Monday 14 April 2014

A guide to drinking for the first timers



If you are not a drinker and want to start drinking, you have come to the right place. Well, I am going to spare you the jibber jabber of I am not one of those promoting the use of alcohol but you should bear in mind that alcohol is indeed injurious to health. You’ll see how.
Now there are different types of liquors available in the market. There is beer, vodka, rum, whiskey and so forth. Also, each one has many different brands. And each brand has its own price. If you are a beginner or maybe let’s just say you want to experiment then I would recommend just cheap alcohol, for two reasons mainly a) you will not be able to drink all of it in the first time. B) it won’t hurt much to your pockets if you leave the liquor anyway. The main difference between the pricey ones and cheap ones is basically of distillation or how much pure the liquor is. But as a lay man you will just notice that cheap liquors give a harsher burning sensation than the expensive ones. And by expensive I mean really really expensive. A premium whiskey bottle costs anywhere between Rs 4000 and Rs 10000. Even that is cheap for some. Anyways, moving on, whiskey is not for the first timers. You can do beer but that just tastes yak! So bitter that you’ll just curse yourself for buying it. You could could’ve bought a coke and lived happily. And beer doesn’t get you drunk. With just 6-8% alcohol content, it will take approximately 6-7 of them (650 ml bottles) to reach the “Stupid drunk” point. And again, if you’re experimenting for the first time, you will probably find it difficult to gulp down even one sip. But if you do want to try a beer I would recommend Kingfisher or Fosters. These bottles will cost you around Rs200 and look classy in your refrigerator ;)  Do check the alcohol content in them. Like Kingfisher blue only has 6% alcohol content in it. A haywards 5000 will have 8%. Haywards is a cheap beer and will cost you only 100 to 150 bucks. The less the alcohol content the less the burning sensation when you drink it. And it drinking even one to two bottles of beer (650 ml bottles) will not do much good. It might come into effect if you drink all of it in span of 2 minutes. Yeah, like you drink water! Then it is sure going to give you a kick. But even heavy drinkers don’t have that kind of capacity to drink it all at once. That’s why in some Hollywood movies you’ll find that they have a beer drinking competition.


Going further, if you have to get real drunk, and I mean “real” real drunk, you should probably take vodka or rum. 180 ml bottles or quarter as it is usually said will get you to that “stupid” drunk stage. I would probably go for vodka because rum can’t be handled by all ;) Well, there is that and also the fact how your body would react to different types of liquors. So it’s best to stay with clear liquors. By clear I mean which do not have any colour. So vodka is your best option. Vodka also has many brands. A good vodka is always from a Russian brand. Well, Vodka originated in Russia so that makes sense. Vodka can be cheap but it really is a risk to go for the cheap ones. Cheap vodkas will make you suffer like never before. But not all cheap vodkas are bad. You can go for Smirnoff’s or seagram’s vodkas. They are cheap but are pretty safe otherwise. A 180 ml bottle will cost around Rs 200-Rs 300. Vodkas come in many different flavours. Orange is the most common. But you don’t have to drink it in shots. By shots it means 20-25 ml plain vodka drunk without mixing. It is a chivalrous task to take shots. 4 shots will pass you out completely. So, shots aren’t for first timers. Tequila shots are like that. And please don’t think your friends are cool if they are having tequila shots at a party. Because tequila like other liquors has different qualities and cheap tequila can make you very, very sick! And with 40% alcohol content in it, you will definitely puke! But anyways if you like to have tequila just go for 100% de agave rather than 51%.Tequila is made by fermentation of agave plant and by 100% de agave we mean, it is all made by agave plant only. There are no additives. It will be best to go for US or Mexican brands. It is quite expensive and mainly a party thing. Coming back to vodka, the best one is a plain vodka. The best way to drink it is mixing with a soft drink like Coca Cola. 20-30 ml of vodka is good with 100 ml – 150 ml of coke. Depends on your tolerance actually. But if you’re still not able to drink it, pour some more coke till the time you find your drink ”drinkable”.  Keep doing this till you finish the vodka quarter. And in 15-20 minutes you will be “jhuming” on your heels. This one gets you stupid drunk. But again you have to do it very fast. Only in a span of 20-30 minutes. If you keep drinking slowly like in a span of an hour or so, it’s the drunkness wouldn’t be so drunk ;)


Well, that’s all about drinking for first timers. You have a large scope ahead of you. Just dip in your nose and you will see :P

And I forgot to mention about The hangover. You are going to wake up feeling fatigued and restless. Nauseated and feeling funny. Don't get scared it's just your body trying to get rid of alcohol. Drink water. And keep drinking it for the rest of the day. 
Don't drink and drive and definitely switch off your mobile before drinking. You never know who do you call.

P.S I wrote this article because I wanted something like this guide to drinking when I wanted to try by myself. But I couldn’t find any kind article on the net. Hence, this.

22 comments:

  1. When I had my first time I was given only one suggestion- to kill hangover, drink more! :P
    And I so wish I could make sure that the phone was switched off.. :P
    Anyways, you seem to know a LOT of alcohols, m surprised..:P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah! That advice is really one of a kind! I saw this program once on discovery channel on how to kill hangover! It was funny how man tried to kill his hangover by more beer !
      Yeah, phones should be switched off... During one such escapade I sent RIP messages to all my friends !

      I seem to know my bit about alcohols ;)

      Delete
  2. My dad tells me he likes beer for the bitter taste.

    You really have done the research man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Back for the summer, eh?
      Nice to see you too man!

      Yeah, I remember you telling me about your dad in one such conversation... I'd still prefer coke to beer if you ask me ;) That peculiar taste of beer...it's not wholly bitter... It's unique...! It's awful for me atleast!

      Delete
  3. You know too much!
    And I am guessing, you are saying this all with experience?

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was pretty useful article , I'm a beginner here and tried that 180ml smirnoff vodka experiement it gave be a good buzz felt really weirdly good I was wondering I wanna try something better like to get to a good drunk state without passing out

    Gimme your suggestion as a total noob what can i have to experience that good drunk state without passing out ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if you had handled vodka well, I'd suggest you to try whisky first and then rum. Same amounts.

      Delete
  5. whats your opinion on white mischief vodka? is it bad?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not at all, it happens to be my personal favourite.

      Delete
  6. My god you don't know whay you are talking about. You think with 'just 6-8%' is low? And that 6 or 7 650ml bottles would be needed for a beginner to get drunk? Trust me, with beer even 0.5% makes a big difference. The fosters you talk about is usually 4% and most beers sold are rarely over 5%. That makes 7 0r 8% lethal. And 670 ml is a huge quantity compared to standars cans in Australia (375) and UK (440).

    ReplyDelete
  7. I appreciate your concern. Being a science student and a doctor on top of that I can categorically deny your claim. 0.5 % additional alcohol doesn't affect your system much.
    Lethal dose means the one that will kill you. I pity your lack of information.
    Talking about your so called huge quantity, a can of beer i.e a pint of beer is 384 ml marketed in uk. The same is available in india as well. There is no 375 version as you have claimed.
    Large bottles that we usually have here are 22oz US = 650.6ml or European large bottle i,e 25.4 US oz = 750 ml. Those are the sizes I am talking about.
    You are misinformed sir. Next time you decide to comment, check your facts. You don't know what you're up against

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tips for first time rum?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Try old monk with coke. It's a classic. It's very potent also so a small quantity can get to you really quickly. If you feel noxious stop right there because rum is not handled well by everybody.
      Other choice is the all time favourite bacardi

      Delete
  9. Yo man.
    I tried it first time on my college trip to Karnataka/Kerala. My college friends had it all planned. You won't believe but my first ever drink was Romanov Green Apple approx 120ml. I didn't puke or anything. I didn't get that high as well. My body handled it well. Then I tried Imperial Blue 125ml Whiskey with coke (same trip). Even that didn't get me that high. Only a bit slow paced silly state. Then I had some cheap 180ml vodka (180ml 100₹ approx). Man the high I got after drinking that was awesome. That was the perfect silly state. Then yesterday I tried Smirnoff Green Apple 180ml with sprite 600ml. I drank it over a peridp of approx 2 hours. I didn't achieve that silly high state though. It costed me 190₹ for 180ml. I am disappointed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha well we live and learn through experiments, don't we? But nice to get honest reviews :)

      Delete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What should i try for first time but i dont wanna get 'high' high

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Preferably beer. If you can't handle its taste I'll suggest diluting whiskey with water until you find the drink right for your taste!

      Delete
  12. Im trying rum for first time at home..I have tasted whiskey and I was bit under control.. never had hangover..
    The one which I'm trying is Dark Rum..
    Do u have any suggestions for that????

    ReplyDelete
  13. Can I try pink vodka for the first time? Is it good

    ReplyDelete