One can only imagine how much suck casino-workers have to put up with....

[KiaKat]

Few notes from another resident booze expert (though not nearly as expert as Jester)...

1. Long Island Iced Tea should look and taste like tea. If it doesn't, it's because they put too much tequila in. Frequent rookie mistake. It's also the best way to be sick the next day, because it's a mix of five well (read: crap) alcohols (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and triple sec), sour mix, and coke. Sugar and mixed crap booze will do most people in, especially if they're not real drinkers. It's also at least 2.5 oz of alcohol (depending on how heavy a hand the bartender has), so non-drinkers should *definitely* beware. Most mixed drinks have between 1 and 1.5 oz of alcohol, in the same sized glass as a Long Island.

2. Boone's Farm is awful. It might taste ok to non-drinkers with a sweet tooth, but if you compare it to something like a higher-end sweet Lambrusco or Fragolino, or a delicious aged Spatlese Riesling (YUM!), it just will not compare. Track down a Sauternes or Monbazillac to understand what a high-quality sweet wine should taste like, or ask your local wine store person to recommend an inexpensive sweet red, like a Cagnina, if you don't want to spend $25 on a 375mL bottle. The one we carry, Camauro "Adesso" runs about $12 for a standard 750mL bottle and isn't nearly as bad as many other sweet red wines.

3. Rookie- or non-drinkers shouldn't be drinking a Margarita unless it's being made by a trusted bartender. Nor a Daiquiri. Nor any other complicated frothy drink, because they're DAMNED easy to screw up, and a random bartender doesn't necessarily have the incentive to put in extra effort for a customer they don't know. Especially because frozen drinks (unless you make them all the frakking time or have one of those nifty ice-pulverizing machines) are a bitch and a half to make, and take forever. Order something simple, like a Screwdriver (vodka + OJ), Malibu Sea Breeze (coconut rum + pineapple juice + cranberry juice) or a Madras (vodka + cranberry juice + OJ). You won't taste the booze as much and they're pretty easy to make.

Hm. That ended up being longer than I intended. Sorry about that. Guess I had more to say on the topic than I thought.

[Pagan]

on my 21st i surprised my future mother-in-law by drinking eight or nine Smirnoffs and only being mildly drunk...they had maybe three or four beers and were all woozey....

That would be the difference in alcohol content.

Actually, it's the lime and salt scent that bothers me... >.>

LOL. But yes, tequila is definitely an acquired taste.

My hard liquor of choice is rum. The good kind.

Are they using real lime juice? Because that shouldn't stink. And salt shouldn't have any odor at all.

That does it....you need to come here and we'll get you a good margarita.

2. Boone's Farm is awful.

Especially since it's not, you know, actual wine. Although this is pretty hilarious - http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Boone%27s_Farm

I honestly can't stand sweet wine. For me, the drier, the better. With the really sweet wines, like a late harvest eiswein, I can smell how sweet it is. Give me a good heavy Cab or Zin any day.

3. Rookie- or non-drinkers shouldn't be drinking a Margarita unless it's being made by a trusted bartender. Nor a Daiquiri. Nor any other complicated frothy drink, because they're DAMNED easy to screw up, and a random bartender doesn't necessarily have the incentive to put in extra effort for a customer they don't know. Especially because frozen drinks (unless you make them all the frakking time or have one of those nifty ice-pulverizing machines) are a bitch and a half to make, and take forever.

Which probably explains why I've never had a bad margarita here.

My problem with the frozen drinks is the sexist thing - some think I really want it frozen because I'm a *girl*. Yeah, well, guess what, I drink single malt scotch....neat. People seem very surprised that I don't drink *girlie* drinks.

Order something simple, like a Screwdriver (vodka + OJ), Malibu Sea Breeze (coconut rum + pineapple juice + cranberry juice) or a Madras (vodka + cranberry juice + OJ). You won't taste the booze as much and they're pretty easy to make.

Cuba Libres are pretty easy, too.

[smileyeagle1021]

Where's jester when you need him

though if I may add my alcohol suggestions for new drinkers.

Fuzzy Navals are a good drink that isn't too strong and tastes quite good (it's got an orange/peach taste to it)
Screwdrivers are also a good beginners drink (Vodka and orange juice, very simple)
Martinis are iffy... if you have a good bartender they will give you martinis that are better than sex, if they aren't, well, you could just get really drunk for nothing.
Lemon sours- basically, it tastes like lemonaide except you get tipsy


and as for the casino sightings, I believe every one of them... I was on a craps table once where, well, lets just say one older gentleman took the name a bit too literally

[Pagan]

Fuzzy Navals are a good drink that isn't too strong and tastes quite good (it's got an orange/peach taste to it)

Another in that category is a Mimosa. Just make sure to use a decent sparkling wine. It's not that hard to find a good, inexpensive méthode champenoise. Just don't use a carbonated wine, like Cook's That stuff isn't even a good still wine.

Both of those drinks, I have to have with fresh squeezed orange juice now. The acid content of concentrate just sets my stomach off anymore....

[Andara Bledin]

And salt shouldn't have any odor at all.

Oh, no, salt has a very definite odor to it. I happen to love the smell of salt, myself.

I honestly can't stand sweet wine. For me, the drier, the better.

I'm not a big wine fan, but if I'm going to have any, I'm in the dry camp, too.

Yeah, well, guess what, I drink single malt scotch....neat. People seem very surprised that I don't drink *girlie* drinks.

Mmm... if I'm going to have a hard liquor, it's going to be a decent single malt.

Otherwise, I'm fond of really thick stout. If I could chew it, I'd be happy.

I don't actually drink much, though. Maybe 2 or 3 drinks a year, if that.

^-.-^

[Mikkel]

Otherwise, I'm fond of really thick stout. If I could chew it, I'd be happy.

I have a bottle of Czech beer in the fridge, Rebel Černý, to drink this evening. Do you know that one? I can recommend it.

[Andara Bledin]

Thanks for the recommendation, but I don't actually ever buy my own. But if someone offers me some, I'll be sure to accept.

^-.-^

[Pagan]

Oh, no, salt has a very definite odor to it. I happen to love the smell of salt, myself.

I'm thinking we might need to qualify this. I just sniffed all my salts (good night, that sounds strange). The only one I can detect an odor on is that plain old, iodized table salt. I've also got kosher, sea (French and Celtic), red, black, Himalayan pink, and very small rock. None of those have an odor.

I don't actually drink much, though. Maybe 2 or 3 drinks a year, if that.

I look like a total alcoholic next to you! I usually have 4-5 drinks a week, depending on how many meth heads we have come to buy their Sudafed.

[MoxisPilot]

Are they using real lime juice? Because that shouldn't stink. And salt shouldn't have any odor at all.

That does it....you need to come here and we'll get you a good margarita.


.

Oh, it doesn't stink. I just dislike the smell of lime. lol!

And oh yes, iodized salt has an odor.

Granted, Kosher salt doesn't seem to smell as much...

Anyway, you just have to have a super-sniffer like the rest of us.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm thinking we might need to qualify this. I just sniffed all my salts (good night, that sounds strange). The only one I can detect an odor on is that plain old, iodized table salt. I've also got kosher, sea (French and Celtic), red, black, Himalayan pink, and very small rock. None of those have an odor.

I've got a mill of sea salt at home, and when I'm grinding it, the odor is quite notable. It's less so in rock form, but that still smells nice.

I used to eat rock salt like candy, and would gross out friends who didn't know I wasn't offering them rock candy.

^-.-^

[Digitalpotato]

I got a better idea for alcohol...

*throws it in the trash*

[prb]

No, Heineken is not a beer. Neither is Budweiser. Since you probably don't have regular access to the multitude of foamy goodness that is German beer, I'd suggest trying some of the local microbrews available in the US. Samual Adams, for instance, makes great beer.

Steam Whistle is great if you can get your hands on some. I'm picking up some Old Credit Pale Pilsner tomorrow and maybe some Mill Street...

[Pagan]

Anyway, you just have to have a super-sniffer like the rest of us.

Believe me, I do. We've got mostly swamp (evaporative) coolers here, and after a while, that pads that go in it start to grow algae that smells. I'm the first one that can smell that the pads in the cooler need changing....

I got a better idea for alcohol...

*throws it in the trash*

No, no, no. Don't waste it. There's plenty of people here that will take it off your hands for you!

[Ironclad Alibi]

I got a better idea for alcohol...

*throws it in the trash*

No, no, no. Don't waste it. There's plenty of people here that will take it off your hands for you!

This reminds of when the Ayatollah's government took over the Iranian embassy in Washington, DC. I saw pictures of the new occupants pouring hundreds of bottles of alcohol down the drain. Oh the horror...

[WhiteRose]

hard liquor turns my stomach and makes me puke...that's why i have to have my drinks sweet, but not too sweet either...too many summers drinking melted fruit pops...i got sick off of them so many times that my body just says NO to anything that tastes like it...I do like Bacardi Mojitos though, as well as Smirnoff...mm, mojitos...