I used to have a blog on El-Jay. With the advent of Facebook and RSS feeds, it kind of fell by the wayside but I do have fond memories.
One in particular was a collection of alcoholics that called themselves “theboozeyoucrew”. Basically, you’d apply to get in by listing your ten favorite cocktails, liquor, beer, wine or what-have-you but that wasn’t all. You’d also have to justify said choices by either being witty or knowledgeable or reach some kind of magic median between the two. It also helped if you were a dick.
The community’s been dead since last summer but I was curious to see my application because I had no idea what I was drinking four or five years ago. It took a couple minute of searching but I found my top ten which I’d posted back in the summer of 2004. (I added the links for information’s sake.)
Rereading the list, I can see that I was very much in love with Hunter S. Thompson, dive bars and other assorted oddities; I went to bed with the profane and rose with the wretched, etc.
Despite being full of lies and hyperbole, there are some grand truths to be found here. Zwack is still good (and still for sale at the LCBO) but I wouldn’t necessarily drink it like I did before; especially now that I know how useful a good bitters can be. Canton’s Ginger Liqueur has been retooled and is currently hitting it big in the US; here’s hoping it gets brought back up here (and while we’re at it, bring me some of that St. Germain’s Elderflower Liqueur). I also still indulge in the occasional Apricot Ale.
On the flip side, I merely threw Sheep Dip and Stone I.P.A. on there to impress although I’d actually tried the former if not the latter. The addition of Dr. Peppers (although using rum instead of cola is amusingly hardcore), Liquid Cocaine and Strongbow Cider is nothing more than pure college drinking and can be dismissed as such but it’s still a fun list and stands up, especially since I’d not done any bartending by this point.
So, without further ado… it was a very good year.
“Zwack Unicum. I bought this on a whim and since I had nothing to mix it with, I drank it straight. It knocked me back the first few times but within a week, I was carrying some in a flask with me wherever I went. Still do although I alternate with cheap whisky when I’m feeling punchy. Bonus: NO ONE will touch your drink when it’s bitters. Come to think of it, I was conditioned for this. When I wasn’t legal, I’d drop a bottle of Angostura Bitters in my limeade. Zwack was the next logical step.
Canton Ginger Liqueur for when I have a cold. Hell, whenever.
1995 Salon Blanc de Blancs Champagne. My friends bought a bottle of this for my last party. Head and shoulders above any champagne they sell at the LCBO although I still drink THOSE which is kinda like jerking off ’cause you’re trying to recapture the feeling of that beautiful fuck you had last month.
Dr. Pepper and I’m talking shooters. I like to use Keiths, Appletons and Disaranno. It feels like the bubbles are going straight to my brain and lining ‘em up is a must ’cause I won’t do it alone.
Sheep Dip Pure Malt Scotch Whisky. I like the smell of fuel and this whisky lets me drink it.
Strongbow Cider. I will NOT drink it in a can and a bottle is only good at a picnic but what a fucking picnic! I like to drink a pint in the afternoon between classes. Like champagne and Dr. Pepper, there’s something about cider that knocks me loopy.
Chilled Jägermeister is the distilled essence of fucking. Liquid cocaine is fucking until you bleed.
Charodei. I like my vodka straight but if I’m mixing, I’ll do it with Plymouth Gin and some grapefruit juice because it deserves better than that one time my friend and I decided it would be fun to mix it half-and-half with bottles of blue Gatorade before dropping in at the bar for some real drinking. I can’t remember if we actually got to the bar or not.
Stone I.P.A. ’cause who can drink shit like Keiths when you can get the real stuff just as easily?
McAuslan Apricot Wheat Ale. The first fruit beer I ever had and still my favorite. I thought I’d only liked it when I had tried it first ’cause I was plastered in the early morning and my throbbing heart had somehow jumped down through my rib cage and planted itself firmly at the base of my spine but no, it’s still good.”
How have your tastes changed?
Toronto’s cocktail scene 
Robert Simonson of the New York Times 
