Sippin’ Stuff

Food & Drink

From Reader Neville H:

“Last weekend you talked about “sipping” that new gin you discovered [Sipsmith–K.].  What other liquor do you sip, as opposed to mixing with tonic, water etc?”

Good question.  If I’m in a party mood amongst friends, I generally drink “mixed” spirits — e.g. Myers/Captain Morgan rum & Coke, gin & tonic, J&B and water, Jack Daniels & Coke, Richelieu brandy and ginger ale, and screwdrivers, to mention but some, the choice depending on my mood or the time of day — because when I’m in a party mood, I seldom have a brake pedal and I chug the lovely stuff down by the pint, often with disastrous results.  (When I’m in Britishland, I’ll do the same with Wiltshire’s Wadworth 6x, Fuller’s London Pride and Cornwall’s Tribute ales, by the way.)

But when the guests are over at my place and it’s just a quiet evening spent chatting about this and that and having a civilized (as opposed to raucous) time, I’m more of a mind to sip neat liquor, the choice of which also depending on my mood at the time.

In no specific order, I like to sip Southern Comfort Original, any number of single malt Scotches (I have a few favorites, but mostly Glenmorangie 10 y.o.) and now, Sipsmith London Dry.

 

Of course, one could add port and sherry to the list of sippin’ stuff (not wine, which is generally consumed like ale, so to speak), but let’s not get carried away now.

And of course if I’m Over There and in the company of Mr. Free Market, The Englishman or The Sorensons, however, all that can get set aside for Adventures In Drinking Gallons Of Whatever.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, my sippin’ choices.  I hope that answers Reader Neville’s question.

I think I’ll go and get one now.  All this writing makes a man thirsty, what?

9 comments

  1. Oohh… I’m not a fan of spirits but port, now you’re talking! And we can divide the gallons – you have the beer; I’ll have the cider.

  2. Scotch and water or scotch and soda or scotch with a drip of water of scotch by itself, the decent nice stuff to drink, not the cheapest stuff but does not have to be the most expensive. Southern Comfort is another name for cough syrup and everyone can drink whatever they want because America.

    However if you are enjoying Coors Lite or Bud lite I am making silent judgements of you and your whole family including your inbred ancestors because America.

    1. OT,
      I beg to differ. Southern Comfort makes an excellent bedside tipple. Whether you have a cough or not.

  3. Oi! I resemble that remark! I seem to recall I managed one and a half pints of cider, a record for me 🙂

    So, sipping stuff eh? Not for a long while now, but I’m partial to a Remy. Room temp, none of this ice malarkey either. Rum is too sweet, even Navy rum. Whiskey is a yo-yo drink for me (down the hatch aaaaand straight up again, psychedelic yawn stylee). Tequila gold yes, vodka no – I’ll leave that to himself.

    Summer drinks – G&T or aforementioned dry cider. But a nice tall glass of very chilled Verve Cliquot makes the world a not too bad at all place.

    1. I thought you were still drinking those foul fruity vodkatini things…

  4. Eagle Rare for bourbon, Red Breast for Irish Whiskey, and if the hosts insists, Usquaebach for Scots Whiskey. Rum on Pirate Day—vodka is for rich ladies on diets.

    I did buy a bottle of Sipsmith this week, and I can definitely find the right moment to enjoy that.

  5. I think I have to quit drinking.

    About 30 to 90 minutes after I have a drink of just about anything I start to get a headache. Doesn’t happen *every* time, but happens about 9 times out of 10 recently.

    This makes me unhappy.

  6. I tend to prefer bourbon to other spirits. The occasional martini or G&T. Some spirits that I’ve discovered recently that are rather good:

    Gin: Glendalough Wild botanicals (Irish Gin, rather good), Castle and Key Gin (Kentucky gin to finance their new bourbon project and rebuild a distillery from 1890s) Litchfield (CT gin that is quite good, who knew, something good from that black hole of CT)

    Rum: still looking for sippers and good stuff

    Vodka: I’m not a suburban housewife on a a fad diet

    Bourbon: Currently I’m into the mid range offerings from Wild Turkey, Russel Reserve Single Barrel, Rare Breed, Kentucky spirit. These have some spice and pepper notes with a warming kentucky hug. Kentucky spirit has less “hug” than the others. From Buffalo Trace I’ve been enjoying EH Taylor Small Batch. EH Taylor Barrel Proof is delicious but I won’t crack open my single bottle since it’s hard to find. Blanton’s is good, gotta collect the different horses to spell Blanton’s, getting hard to find and prices are going up. Eagle Rare is a solid sipper and still has a ten year age statement. I have cheaper bourbon for cocktails like Manhattans, Old Fashions and of course a Kentucky high ball (local Ale 8 One ginger ale type soda and bourbon)

    Scotch: Laiphroig is nice once in a while (try that in a bloody Mary, it’s called a Scottish Breakfast and is rather good for a change). Glenfiddich is nice too. Monkey shoulder is a nice blend.

    Irish: Redbreast 12 is very good and their 21 is delightful but pricey $240ish a bottle. Powers is nice.

    Tequilia: I won a bottle of Casa Noble reposido or something in a raffle. It’s a really nice sipper.

    can’t get into brandy, port etc Some are just way too sweet for me. I can’t drink that if I want to remain a bitter and cranky old SOB.

    what did I miss?

    JQ

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