Storyworth: Time for Drinks
Jan. 15th, 2021 03:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetWhat are some of your favorite drinks?
When people think of me, it’s usually with a dietCoke in my hand. When I lived at Fenway House we had a Coke machine in the butler’s pantry (which was therefore known as “Coke Alley”), so I drank a lot of Coke at first. Eventually I decided that I didn’t want to be drinking that many calories and overcame my distaste for artificial sweeteners to the point that now a regular Coke tastes a bit like drinking maple syrup. The caffeine affects me very little—I can easily drink down a dietCoke or a cup of strong tea and be asleep ten minutes later. Most days I only drink three or four, but I drink them slowly and always have one open at my desk. In rehearsals, where I tend to be talking—and projecting my voice the length of the hall—for hours, I go through about one an hour. Recently Jason has been making tea more often, which tends to mean I drink less dietCoke, but I prefer my tea with honey (if I can’t have milk and sugar) and I’m trying to keep my sugar down, so I’m limiting my tea intake.
I’ve never developed a regular coffee habit. I enjoy it as an after-dinner drink, but not enough to bother making it home most of the time, so I used to drink a cup once a month or so. Since we moved to Somerville, we’ve developed the habit of stopping at Starbucks en route to First Parish on Sunday mornings, and I’ve learned that what I really want is a vanilla latte. That way I get coffee with a bunch of milk and some sugar, without having to mess around with it, or figure out the right code for the balance I want.
We drink wine with dinner most nights, so we go through a lot of wine in the course of a year. We started getting into wine when we lived in California. Jason and I spent many weekends driving around Napa and Sonoma Valleys, visiting wineries and beginning to figure out what we liked. While we travelled around Europe we got to try a lot of different wines in their home regions. When we lived in Arlington we were invited to be part of a wine buying group and for many years would buy six or eight cases at a discount twice a year. Since that ended, we’ve been a bit adrift, but recently found a website that does a similar buying program. When I was reading textbooks for blind and dyslexic students I got to read sections of the Oxford Wine Encyclopedia and that was a whole education in itself. I like a wide variety of wines from whites (Albariños and New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are favorites and a Meursault is a special treat) to rosés (particularly Italian ones) to reds (old-vine Zinfandels, Montepulcianos, and Dolcettos always catch my eye), but it all depends on the occasion and setting. One of my favorite things is to sit at a wine bar, snacking and drinking different wines with a good bartender to guide me through them.
I never really felt comfortable in bars before I started spending time with Hatem. Being a woman probably had a lot to do with that, but also I don’t like beer very much and ordering cocktails always seemed complicated. At a restaurant I usually have a strong sense of what to order—what this place will do well—but in a bar I’m pretty clueless. For Hatem, bars are comfortable spaces and he talks of spending hours alone at various bars, nursing a beer over a good book. He got me more interested in cocktails and then we started hanging out at Spoke, where they make many marvelous concoctions and also the best Paper Planes. A Paper Plane is an even mix of bourbon, aperol, amaro, and lemon juice. Made right it’s perfectly balanced: fruity without being too sweet, citrusy but not too sour, pleasantly boozy but not biting, able to please even folks who think they don’t like bourbon. The only problem with a Paper Plane is that it’s far too easy to drink!
When people think of me, it’s usually with a dietCoke in my hand. When I lived at Fenway House we had a Coke machine in the butler’s pantry (which was therefore known as “Coke Alley”), so I drank a lot of Coke at first. Eventually I decided that I didn’t want to be drinking that many calories and overcame my distaste for artificial sweeteners to the point that now a regular Coke tastes a bit like drinking maple syrup. The caffeine affects me very little—I can easily drink down a dietCoke or a cup of strong tea and be asleep ten minutes later. Most days I only drink three or four, but I drink them slowly and always have one open at my desk. In rehearsals, where I tend to be talking—and projecting my voice the length of the hall—for hours, I go through about one an hour. Recently Jason has been making tea more often, which tends to mean I drink less dietCoke, but I prefer my tea with honey (if I can’t have milk and sugar) and I’m trying to keep my sugar down, so I’m limiting my tea intake.
I’ve never developed a regular coffee habit. I enjoy it as an after-dinner drink, but not enough to bother making it home most of the time, so I used to drink a cup once a month or so. Since we moved to Somerville, we’ve developed the habit of stopping at Starbucks en route to First Parish on Sunday mornings, and I’ve learned that what I really want is a vanilla latte. That way I get coffee with a bunch of milk and some sugar, without having to mess around with it, or figure out the right code for the balance I want.
We drink wine with dinner most nights, so we go through a lot of wine in the course of a year. We started getting into wine when we lived in California. Jason and I spent many weekends driving around Napa and Sonoma Valleys, visiting wineries and beginning to figure out what we liked. While we travelled around Europe we got to try a lot of different wines in their home regions. When we lived in Arlington we were invited to be part of a wine buying group and for many years would buy six or eight cases at a discount twice a year. Since that ended, we’ve been a bit adrift, but recently found a website that does a similar buying program. When I was reading textbooks for blind and dyslexic students I got to read sections of the Oxford Wine Encyclopedia and that was a whole education in itself. I like a wide variety of wines from whites (Albariños and New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are favorites and a Meursault is a special treat) to rosés (particularly Italian ones) to reds (old-vine Zinfandels, Montepulcianos, and Dolcettos always catch my eye), but it all depends on the occasion and setting. One of my favorite things is to sit at a wine bar, snacking and drinking different wines with a good bartender to guide me through them.
I never really felt comfortable in bars before I started spending time with Hatem. Being a woman probably had a lot to do with that, but also I don’t like beer very much and ordering cocktails always seemed complicated. At a restaurant I usually have a strong sense of what to order—what this place will do well—but in a bar I’m pretty clueless. For Hatem, bars are comfortable spaces and he talks of spending hours alone at various bars, nursing a beer over a good book. He got me more interested in cocktails and then we started hanging out at Spoke, where they make many marvelous concoctions and also the best Paper Planes. A Paper Plane is an even mix of bourbon, aperol, amaro, and lemon juice. Made right it’s perfectly balanced: fruity without being too sweet, citrusy but not too sour, pleasantly boozy but not biting, able to please even folks who think they don’t like bourbon. The only problem with a Paper Plane is that it’s far too easy to drink!
no subject
Date: 2021-01-16 05:17 am (UTC)For during the day I pretty much just drink water, with the occasional can of lime La Croix when I want something flavored and fizzy.
I still can't stand artificial sweeteners at all, and to top it off I tend not to digest some of them very well, so diet soda has never been particularly appealing to me.
For a casual alcoholic drink in the evenings I favour craft beer. So much variety and plenty of high quality stuff that's pretty readily available.
If I'm up for a boozy drink I love a top shelf gin martini, although if I'm out at a bar or restaurant that mixes excellent cocktails I'm happy to explore there as well.
Remember when going out to bars and restaurants was a thing? :)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-17 06:14 am (UTC)Avanguardia Wines
(From their varietal select series, they produced a 2014 Montepulciano, which is why I recommend them to you. They seem to be out of that, however. I appear to only have one bottle left.)
no subject
Date: 2021-01-19 01:48 pm (UTC)