Top 5 Alcoholic Beverages

My alcohol preferences seem to change every five years or so, as a youngster I was a big Cider fan but that ended suddenly and in predictable circumstances. Hope this isn't going to sound like I'm an alcoholic, my opportunities for actually going out and drinking are few and far between, but when I get the chance I do enjoy it!

1. Kronenburg 1664

2. Guinness

3. Bombay Sapphire Gin (& Tonic)

4. Red Wine

5. Traditional English Ale (T.E.A.)

So currently I am still a lager fan and for me Kroney is the top dog. Stella's OK for the odd bottle at home, but try drinking it on a serious night out and your going to regret it. I have had a couple of "incidents" with Stella which I don't plan on repeating. Stella is also the only drink that can give me a hangover before the end of the evening. I prefer the taste of Kroney and generally the next day is not as bad. Guinness was my long held favourite drink and I still enjoy the odd pint, however, once you've drunk Guinness in Ireland it's never quite the same anywhere else again. I also need to make a point here about the current fad for "extra cold" Guinness. What is the point of that? It's quite cold enough already thank you very much and on the rare occasion that I'm forced to relent and accept an "extra cold" one I can't tell the bloody difference anyway! Pah! Stupid marketing people involved there I reckon.


The rise of "a nice gin & tonic" in my list must surely be a sign that I'm getting older. I don't think I'd even have thought of trying this before I was 30. In a big tall glass with some ice and a slice of lemon it's fantastic, kind of like Alcopops for grown ups. Blue Sapphire is great partly because it is blue (well the bottle is) and partly because it is slightly stronger than Beefeater. Though I like Beefeater a lot as well so it's probably mainly because it's blue. My love of red wine is another sign of my maturing taste buds. I used to only drink white wine (a bit of Blue Nun with some lemonade when I was 12 or 13!) but now have completely reversed that choice. You'll notice this is the only entry in which I've not named a specific brand. That's because as far as wine is concerned I'm a philistine. If it's red and wet it'll do fine thanks. I really wish I knew more about wine and could discuss the various merits of different types, but I tend to drink it, enjoy it and forget what is was called. I do know that I like a decent Pinot Noir (especially a good New Zealand one), and also like a lot of Merlot's but that's about as far as my knowledge goes.

The final entry goes to Traditional English Ale, a real ale brewed by the independent Hog's Back Brewery from Surrey. I've recently been making an attempt to get back into Real Ale and T.E.A. has been one of my best discoveries so far. The problem with real ale is finding a pub that actually serves it (or at least knows how to look after it) especially when, as a parent, my trips to the pub tend to be limited to a fairly small locality (i.e. Friday lunchtimes at work and the occasional Saturday evening with my mates)