Fri/Sat/Sun TeaDay 4/15-17/11 TeaTotaler on TeaTaxDay?

[Chip]

Happy TeaTaxDay, well TeaDay on TaxDay!

Welcome TeaChatters to a Friday edition of TeaDay. So, whatever is in your cup, come share it with us today...all day. You can also check out what everyone else is sipping as well. If you need to, you can reflect back on your TeaDay.

Yesterday we discussed a dirty subject! You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topi is a bit off topic of tea. Keep in mind, this can be a pretty sensitive topic for some. A TCer wondered what percentage of TeaChatters actually drank alcohol or did not. Is there any correlation between tea drinking and personal choice regarding alcohol consumption. Or perhaps only drank occasionally. Share only what you are comfortable sharing, but feel free to share as much or as little as you want with us.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone on TeaDay as always!!! So, bottoms up, refill, repeat many times..after all, it is Friday!

[woozl]

Remy, X/O

[karmaplace]

The first time I came to Korea, I was a college student and engaged in a lot of social drinking, but I've never been one to really enjoy alcohol (aside from the occasional Kahlua or Bailey's or a chai tea liquor that I've never been able to find again). Now I virtually do not drink at all, which is pretty shocking considering the prominence of the drinking culture here.

I haven't had a cuppa tea yet today, but I've been considering a few. I'll probably take out a nice oolong to get me through today's classes.

[IPT]

I do enjoy a good red wine, but since we don't have any here, I have basically given up drinking. Tea is better anyway.

[entropyembrace]

I stopped drinking alcohol about 2 years ago...though sometimes I still eat it...liquor filled chocolates are pretty hard to resist and not all that dangerous

[gargoylekitty]

I'm 23 and one of my best friends is a bartender, I drink. Though it's mostly a social thing and not for the taste so much as, well, drinking. That said, I can't stand beer at all.

When on my own, alcohol isn't even a thought. Having some lu yin zhen at the moment.

[Chasm]

I drink alcohol a few times a year. But I bake with it regularly.

[tortoise]

Alcohol is not taboo for me at all. There is a richness of cultural history there as well and it can be enjoyed responsibly without much detriment. My preferences are single malt scotch, followed by certain blended scotch, then beer - particularly the small batch, artisan variety. But I'm not above the big domestic stuff either. There are certain occasions for which alcohol is much better suited than tea. All that said, I can understand why some people don't want it in their lives, but me...I'm cool wid it.

HF TGY in the cup this morning. Things are looking good.

[JBaymore]

I drink alcoholic beverages on occasion. It is not a regular of life for me.

(If tea were alcoholic....... I'd be a stumbling drunk in sore need of a 12 step program. )

My "downfall" in this alcohol department is Nihionshu ....sake. And particularly drinking sake in Japan. When in Japan, because of the high profile that social drinking plays in their culture, I tend to drink far more than I do at home. It is also very much because you can get GOOD sake in Japan. The possibilities are almost endless in every region.

The best stuff I can get here in southern NH from ONE specialty wine store is at best OK. Most places here have only one sake available... and it is at best "cooking wine" . One big issue is that sakes, unlike most wines, do not want to be aged. And simply the shipping lag that seems to happen on the stuff I can get here makes the sakes a bit on the "long in the tooth" side.

We use sake for cooking all the time. Our diet is more Asian than the typical Ameican one.

Looking forward to some good sake in late May and early June!!!!!!

best,

...........john

[Proinsias]

I tend towards beers and ciders in the better weather and wine and whisky in the colder weather.

Friends coming round later and there is some west country scrumpy cider chilling in the fridge. That's not for a good few hours though, leaving plenty time for tea.

Master Matsumoto's supernatural green with a few slices of melon to kick off my teaday, and the start of a long weekend.

[brlarson]

I love good wine but these days I drink it in moderation, once per week with my wife during meals, and I cupboard a bottle of Delamain's and either Oban or Macallans for the winter.

When the US economy tanked my wife and I decided to support local, so we buy wines primarily from (in this order) Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, California, the rest of the world. My wife's theory is that a wine will be good if there is picture of an animal on the label; that's why I pick out the wine.

Burgundy is too expensive to drink today, but once or twice a year I bring home a little Chambolle or Nuits for when family will be around. Good German wine is nearly impossible to find in the States these days, which is unfortunate because they were always resonably priced and they are among the best whites in the world.

You can find excellent, locally produced wines today! Buying local supports local businesses and it reduces greenhouse gases because the wine doesn't travel as far.

Bei Dou No 1 is my breakfast tea today. Kiwami and Maruyama are both on the menu for later.

[LauraW]

I do enjoy alcohol, a couple times a week. I used to be a bartender, so often experiment with mixed drinks, but I very much enjoy wine as well. Beer less so, but there are exceptions.

Fujian this morning, probably good for another couple steps before I'll change it up.

[Trey Winston]

I enjoy a drink on Saturday evening and wine with dinner a couple of times a week. I sip single malts in the wintertime, dry martinis in the warmer months (I keep two fancy coctail glasses in the freezer all year round in giddy anticipation) and cognac and aquavit at Christmas. Red wine and beer all year round.

I've also made my own fruit wine on a number of occasions. Blackthorn, cherries and redcurrant constitute the raw material. I can't stand the end product, but happily some family members pretend to like it.

Alcohol is notoriously expensive in this country, but I doubt I'd drink more if it were otherwise. But who knows - I certainly can't control my tea consumption.

[Chip]

I voted I do not drink alcohol (but I do eat alcohol). Personal choice. Have not knowingly for many years.

Ironically the last time I drank alcohol was a few years back at the World Tea Expo when a vendor had samples of "tea" in small cups. I asked what it was, he just said, "go ahead see if can guess." It was spiked tea. Thinking back, I wish I had knocked his table over and then him ...

Don't get me wrong, my mantra "drink what you like, like what you drink" carries over to alcohol as well. However that was grossly irresponsible, maybe even criminal.

I do enjoy the aroma of wines and some others. I love the dimension alcohol can add to food as well, mostly using wine or bourbon. But this is only on rare occasions.

Began the TD with YM from Umami-Chaya with the Mrs.

[Elovitz]

I don't really like to drink anymore. I used to be a very social drinker for a few years back in college. I stopped and can't handle the taste of most alcohol. If I do drink it tends to be a very light beer or a white russian.

Also I'm allergic to wine.

English breakfast just to wake me up and then hopefully moving on to some neglected senchas and hojichas.