from time to time as well. Rochefort makes fantastic beers. It's less the intensity of the taste of alcohol, more the effect. As I've gotten older, beers over 7% go down smooth and fast. Faster than is...comfortable sometimes. Hahaha.Originally Posted by SIR
Don't I just know. :-/ I never thought the term "session ale" would come to mean so much to me.
----I'm quite fond of good hoppy IPAs and the darker, amber-to-red ales, and consider myself lucky to live at a time when there are so many craft breweries in the U.S.; many of them in my region, the Midwest.
I like dry, full-bodied red wines, but am not enough of a connoisseur to name particular varieties and vintages. There are advantages to being easily amused.
And then the harder stuff. I appreciate the virtues of Scotch and Irish whisky, but to my taste, nothing beats bourbon and rye, both sipped straight and in some of the classic cocktails. Notably the Manhattan. Bliss.
Bourbon is good...
In other news, I had my first taste/half bottle of Southern Comfort in over 12 years this week;
I seem to have very much overcome my past sensitivity to whiskies.
Half bottle? Yep, I'd say you've overcome.
Southern Comfort, now that brings back memories.
Good ones, I hasten to add. Good ones.
Agreed! When I do want a beer I'm quite happy to walk into the local grocery store and find an abundance of good beers from smaller breweries. I really enjoy Founders Dirty Bastard and Atwater Vanilla Java Porter. I'm also spoiled by my cousin at family gatherings. He's the master brewer at Elk Brewing in Grand Rapids, MI, and he likes to bring along various new brews for the rest of us to try.
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Dainty little thing...
Coffee.
I do cook with beer and wine, so I'll have an occasional sip. Room temperature Guinness is rather good.
I often drink coffee first thing on getting into work, already ready from my flask but only one - cream and honey, please; but tea I can drink all day without feeling I need to love/fight someone if i drink too much!
When I worked in a pub, I would drink beer all day - interspersed with tea or coffee.
My other writing instrument is a pencil.
AzJon (July 31st, 2017)
I enjoyed a lovely bottle of Brooklands ale, at Brooklands race track today. Thought it was worth a mention.
If any of y'all like white rum, especially the Brazilian speciality Cachaça,
you would be well advised to try Leblon; it is the common wolf's genitalia.
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