Poll: Do you drink alcohol?

[Boris Goodenough]

i wont be drinking their crappy vodka.

See this is where I would agree with most people who don't like alcohol, they have probably been served shitty stuff as the first, for a looong time I associated whiskey with Johnny Walker Red Label, and let med tell you mixing Red Label with cola is destroying the cola

 

[Rellik San]

I drink about either a bottle of whiskey a week, good stuff and only maybe 2 glasses a night (not to mention I have company over regularly as well and my GF loves her some good single malt). And on Karaoke night I'll have a few beers before going to my DnD game, obviously not getting drunk, but 2 or 3 pints.

But as weak sauce an excuse it is, that's my culture, the pub is the social hub.

For those who don't drink but like the idea of buying rounds, it's worth asking at a bar, especially if you drive, about any incentives they offer, a lot of pubs near me and the one I work at offer a free draught soft drink to anyone who isn't drinking in a round of 3 or more.

 

[TWRule]

It seems to me that people who to drink do so merely out of established habit or because the want to use it to drown their worries; I never established the first and detest the second reason.

So all these people who say they love the taste are just lying?

I was speaking generally, but sure, you can add taste to list if you want - though it seems to be an 'acquired taste', and thus doesn't entirely fall outside of establishment of habit, in a sense. There are non-alcoholic beverages that mimic the taste of the alcoholic ones too though, so on some level people aren't *just* out for the taste if they choose the alcoholic ones (barring some people who might insist the taste just isn't the same AND they drink purely for the taste - like wine connoisseurs - but that's another story).

I can say that I'm not some sort of (alcohol-specific even) aesthete either, and find that attitude questionable too.

 

[Rellik San]

I was speaking generally, but sure, you can add taste to list if you want - though it seems to be an 'acquired taste', and thus doesn't entirely fall outside of establishment of habit, in a sense. There are non-alcoholic beverages that mimic the taste of the alcoholic ones too though, so on some level people aren't *just* out for the taste if they choose the alcoholic ones,

I can assure you sir non alcoholic drinks that mimic the taste, do so to a very, very poor degree, I want liquid gold on my tongue, not copper.

Becks Blue is a prime example, it tastes nothing like Becks.
A better option believe it or not is incredibly low alcohol products at about 0.5% - 1% proof, as you still get the purity of taste.

 

[karamazovnew]

I rarely drink, an occasional glass now and then with good food. I get really drunk maybe once every 2-3 years and usually regret it. Personally I don't understand alcohol and why so many love it and die by it (or go to prison). I hate the taste of beer, wine gives me stomach burns, whiskey starts to become horrible after a few sips and Vodka is even worse. The only drinks I still digest are Amaretto drinks (Disaronno or Ramazzotti) and good old Baileys. And I really dislike women who drink.

 

[Woodsey]

*looks at empty scotch bottle on desk*

...

No. Never.

Empty beer bottles also adorn my desk, purely for decoration. I don't really remember how they got there.

 

[Knight Templar]

I drink.
When I was first able to I didn't see the appeal, nothing I had tasted was any good. Then I tasted bourbon and cider.

Still I tend to respect my friends who do not drink, it is the wiser path.

*looks at empty scotch bottle on desk*

...

No. Never.

Empty beer bottles also adorn my desk, purely for decoration. I don't really remember how they got there.

How many of them are there?

 

[lapsed_pacifist]

I drink every day. Like I'm gonna drive that school bus sober....

 

[Eric the Orange]

Eh, tried a variety of types but none have ever really appealed to me.

 

[lapsed_pacifist]

i was serious raver during the 90s and completely abandoned drinking during that time

The best clubs were always the ones without a bar. No pissed up violent twats trying to extend their drinking time.

 

[PatrickXD]

I like being drunk, I get pretty darn drunk once a week playing Warhammer with some friends.
Once or twice a week I'll have, say, anywhere up to 4 pints and just chill with vidya games or homework.
I probably drink too much.

 

[Musette]

I don't drink alcohol, partially because I'm underage where I live, but mostly for personal reasons.

Alcohol addiction had been a bit of an issue in my extended family, with many of them being recovered alcoholics (and a couple currently recovering). My dad admits that he doesn't drink because he knows that he has trouble stopping when he starts consuming a drink. I've discussed my habit of eating and drinking just about everything quickly and how that applies to alcohol, and that tendency I have comes from his side of the family and was a particularly big factor why drinking was always so problematic for him and several of my other relatives since it opened them up to consuming more than they could handle in a time span too short to adequately react to. This leaves me nervous about the possibility of developing an alcohol addiction at some point in my life, so I can't say I'm really comfortable drinking.

I don't really mind if other people drink around me though. Binge drinking makes me uncomfortable because of the possibility of someone dying of alcohol poisoning, but I don't mind if people around me have had a drink or two and aren't pressuring me to do the same.

 

[Kyber]

I do drink weekly, but only a little at a time, mostly for relaxing. I'm rarely ever drunk.

 

[Infernai]

I don't drink: I mean, seriously now, how else am i supposed to stay alert enough to know when is a good time to trick some drunkard into giving me their wallet-

Err, i mean. Because it's...unhealthy...and bad for you....yes....

Spoiler

 

[IamQ]

I drink maybe two times a month. It's so expensive to go out for me right now, it's not worth it to do it more than that.

 

[Voulan]

Almost never. I hate the taste, other than lolly-water drinks like Vodka and some cocktails. All I taste is burning.

In my life I've had about 5 drinks, and that's it. And besides, I've been to parties where people drink a single bottle in five minutes flat to get as drunk as possible, and I've been the one that holds their hair as they throw up, or hands them tissues as they sob like little children. It's not a good look in the slightest, and I'll never let myself reach such a low.

 

[JBGigas]

I'm a Finn. So yes, I do empty my head every once in a while.
I usually wander into the night with my co-workers, it's really common with cooks.

 

[Mersadeon]

Well, I like to drink with my friends. I never drink alone (because really, what do I gain from that?). Also, it is hilarious to have a Smash Brothers tournament where you have to drink between matches. I mean, really funny.
Drinking with my friends occurs sporadically and irregularly - in some months, it's every weekend (highly unlikely, but has happened), but normally it is less than once a month.

I do have one weakness, though - there is a certain kind of mix-beer that not just tastes great, but is also wonderful against thirst. It is the only alcohol I have touched outside of a social event - but darn, after a long summer day a bottle of that just quenches my thirst thoroughly. It never is more than just one bottle.

Needless to say, I am looked down upon because my choice of beer. Here in Germany, you are supposed to drink "manly pure beer", but I never liked the taste. At parties, I normally either drink a few bottles of my favourite and then a few glasses of hard stuff. When they don't have that, I drink a single beer and then go right to the harder stuff.
I have, on occasion, had a drink to much. However even when drunk, I normally stay cautious - when I am really drunk, I become horrified by the thought of going near a river or pond for fear of falling in. I have done some stupid stuff, but I got to know my borders.

Also, I am a constant eater when drunk. I mean, I have never been stoned, but I don't want to imagine how much stuff I would eat if I am already that bad when it's just alcohol.

 

[Mersadeon]

And why do people drink if not to get drunk? what is the purpose of drinking?

Because it tastes good?

Fun Fact: A German court has ruled that pot should stay illegal, because you use it to get high. They said that "people don't drink alcohol to get drunk - it is a tradition and a social thing".
Look guys, I don't know about you, but even when drinking is a social thing - you don't drink the alcohol-free stuff, you drink the stuff with alcohol in it. That has a reason. And it's not that we like the hangover in the morning. And tradition? I am sorry, but especially in Germany that should never, ever be the defence. I mean, come on. Just on principle, nothing is right or wrong just out of tradition.