Drinks

I love alcoholic drinks. Of course, I never drink enough to get drunk and act in loose or unseemly manner. And I never drink beer unless I'm with people very close to me. Those two are my drinking ethos I've never broken so far and plan to never break.

I love the exquisite aroma and taste of well crafted drinks, and the slight feeling of drunkenness that is pleasant without being overdone or nauseating. I believe the best drink ever conceived by any human mind is wine. Grape wines to be precise. I've tried my hands with some foreign wines like the Japanese sake, but never quite enjoyed them as much as I enjoy the traditional wines. I have particular softness for midrange Italian wines. They have certain honest and rustic quality that cannot be found in some of the overly industrial or excessively delicate wines of other regions. Good, rich wines crafted from cabernet sauvignon are enjoyable like a good book without being pretentious or extravagant. The French wines are fine too. But many of them cost more than their worth for the virtue of being from France, though it's changing these days. Among the French wines I enjoy are the Medoc and Haut-Medoc Bordeaux, and I prefer them young, for their distinct pepper tannic taste and aroma that is simply amazing with good food. 

I hate sweet alcoholic drinks. I particularly disdain the recent waves of 'sweetened' alcoholic beverages that taste like cheap Fanta. If I wanted sugar water I'll drink sugar water. Leave alcohol out of it please. I avoid any and all drinks that are sweet. There's really no point in drinking sweet alcoholic beverage I think. That's what juices are for.

I've been trying my hand with the cocktails. Of course, as usual I don't drink the sweeter ones, which narrows down my choices since many of the cocktails are strangely sweetened despite their classic descriptions. The plus about the cocktails is that they must be drunk by the glass unlike wines which I purchase by the bottle. So I'm much less likely to gulp and leisurely enjoy the taste and texture of the drink itself. There are four cocktails that stand out to me.

1) Jack Rose 
I can't quite put my finger on why I like this one, there's just this strange attraction about the drink. Easy without being sweet.

2) Bloody Mary
Classic. I love the spice factor inherent in the design. This is my favorite so far.

3) Martini
The cocktail name associated with bunch of famous dead people, like Oppenheimer and Churchill. I like the dry and precise quality of this drink. It might become my favorite cocktail someday, but I've never actually been to a place that can make a killer martini. Just average ones. Nothing much I can do on lab assc salary.

4) Manhattan
This one is quite peculiar. There is this formal quality to this drink, old and classic, nothing fancy yet elegant. I go for this one when I need to think through bunch of stuff.

The biggest gripe I have about the drinking scene in NYC is how overpriced and pretentious everything is. When I go somewhere to drink I go to that place to drink. Not to look 'hip' (whatever that might be), not to socialize with random strangers (though well thought out conversations are always welcome, such are rarely encountered), and not to reinforce some failing personal attribute. I've been to some of the places frequented by youngsters in NYU and such, and hated the experience for the most part. At least fix the drink decently damn it. 

I'm still looking for that quiet and decent place for casual drinking and occasional eating. There's this cafe that gives cheese and a glass of chianti for a decent price, but it's a wine place, and I'd rather not drink cocktail from there.