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Modes of drunkenness

01:12 / 17.09.04

I'm sure we've had multiple threads on this this - 'Gawd I was/am/will be sooo drunk' being a Barbe-biggie - but I'm too ineptly and cantankerously inebriated to bother looking for them. So bleh.

Varieties of drunkenness has been something of a concern for Xoc and me lately. During the post-induction phase of Atkins, we re-introduced alcohol (doing completely without for two weeks was Hell; we realised our entire social lives revolve around the stuff) in the form of low-carb 'clear' drinks: vodka, white wine, champagne.

Now, the champagne was a nice idea; I've always got wonderfully drunk on good champagne and am extremely partial to the fizz, but finances prevent one getting regularly sozzled on nothing but champagne. In practice, it's usually the foreplay for a heavier alco-sex session. White wine - even very good white wine - tends to turn my stomach, so that left vodka.

Ahhh, vodka. Vodka sounded like a fabulous idea at the time. No carbs, no calories; a good time in a bottle. For a time, we were drinking nothing but vodkatonic (not as Atkinsygood as vodkaslimlinetonic, but infinitely doable) or vodkadietcoke or, in verrry classy joints, vodkalocalorieredbull.

The problem with vodka, we gradually realised, is that it doesn't come in discreet, manageable units, like pints of beer or bottles of wine. Nooo, it comes in bottles which seem like a good idea on one's way home ("let's get a bottle for later") but which lead to more and more mixer-drinks. On two or three occasions, one or both of us would find ourselves having mysteriously forgotten to sleep, supping vodkasemiskimmedmilks as the dawn chorus chirped outside. And the hangover, while not as migrainous as red wine, is insidiously boweltastic.

Vodka drunkenness, because it omits the 'feeling sleepy' component of non-spirits, is an altogether different beast. I found myself five, six sheets to the wind but utterly undrowsy, qui-i-ite able to do or post the stupidest of stupid things.

(For those who're wondering, I'm finishing up a lovely bottle of Brown Brothers merlot. Not vodka.)

So. Red wine makes my head fine. Beer makes me (more) queer. Stuff that doesn't rhyme makes me boke.

What are your alcoholic dos and don'ts?

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

01:40 / 17.09.04

There is one simple rule, which everyone knows, but is indescribably impossible to follow; Don't mix your drinks.

Even on a night where I drink only lager (rare, indeed), I find myself going for several different lagers. The biochemistry eludes me, but mixing brands, never mind drinks, seems to have a definite head-fuck potential.

If you must drink only lager, then German is the way to go - brewing laws mean your tipple isn't full of taste-enhancing-head-shagging additives. I find I can comfortably manage well over a gallon of Beck's and still feel relatively compus mentis in the morning. None of which helps your carb intake, though.

Michelob do a special Lo-Carb brew, but I find the hangover almost unbearable.

My advice is G&T or Bloody Marys; try an anti-synergistic approach, where the spirit is cancelled out by its mixer partner. Neither of these have huge amounts of calories (assuming you use the appropriate lo-cal variety) and definitely won't give you killer hangovers.

Whilst writing this reply, I've become unsure whether or not I've answered the initial post, or just gone off on one. Who knows, after this many Cobras/Asahis/Becks?

(Not me, BTW)

01:45 / 17.09.04

Actually, I find that hairy belly quite sexy...

The 'not mixing' rule is all very well, but lately we've been sticking to vodka drinks (as Chumbawamba would say), and having prrroblems. It's not merely the mixing that's iffy; it's also one's idiosyncratic responses to particular beverages.

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

01:50 / 17.09.04

Try gin.

try Gin.

TRY gin.

try GIN...

01:58 / 17.09.04

Gin is okay. Possibly because I've never ever got drunk on just gin. It seems more 'depressive' than vodka; I suspect if I got into the habit of inebriating myself on gin and gin alone, I'd probably slit my wrists - or merely talk about it at length on Barbelith, in a 'but that means I'm really deep - do you see?' kinda way.

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

02:10 / 17.09.04

Pint glass: You need one part gin, two parts tonic, leaving room for many cubes of ice. Toss in a few wedges of lime, or lemon if you have no lime. Drink. Drink some more. Burp. Drink more.

It's tasty and it works. And you feel almost normal in the morning. No depression. Almost.

02:14 / 17.09.04

Pah, etc, to your Gin= “more 'depressive' than vodka” formula: I beg to differ. Gin rocks. The joint is jumping when you’re on the gin, it’s traditional. Plus, gin goes well with a suit. And gin and water works just fine for me. Tall glass, no bloody ice, the taste is what counts.

02:16 / 17.09.04

Hmm, possibly. And believe me, I've done the 'pint glasses of gin' thing - very refreshing they are too. I've just never spent an entire evening getting pissed on gin alone. It tends to be a beginning-of-the-night thang.

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

02:43 / 17.09.04

That's where you need to revise your strategy, then.

Gin.

In Pint Glasses.

All. Night. Long.

Do it.

You MUST.

02:44 / 17.09.04

I'm seriously tempted. Perhaps this Saturday...

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

02:48 / 17.09.04

It's 4:44am, and I have to sign off now.

If I'd been on GIN, however, I would have had at least another eight minutes with which to espouse my allegiance to GIN.

Remember this: Each time you don't drink GIN, you lose eight minutes of life, and hence eight minutes of valuable GIN time.

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

03:05 / 17.09.04

Fuck. I just read that.

I must be drunk.

If I'd been drinking GIN, however, I would have posted a witty, apposite reply.

GIN.

07:39 / 17.09.04

I too am an advocate of GIN.

However, I must add a note of caution. On my birthday a couple of years back I drank nothing but gin from 3 p.m. until half-past eleven, and though I never became incoherent or even particularly tipsy, I did enter a stage of abject misery on the way home. I felt clear-headed but was thoroughly down in the dumps. This was partly owing to an entirely separate situation, but I do hold the genever responsible as well... so drink with caution if feeling vulnerable. Otherwise I can't recommend it highly enough.

pointless and uncalled for

07:55 / 17.09.04

I'm a prime advocate of vodka, but then I'm also a prime advocate of getting a good nights sleep and not boozing 'til 4am on a work night and my sensibility override is nigh indestructible.

However, should you wish to continue with the benefits of vodka or any other spirit and not find yourself pouring a last nip at 4am then perhaps a little drink mixing is in order.

Lushes and functional alcoholics all round the world have been employing a mothod known as door stopping. Basically it's getting home after bar throwing out time and knocking back that one drink known to turn out the lights faster than you can say "is it my turn to go down tonight?"

08:34 / 17.09.04

Gin makes a man mean! Everybody booze up and riot!

pointless and uncalled for

08:46 / 17.09.04

Interesting fact.

I discovered last night whilst writing the word "pint" in a text that predictive text will offer first the words "shot" and "riot".

10:12 / 17.09.04

[t/r] The same method taught me that 'coal' is the gayest word in the English language, Killer. [t/r]

Does anyone know, are there additional psychoactive substances in these different drinks that cause the sinning, randiness, pallery etc? I understand that chemicals particular to various drinks have an impact on headaches, hangovers etc, but alcohol aside, are there things in there that are known to affect *mood*? Could these be isolated and applied more directly?

10:42 / 17.09.04

Am currently too hung-over to reply to this thread...

12:53 / 17.09.04

I guess it's a case of the particular combination of neurochemical receptors each drink hits. I've heard champagne described as the most 'amphetaminoid' of alcoholic beverages, presumably because it touches some of the same receptors as amphetamine. I've never really gone and checked it out, though...

Haus of Mystery

13:00 / 17.09.04

Gin makes me mean and scathing in a 'Great Gatsby' way.
Vodka is cheap party drinking, but extra dangerous due to it's extreme mixability.
Tequila makes me insane. Like doing speed with an even fouler taste.
Whisky, when good, is an ace, but very grown up drink. For after dinner waffling. When cheap it is the devil's own piss.
Tipple of choice spirit-wise Dark Rum. Good slugged neat. Or with ginger ale and squeezed lime juice. Grrrrr.

13:22 / 17.09.04

I've heard champagne described as the most 'amphetaminoid' of alcoholic beverages, presumably because it touches some of the same receptors as amphetamine.

That's exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about. I *feel* as if different drinks have different psychotropic effects, but wonder whether it's largely imagined. Champagne, for example, does seem to make me more happy-pissed, but even I'm smart enough to see how that observation might be skewed.
But it's just alcohol, right? And the same kind of alcohol in Champagne that's in any other kind of wine? The same kind of alcohol (ethanol?) that's in all booze, for all I know. So does the alcohol touch different receptors depending on the solution it's delivered in, or are there other amphetamine-like substances in Champagne? In which case, I'd like to get them powdered.

PS. This post comes courtesy of beer, the drink with added sleepia and inarticulum.

13:35 / 17.09.04

i find it amazing that anyone can drink more than four pints of draught-from-the-bar-beer. lager especially - nearly all pubs, it seems, entirely refuse to clean their pipes often enough for my delicate tastes. plus the fizz and just four whole pints of volume sloshing around in your guts - that's a lot of bad liquid, and a monstrous, 'can't think or talk' kind of drunk. seriously - strong lager makes me understand how pople can enjoy going to yates' or wetherspoons - a few hefty lagers and you've effectively had a lobotomy that'll last about eight hours: you're better off mixing it up with folk who've got nothing much to say. i like three pints and then on to whisky with water. any more than three and you should puke to prevent bad overhang. guinness though, slightly different, can go through about four, maybe five and then just kind of grind to a full-up, sleepy halt. sick of the pads banging on about 'extra cold stuff's for english poofters' though -easy to say when the guinness round your way doesn't taste like canal siftings. the cold reduces the bitterness, see?

so, gin - an utter 'i'm super, watch me play with the traffic' type of drunk, great, get it down you and think of hogarth.

vodka - no. tastes of death. the kind of drunk that a fifteen year old girl wants perhaps, but certainly not for me.

tequila - proper sick-button time for me. it usually comes back up before i get the lemon in. same with absinthe, burnt or no.

tuaca/jagermeister/aftershocks and that. yeah, worth it for when you're near time and want to be a wee bit more drinkywarm just before you head into the last one of the evening.

jack daniels/jim beam all that lot - tastes great with coke, it ain't whiskey though. but it is the main greenyent to the best drink of all: teaspoon of sugar, big slug of sourmash, crushed ice and the juice of half a lime. or a whole lime and another slug of whiskey. stir well, drink well, for a sophisticated, loose tongued drinky - the exceesive amount of citrus, i like to think, makes the hangover a lot more pleasant too.

Cheap. Easy. Cruel.

13:54 / 17.09.04

I have noticed that certain beers give me a different style of drunk. Good micro-brews, or beers still containing active yeast, tend to make me a bit introspective, yet not depressive. The crap pig-piss that is mass produced American beer just makes me talky to no end and tends to leave me with the worst of hangovers and a vaguely sweet taste in my mouth the next day that is impossible to get rid of.

Gin makes me tired.

Vodka just makes me drunk. Quickly. No tiredness, just slurringly stumble-footedly tipsy.

Tequila. Oh tequila. I used to drink a lot of it. It always sends me into one of two emotional extremes. I either want to fight the biggest guy around (and consequently get stomped), or I spend the entire night agonizing about some little thing that sends me into the depths of depression. These days I avoid it, even the smell of it will turn my stomach.

On the rare occasion I stray from ale, I usually stick with a dark rum. It gives me a nice buzz without making me too obnoxious, most people really can't tell that much of a difference in my behavior unless I have had entirely too much. The next morning always sucks, but that is the price for drinking more than I should.

Goodness Gracious Meme

14:50 / 17.09.04

MacGuyver, I *wish* I could afford to get you pissed on G&Ts, that I'd like to see.

I seem to have been drinking rather more than usual recently... (no, I'm not drunk right now):

Putting beer on top of wine makes me into an arse who rings people at random hours of the morning.

Beer: can be a bit staggery drunk, feelign heavy/bloaty next day.
Red wine: as long as I don't drink huge huge amount(*looks meaningfully at Nelson Evergreen and S*), red wine is a lovely 'home-with-friends/over-dinner' drunk: mellow, slow, goes lovely with dope, snuggly, I get touchy and huggy. Unless I drink 5 bottles with 2 other people. Then I want to die.
Tequila: fuck off. Or I die. Who made the 'rank tasting speed' comparison? yes
Gin: yes please. Stuff all that 'depressive' nonsense, that's programming. I love drunk on gin, it's bouncy, and giggly, bubbly and zingy. I feel sparkly...Great for sex as well.
Vodka: yuck. I don't drink vodka, I always feel rubbish physicallty next day if I do and have banging hangover.
Champagne: yes please, Gin approaches the joy of drunk on champagne, but only sketches it, in the way I might copy a Rossetti and produce a passable sketch.... Lovely, bouncy, happy, energetic, great again for sex, very rarely have hangovers.... I woukd if affordable, only drink good champ for the rest of my life.
Champagne cocktails: turbocharged version of the above.YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS

15:14 / 17.09.04

I hate the term 'micro-breweries' - cause i have all these hang-ups about how truly great ale should be about a long established histories of brewing - but they are where all the interesting beers are coming from these days, especially in America.

Its difficult enough to find a place that has any Porters, let alone ones that have been brewed for centuries...

Tryphena Absent

15:57 / 17.09.04

I love red wine but it hurts. I generally get a really bad headache if I stop drinking, the type where you almost can't see within a couple of hours but if I continue to drink my sinuses block up and I feel like I have a full blown cold the next day. This is because I'm allergic to alcohol (lashing of sympathy please!) and have been for about four years (although it took me a long time to realise that I actually was allergic and not just being weird). My drinking is slightly seasonal, the first touch of cold weather and the effects are much worse, to be honest I'm probably developing sinus problems anyway (genetic) and that's why it's much better in the summertime when the humidity clears them out.

I can mostly drink clear spirits but I tend not to because I find them boring so I usually just sacrifice myself to the illnesses.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

17:10 / 17.09.04

I take issue with that cardinal rule about not mixing. I find it true only if you are deterred by your first heady experience and vow never to return to that dark and loathsome place.

If, on the other hand, you practice, then, like tennis or mah-jong, it gets better with time. Eventually you reach a standard of pissed which is quite unobtainable by strict adherence to just one tipple. Although not advisable over any great length of your life, it seems wilfully shirking from experience to simply condemn the whole thing as completely off limits due to one or two early vomit-a-thons due to ill advised selection for the mix.

For those who would experiment, I find a couple of beers (Efes being my currrent bier du jour), followed by a good few quaffs of red wine (perhaps avoiding merlot generally and keeping to a good rioja or cab sauv,) rounded off later in the evening with rum, the best quality you can lay your hands on, drunk neat. I recommend Tanduay, a spectacularly splendid brew from the Phillipines, if you can lay your hands on it.

Under no circumstances drink Guinness at this point.

Should any of the previous tipples, prior to the Rum, remain available, then by all means try them out to see what effect it may have. It can get quite slippery at this stage.

Repeat until sleep. You won't regret it in the morning, by virtue of having absolutely no memory of what occurred some time after the rum. Then, slowly, the creeping realisation that you were completely capable of conducting conversation and interacting with others will dawn upon you, and fragments of the evening begin to return. It's quite scary.

Luckily though, I'm always happy drunk.

This is not a cry for help.

DISCLAIMER: Money $hot accepts no responsibilty for his own advice. The content of this post is for informational purposes only, and should not really be followed by anyone without a sneaking sense of their own impending alcoholism. Hey, its your carpet.

Madman in the ruins.

17:43 / 17.09.04

Gin=Mothers Ruin. Just makes ya depressed.

Vodka, Ok, mixed with Dr Pepper or Coke. On its own tasted like petrol.

Whiskey. Blended Whiskey cheap supermarket speciality cack. Single Malts mmmmmm gorgeous in moderation, Still gives you whistey breath and whiskey sweats tho.

Red Whine is fine, a nice Merolt perhaps. but its difficult to drink a whole bottle to yourself and I don't drink wine on a day after.

White wine, Vinegar, orrible stuff.

Beers. Becks is acidic, Budwiser makes you feel bloated, Stella is reasurighly so full of chemials it makes young men want to fight. Leaving the finest most unpolluted brew or Guniness as its known as, its pre gassed and pre casked so as long as the lines are kept clean it should be ok.

05:24 / 18.09.04

Oh, I don't drink too often, but on the occasional instance--tonight for example--I drink quite a bit. If I do drink, then it's either all about the rye and seven or all about the scotch.

So, on the rare drinking event it's all do to the rye or the scotch. I don't really do beer because I don't like the buzz, and I tend to feel bloated and full after a couple.

07:50 / 18.09.04

Mixing your drinks is also cost-effective. More bang for your buck! Especially if you're already on prescription medicine.

uncle retrospective

08:19 / 18.09.04

On the mixing front, I'm currently drinking what's known as the slobibootalicious. It's a cheeky mix of Vodka, Whiskey, red bull and a splash of coke. It's far too expensive to drink many of, but god damn it's fun. It will bring out the Bad Person in you.

Tequila. I seem to be the only person in the world who loves this stuff. Yes it tastes like death, but if you need to pick you night up... Well, it makes me happy.

After Shock is another fun drink. (the red one the others are too vile). It has a drunk like no other. Madness and running round all night, in one glass.

16:07 / 18.09.04

Bullvodka is a popular Goth drink down in Sydney, from what I've heard. High on my list of nasty things to try is the infamous Long Island Iced Tea, and the Zombie.
Ooh, there's a Star Trek bar in Vegas where a surly Klingon will serve you a Warp Core Breach, which is a big bowl of rum and dry ice.

www.drinksmixer.com
Shit, they've got the Dead Baby Boy, but still no Mexican Hitler.

Goodness Gracious Meme

16:44 / 18.09.04

...on the other hand, sometimes your body and Bacchus just smile on you. Just in tne interests of research, you understand...

Today I've *no hangover whatsoever*, after drinking my share of 6 1/2 bottles red and white last night. (Nelson and S again. Spotting a theme here?)

I *think* we probably drank equal shares, mainly after dinner.

Results today:
Nelson: nurofen, pain behind the eyes, a suffering boy. *Not* restored until after heavy lunch and glass of white.
S: slight stomach ache, not much else.
Me: Hangover? what hangover. I felt bright as a button this am.

Make of that what you will...

Goodness Gracious Meme

16:47 / 18.09.04

Was good quality stuff, which I suspect explains why we weren't all dying this morning...