How many of you don't drink alcohol?

[Stark]

That's very true; in Australia I'm basically expected to get drunk with my department every Friday. I just have no interest in wasting that much money.

[Yona]

No alcohol ! It appears that some have trouble making rationale decisions as it is. Why throw something into the mix that completely messes up your head, stomach, and next day.

Besides, I'm also predisposed to addiction,... can't metabolize it well.

[wolveraptor]

I rarely drink, but when I do, I tend to get totally shit-faced. It's pretty enjoyable, and I'm told I'm fairly pleasant, if a bit exuberant. I usually only bother w/ hard liquor - anything else is a waste of money, seeing as I drink to get drunk. I totally agree that alcoholic beverages tend to taste like shit, but I've found that, especially w/ hard liquor, the shots get increasingly easier to gulp down. I'm certainly not drinking it for the taste.

[Superboy]

Regarding the taste of alcoholic beverages; is it possible there's a physical reason for why some hate the taste while others enjoy it?

I recall reading something about how certain people have different types of taste buds that allow them to taste certain chemicals that others can't detect. This makes certain vegatables like brocoli taste very bitter to them while those with different types of taste buds don't taste bitterness at all.

I constantly hear people tell me that they can't stand the taste of alcohol, especially females (though they just might be more comfortable admitting it), but I personally adore the taste of most alcoholic drinks. I rarely drink because I'm usually driving and will never drink enough to be sick, but the taste of scotch or brandy is amazing to me and many others. It seems like such a drastic difference in opinion wouldn't be explained by just personal preference.

Then again, as has been mentioned, alcohol itself has no real taste. Is it just the slight burning sensation that people equate with alcohol?

[Broomstick]

Regarding the taste of alcoholic beverages; is it possible there's a physical reason for why some hate the taste while others enjoy it?

Well, sure that's possible.

Some people might not like the burning sensation high alcohol content gives, just as some people don't like the burning sensation of hot peppers (as an example). Some alcoholic drinks have a bitter component, such as beer. This might combine with social conditioning where people used to consuming only beverages with a high sugar/HCFS content to dislike them. Not only the alcohol, but some of the other chemicals in alcoholic drinks are probably mildly toxic and some people might be more sensitive to that than others.

An interesting thing is that while I can certainly enjoy wine I find non-fermented grape juice revolting, and I always have. I have no explanation, that's just the way it is.

[PeZook]

I don't usually drink for reasons many people stated here before: the taste of most alcoholic drinks is horrible, the smell is even worse (can't stand the smell of wine or beer or vodka myself, to be honest). Soft liquor tastes like shit, hard liquor burns when going down.

The only think I like are "girly" things like Smirnoff Ice shots, expensie champagne (eg. actual champagne, rather than sparkly wine), liquers such as advocate, ajercognac (I probably mangled the name), coffee liquors etc.

It seems I have a genetic predisposition to snobby lifestyle, seeing as most of the stuff I like goes for 100 zlotys a bottle or more

[Darth Wong]

The only think I like are "girly" things like Smirnoff Ice shots, expensie champagne (eg. actual champagne, rather than sparkly wine), liquers such as advocate, ajercognac (I probably mangled the name), coffee liquors etc.

It's always pissed me off that certain drinks are considered "unmanly" by the usual worthless sports bar poser set, as if it actually takes real masculinity or manhood to purchase a different kind of beverage. It reminds me of the idiots who think it makes them more manly to eat more red meat. Manhood isn't found in a goddamned menu selection.

[PeZook]

It's always pissed me off that certain drinks are considered "unmanly" by the usual worthless sports bar poser set, as if it actually takes real masculinity or manhood to purchase a different kind of beverage. It reminds me of the idiots who think it makes them more manly to eat more red meat. Manhood isn't found in a goddamned menu selection.

Yeah, but that's the name that popped into my head while I was writing the post. I noticed that "manly" drinks are the ones that taste the crappiest, like beer or vodka, while drinks that are more sophisticated in taste are often considered "girly" or even (the horror!) "gay". I always wondered why. I guess you can't brag of how much beer you can chug if you drink a glass of your favorite drink every once in a while for the taste.

[Darth Wong]

It's always pissed me off that certain drinks are considered "unmanly" by the usual worthless sports bar poser set, as if it actually takes real masculinity or manhood to purchase a different kind of beverage. It reminds me of the idiots who think it makes them more manly to eat more red meat. Manhood isn't found in a goddamned menu selection.

Yeah, but that's the name that popped into my head while I was writing the post. I noticed that "manly" drinks are the ones that taste the crappiest, like beer or vodka, while drinks that are more sophisticated in taste are often considered "girly" or even (the horror!) "gay". I always wondered why. I guess you can't brag of how much beer you can chug if you drink a glass of your favorite drink every once in a while for the taste.

I think it's because a lot of insecure males never quite grew out of the "He-Man Woman Hater" club, and they will only drink drinks that women don't like. In other words, they think gender roles are invariably an XOR situation. It's not about alcohol content: wine coolers are just as high in alcohol as beer, if not higher. It's certainly not about bravery or physical strength or responsibility or any of the other real aspects of manhood.

The "beer=manly" crowd also seems to have a tendency towards binge drinking, and they also measure masculinity by that standard, ie- "I can drink more alcohol than you so I'm a real man, even though I can't find my penis beneath my vast beer belly".

[General Zod]

It's always pissed me off that certain drinks are considered "unmanly" by the usual worthless sports bar poser set, as if it actually takes real masculinity or manhood to purchase a different kind of beverage. It reminds me of the idiots who think it makes them more manly to eat more red meat. Manhood isn't found in a goddamned menu selection.

Yeah, but that's the name that popped into my head while I was writing the post. I noticed that "manly" drinks are the ones that taste the crappiest, like beer or vodka, while drinks that are more sophisticated in taste are often considered "girly" or even (the horror!) "gay". I always wondered why. I guess you can't brag of how much beer you can chug if you drink a glass of your favorite drink every once in a while for the taste.

I always figured most people equate sweet = girly. Which is pretty hilarious considering the alcohol content of some of these "girly" drinks. I'm not sure I'd call vodka "crappy", though. It's not really sweet tasting, but it's superior to beer in almost every respect.

[Darth Wong]

I always figured most people equate sweet = girly. Which is pretty hilarious considering the alcohol content of some of these "girly" drinks. I'm not sure I'd call vodka "crappy", though. It's not really sweet tasting, but it's superior to beer in almost every respect.

Given the sugar content of rum and coke, which is considered an acceptable "manly" drink, I don't think it's the sugar. I seriously think it's more that if they find out a woman might like it, then they recoil and decide they must not like it.

I actually suspect that "manly" in this context is just a sly way of packaging American cultural conformism as masculinity. Sort of like how James Garner starred in a series of commercials for the American beef industry in the 1980s like this one:


All the stupid American stereotypes are there: dislike for vegetables, cowboy boots, all-beef meal entrees, etc. "Beef. Real food for real people". There are no logical rules to it; it's just plain old American conformism, carrying a flag of masculinity. One could quite easily say that it's fucking gay to walk around in cowboy boots unless you actually ride a horse in them, because it reminds me of the Village People and I don't think a man should have higher heels than his wife. But in America, it's all about Living The Stereotype.

[RedImperator]

I drink way less than I used to. I found that my window between buzzed and nauseous, where I could be happily drunk, has drastically shrunk, to the point that half a beer can mean the difference between having fun and feeling like shit. And since I hate being nauseous more than just about anything, a typically night at the bar for me might be one or two beers and a glass of 7 on the rocks spaced over four or five hours. I don't think I've been actually drunk since 2006.

On "girly" drinks: I don't drink them because I find them cloyingly sweet. As I've gotten older, I've found I dislike the combination of ethanol and sweet less and less. They're also more likely to give me a headache than straight whiskey (I don't drink enough beer in one sitting to ever worry about it). Of course, I also don't drink rum and Coke, 7 and 7 (Seagrams whiskey and 7-Up soda), or even screwdrivers anymore, so I'm consistent in preferring less sweet drinks. I don't even take sugar in my coffee.

[tim31]

I normally stick to beer. Yeah, I had to convince myself that I liked it when I was sixteen, but that was more than a decade ago and now I like an amber brew.

The stag night I hosted in the role of best man last month was beer from lunchtime until after dinner, then the bourbon and coke started. It wasn't my shout when that happened, but we just rolled with it from then. I got terrifically blitzed, but was the first one up in the morning. Obviously though, I don't bounce back quite the way I did when I was eighteen, as Red says.

[General Zod]

Given the sugar content of rum and coke, which is considered an acceptable "manly" drink, I don't think it's the sugar. I seriously think it's more that if they find out a woman might like it, then they recoil and decide they must not like it.

I dunno, most everything I've tried to mix with coke comes off as bitter to me, despite the extra sugar. PeZook's mentioning of champagne earlier had me raising an eyebrow, because that's not something I'd have considered "girly", even if some champagne is sweeter than most drinks.

[salm]

Given the sugar content of rum and coke, which is considered an acceptable "manly" drink, I don't think it's the sugar. I seriously think it's more that if they find out a woman might like it, then they recoil and decide they must not like it.

I dunno, most everything I've tried to mix with coke comes off as bitter to me, despite the extra sugar. PeZook's mentioning of champagne earlier had me raising an eyebrow, because that's not something I'd have considered "girly", even if some champagne is sweeter than most drinks.

Champagne and prosecco are considered pretty girly/gay/metro. Personally i like it every now and then because a buzz from champagne is somehow different than a buzz from beer. Can´t explain what it is but it feels different for some reason.

[General Zod]

Champagne and prosecco are considered pretty girly/gay/metro. Personally i like it every now and then because a buzz from champagne is somehow different than a buzz from beer. Can´t explain what it is but it feels different for some reason.

See, I always pegged champagne as a "rich snobby drink for big celebrations". Its never really entered my mind that it could be seen as "girly".

[salm]

Champagne and prosecco are considered pretty girly/gay/metro. Personally i like it every now and then because a buzz from champagne is somehow different than a buzz from beer. Can´t explain what it is but it feels different for some reason.

See, I always pegged champagne as a "rich snobby drink for big celebrations". Its never really entered my mind that it could be seen as "girly".

The expensive stuff is for rich snobs and successful pimps. The 2,50€/liter cheapo champagne is for female uni students and frustrated housewives.
It´s regularely mixed with red bull.

[Bounty]

The 2,50€/liter cheapo champagne is for female students and frustrated housewives.

Fizzy wine is not the same as champagne. One is cheap booze made even worse because the gas gets you drunk faster, the other is an expensive drink reserved for receptions and celebrations.

[salm]

The 2,50€/liter cheapo champagne is for female students and frustrated housewives.

Fizzy wine is not the same as champagne. One is cheap booze made even worse because the gas gets you drunk faster, the other is an expensive drink reserved for receptions and celebrations.

In the US the word "champagne" is used for both types of drink.
Here you can only name your product champagne if it´s from the region "Champagne" in France.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

I shouldn't be posting in this thread as I enjoy alcoholic beverages, but only because they taste good and happen to go well with whatever I've cooked. I won't drink mainstream American horse urine beer, as it tastes like shit, and is almost guaranteed to give me a headache. But dark ales, amber ales, and stouts, definitely. I find I drink more at home than I do when I go out, since in social situations; they rarely serve anything I like, charge far too much for anything that I do like, and since one of the Asian genes I've inherited happens to be the one that doesn't metabolize alcohol well, it really doesn't take much for me to notice an impairment.

[Bounty]

In the US the word "champagne" is used for both types of drink.
Here you can only name your product champagne if it´s from the region "Champagne" in France.

No, the whole world incorrectly uses both terms, but only one of the two drinks is actually champagne, and it helps to make the distinction. There's a huge gulf between "we got drunk on a $5 bottle of fizzy piss" and "we got drunk on an $50 bottle of Drappier".

[Eleas]

I'm of the opinion that if you've learned to like the taste of fermented barley and enjoy having it on occasion, it's no different from liking licorice (which objectively is the spawn of Satan). I loathe the taste of beer myself, and generally only drink what alcohol I do like on a few occasions every year anyway. I've learned to like Whiskey in moderate amounts, which also takes some time getting used to. But drinking beer recreationally, as some apparently do, is not for me.

Whiskey or beer can improve some stews, of course, long as you avoid the very cheapest swill.

[General Zod]

I'm of the opinion that if you've learned to like the taste of fermented barley and enjoy having it on occasion, it's no different from liking licorice (which objectively is the spawn of Satan). I loathe the taste of beer myself, and generally only drink what alcohol I do like on a few occasions every year anyway. I've learned to like Whiskey in moderate amounts, which also takes some time getting used to. But drinking beer recreationally, as some apparently do, is not for me.

Whiskey or beer can improve some stews, of course, long as you avoid the very cheapest swill.

Licorice is something you either like or you don't. It's not really something you "become used to".

[salm]

No, the whole world incorrectly uses both terms,

Well, ok. Here in Germany champagne is called champagne whereas anything that is the same drink as champage but doesn´t come from that region is refered to as sekt.

but only one of the two drinks is actually champagne, and it helps to make the distinction. There's a huge gulf between "we got drunk on a $5 bottle of fizzy piss" and "we got drunk on an $50 bottle of Drappier".

Perhaps. Personally i don´t taste a differnce between a 2,50€ Söhnlein Brilliant or Rotkäpchen Sekt from Lidl and an expensive bottle of Champagne.

However, the cheap stuff is generally seen as a girly/gay drink which Real Men™ only drink on new years and birthdays.

[Bounty]

Perhaps. Personally i don´t taste a differnce between a 2,50€ Söhnlein Brilliant or Rotkäpchen Sekt from Lidl and an expensive bottle of Champagne.

Trust me, it's not just taste. Cheap fizzy wine is one of the quickest and nastiest ways of getting really really sick.