February 16th, 2009
Strategic Drinking Research Night
Living simply & still having fun on the weekends can leave you with priorities that are hard to balance. Over the three years that Mister and I have been living together we’ve been able to get a good handle on how this balance works for us, but in some areas it’s hard to cut costs.
I’ll just put this out there as fact: I love wine, beer, cocktails, you name it and I will probably partake in it. The alcohol department is an area where not only have trouble cutting costs, but it’s an area where I have trouble wanting to cut costs. To make things more complicated, where a bottle of red wine might cost $8.00 in the US, in Canada that bottle of wine costs $12 – $16 so we have to be aware of our alcohol budget. Our current limit is two bottles a month, and two bottles of wine a month makes me sad.
I was in the throes of my addiction to Mad Men when it occurred to me: we should start drinking hard alcohol!
And faster that you can say “Oh dear Kyla, do you really even drink hard alcho-” we were the proud owners of a martini set and bevvy of hard alcohol.
Becoming Expert Bartenders seemed like the perfect solution. We could have cocktails on the weekend! We would drink less because it’s more intense and we would still have the same fun for overall less money because it’s all mixed & we can use juices and things to make fun drinks that stretch further. Brilliant!
Or it would have been had my reaction to everything we made not looked like this:
Don Draper doesn’t look like that when HE drinks an Old Fashioned, is all I’ll say.
I want to be as cool as Hillary is and say that I love gin, but the gin in our martinis made them taste toxic. Each sip was like being punched in the face by a Christmas Tree. We were both upset by the initial cocktail fail, but having pin pointed the problem we tried again, on Valentines Day, and swapped the gin for vodka with great success.
I’m happy to announce that not only was our Valentines Day really fun, I also found a new hobby: drinking!!
Come on, I know you’re at least a little proud of me. What did you get up to this weekend?
I so want to be the person who can choke down hard liquor with grace, but I just don’t see that happening! I’ll sit there and nurse one small very sweet drink for an hour while everyone else pounds them down.
That picture of you is so adorable! I love it!
i am not a martini fan at all. and your picture cracked me up, love it.
Oh man, your post makes me miss alcohol. Before getting pregnant, my husband and I would have fun with our martini set. I’ll just have to wait for a few more months before I can enjoy a good drink. Until then, live it up for me!
you definitely get more bang for your buck with the hard liquor! i enjoy vodka mixed with soda water (seltzer, not tonic), with lots of ripe lime wedges smushed into the glass (although any cirtus fruit or berry would work i guess).
i used to love gin, but something clicked in me and now the smell of it makes me vomitous. its definitely an acquired taste, so im a VODKA martini gal. i like mine dirty.
Ha – that facial squirm is the best. I mean, not the best, but the best because I relate. I cannot tolerate martinis. Much too strong. You could always start to make your own moonshine or something… =)
Hahahaha, that face is just tooo cute!!!
I too have a wine obsession, I’m trying to stray away from beer more and more these days. Too many calories.
But my new thing is Peach Schnapps. Schnapps with tonic and a splash of cranberry. Mmm, mmmm. Not much alcohol, but that’s a good thing for me.
i want to like gin. i really do. i think it’s so chic to drink gin & tonics in the summer… but… GAH. NO. GROSSSSSSSSSS.
Gin is grotesque…my first foray into drinking proved that. Vodka is always the way to go :-) Yay for hobby drinking.
My name is Kiala too! Kiala KazeBEE (get it?) And I love Mad Men!
You know what is delicious? Whiskey, ginger ale and bitters on the rocks.
You’re welcome.
I feel the SAME way about gin! I’ve tried so hard to like it, but that Christmas tree taste gets me every time. Amaretto is more my style, much to my boy’s dismay.
Ah, London crack. My Fav! I prefer Hendricks with a cucumber though.
I’m not a big Gin fan either…
I stick mostly to whiskey and bourbon.
oh and vodka is the devil in disguise…
beware!
Your expression is priceless! Hard liquor is a great alternative and its so versatile. There are so many fun drinks to make!
This makes me want a pitcher 9 or two ) of Sangria.
Are you with me?LOL
I am a sissy with liquor. I love beer and some wine but gin/tonic, vodka/tonic or old fashioneds don’t sit well. don draper would not have an affair with me.
mmmm I love martinis, but only vodka ones! I can drink gin occasionally but more often mixed with something (try grapefruit juice it’s awesome and takes the pine needle taste out).
Me and gin martinis do NOT get along.
I love me a gin & tonic, but vodka is growing on me…
We’re starting to watch our alcohol intake as well. I love wine so very much. :(
your blog is so charming! you are adorable. love your bangs/glasses. and i love black tea..and green tea, and we eat largely organic:) i’d love to see your big ole sky…
You are too cute! I tend to prefer wine, although I enjoy the occasional cocktail.
Okay that is too funny! I’m glad you were able to get it right though! I always wanted to be able to have a signature drink.. like scotch on the rocks with a twist. or some other equally fancy named drink. haha. it’s like ordering a latte… but with alcohol.
Oh my god, this made me laugh Kyla – this is exactly what we did this weekend. Except we’re addicted to Greyhounds – vodka (we use black currant vodka) grapefruit juice and a rim of brown sugar (our addition after much testing). Drinking is a beautiful thing, and a fab hobby! (ps – our fave bottle of wine is the Los Cardos Malbec – 10$ and it wins awards all the time! )
I should clarify that I love gin but I do not love gin martinis. Gin martinis make me want to vomit up my kidneys.
I love your facial expression. It’s pretty much the face I make when I try to drink gin martinis (which I still do! because how cool would that be?!)
I promise I could make an old-fashioned that you would LOVE. Try a little honey in the bottom ;-)
Yup, that is basically the same exact face that I make when the bf wants me to drink Crown Royal.
awww – i love gin! for valentine’s day greg & i went out to a little hole in the wall authentic ethiopian restaurant (read: super cheap) and then to a little film festival at my friend’s gallery, complete with blankets on the floor and a byob bottle of spanish wine. cheap and absolutely wonderful! yay love!
I split two bottles with a friend on Thursday night and ugh, forgot that I no longer have the tolerance to be drinking AN ENTIRE BOTTLE BY MYSELF.
Hard alcohol/becoming an expert bartender is definitely the way to go. Just pick stuff you like. Recently, I replicated a pomegranate martini that was delicious, and you can’t go wrong with whiskey sours. But gin? bleck. Not my taste.
Two bottles of wine a month?! You poor thing! I plow through that much a week (with help from friends). Two Buck Chuck FTW!
I LOVE red wine. I will drink gin if it has 7-up and lime in it but it’s not my favourite. I LOVE apple martini’s but they are easy to drink fast.
We used to spend a lot of money on alcohol but my boyfriend quit drinking almost a year ago and since then I just buy the occasional bottle of wine and drink when I go out with friends on the weekend.
I love your blog btw :-)
I used to like gin and tonics, but only in the summer and only a couple at a time. Now? You’re right – it’s like being choked by pine needles. I would much prefer beer or wine to hard alcohol and I tried switching to vodka last summer to cut spending and calories, but I just can’t do it.
Just looking at your face makes me so not want to drink gin.
I love wine, but unfortunately I can’t have much of it because half a glass can give me an instant headache. I know, I’m a very sad individual.
On the bright side, I do love me some beer!
Gin is definitely an acquired taste. Keep practicing, I promise it will grow on you!
That is a very good idea! I actually am more of a whiskey fan – I will take a Manhattan over a martini any day.
I’m right there with you. My boyfriend loves Manhattans and Old Fashioneds and all those Mad Men drinks. I take one sip and want to vomit a little.
You got it exactly right… Gin tastes like Christmas trees and I have no idea why anyone would want to drink that. Try them with flavored vodka, MUCH better!
I drink at home nearly every night, so your new cocktail set looks really tasty. I tend to make juice/vodka blends which are easy and refreshing. Gin just doesn’t do it for me, though my boyfriend likes both (gin and vodka).
I didn’t realize that prices were higher in Canada. We’re going to Vancouver/British Colombia over the summer and I now feel better prepared. ;)
Oh dear, I can’t do it either! I prefer gin with tonic, but still. However, Mad Men and a cocktail does sound like a lovely night.
Your gin face is hilarious! I have an abysmally low tolerance for alcohol, so I usually drink white wine spritzers, mimosas, vodka spritzers and gin and tonic, easy on the gin.
But when we find a wine that we like, Dave buys the bottles in magnums, so it costs less by volume.
I love the idea of an old fashioned more than the actual taste.
That martini set makes any hard alcohol worth drinking. Have you tried maing Cosmopolitans yet or Chocolate Martini’s? Very worthwhile. Have fun getting the hang of your new hobby!
HAHA, this post was great.
Cheers.
Hahaha you’re so cute! I think gin can be tough to get into. It grew on me and then I loved it and now I’m over it again. My new fave? BOURBON. So good.
I’m a hard liquor girl all the way… like, I don’t mix. Just straight Smirnoff, and none of that raspberry twist nonsense. If it doesn’t burn when it comes near my face, it’s obviously not doing its job.
I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. Being from PEI meant that I had Javex-jug moonshine before I was in junior high school, so nothing shocks me these days. That said, I stopped drinking a few months ago and have never felt better. That might have to change on Saint Pat’s, though…
I’m, like, 100% sure I’d make the exact same face.
I’m the same way, I hate gin. I hate feeling like I’m drinking a Christmas tree! But vodka ones are ok, I personally prefer appletinis, pomegranate or other juice-tinis.
I’m a hard liquor girl, myself. Beer and wine do nothing for me. I love rum, I love amaretto… If I could afford to have a little sip every night before bed I totally would. I love to go out for drinks (expensive!) and make my own–mostly just dumping booze into whatever normal drink I have: coffee, apple cider, orange juice… all perfect vehicles to carry a shot or two of something. Alas, we ran out just before my husband left to go join the Navy and I would feel really weird drinking myself to sleep every night without him. That and we’re trying to save up money for when I move to wherever he gets stationed. Sad!
Drinking is a fun weekend pasttime, especially if you don’t have to drive anywhere!
This weekend TDH and I spent the weekend with lots of friends and family and most of it in the dark (movies and bowling alleys). Had a great time!
Confession: I’ve never had a martini in my life. I suppose I shall have to try one.
I am very proud of you and your new-found hobby!
We were all wind this weekend, and it was lovely. ;)
Yeah, I’m not a big fan of Gin martinis… My expression is VERY similar to yours.
Glad you found a new (fun) hobby ;)
Your cocktail set looks incredible. Glad you discovered hard alcohol because it sure is fun.
Ha! I couldn’t drink martinis until I tried one with vodka, and that’s what I was planning to recommend to you. I AM proud of you for figuring it out on your own.
The Mister and I have been on a white Russian kick and we just bought huge bottles of vodka and Kahula. Two days later (before we’d even opened them) we found out I’m pregnant. He’s got a lot of solo drinking to do.
I love gin martinis. But they need to be made with Beefeater gin and they need to be extra dirty. I think I’ll make some this weekend. I’ve been having a craving for an extra dirty martini :)
Your facial expression reminds me of mine the first time I tried moonshine back in high school. It took a few years but I actually like the burn now.
Welcome to the hard liquor club Ma’am.