Choice Of Alcohol Beverage?
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Overseas... on the shore of an uncharted desert isle.
Posts: 254
I drank - but never drank vodka specifically to avoid detection. If I drank vodka or gin, it'd usually be as a tonic - and at the back of my mind, an additional reason might include the fact that they were lower in congeners than spirits like whiskey and rum (which I also drank).
It's interesting how powerful certain myths can be - in particular, the one that vodka can't be detected on one's breath. The Smirnoff vodka "leaves you breathless' ad was concocted almost 60 years ago in 1952. Even when I was drinking, I recall running into alcoholics who drank vodka during the day. The Dean of my grad school was oh-so certain no one knew about his afternoon vodka habit but the fumes were so heavy I could have lit them with a lighter and used him as a flamethrower.
It's interesting how powerful certain myths can be - in particular, the one that vodka can't be detected on one's breath. The Smirnoff vodka "leaves you breathless' ad was concocted almost 60 years ago in 1952. Even when I was drinking, I recall running into alcoholics who drank vodka during the day. The Dean of my grad school was oh-so certain no one knew about his afternoon vodka habit but the fumes were so heavy I could have lit them with a lighter and used him as a flamethrower.
When I was a social drinker, I enjoyed a variety of hard liquor, beer and wine.
As I began to abuse alcohol, rum was my beverage of choice (10 years in the Caribbean). I drank rum with water, and nursed my drinks through the evening so that I rarely experienced a hangover. I also drank beer during the day on the weekends and wine at dinner on special occasions. My son, now 22, commented that I became very aggressive while drinking red wine and that beer seemed to produce less negative behavior.
FYI, my alcohol consumption was on the order of 1.75 litres of rum every 8 to 10 days. For some, it may not seem like a lot, but the fact that I was drinking every day (even when sick) meant that I had a problem, and as a female, it takes less alcohol to do significant damage.
As I began to abuse alcohol, rum was my beverage of choice (10 years in the Caribbean). I drank rum with water, and nursed my drinks through the evening so that I rarely experienced a hangover. I also drank beer during the day on the weekends and wine at dinner on special occasions. My son, now 22, commented that I became very aggressive while drinking red wine and that beer seemed to produce less negative behavior.
FYI, my alcohol consumption was on the order of 1.75 litres of rum every 8 to 10 days. For some, it may not seem like a lot, but the fact that I was drinking every day (even when sick) meant that I had a problem, and as a female, it takes less alcohol to do significant damage.
It always cracks me up the diversity of what people drank. I always went with beer and jim beam whiskey. Since I was a binge drinker I would drink the beer the first couple of days. I would then switch to the whiskey as my binge progressed, usually day 3 of 4. I would also keep the whiskey around for the morning drinks so I could knock my hangover out no problem with 2 or 3 quick ones so I could eat breakfast. Somehow because I only did this every couple weeks I thought it was totally normal. Thinking about it just makes me laugh.....
Oh and I can't imagine you guys that would go on year long binges. You guys must have HIGH pain thresholds.
Oh and I can't imagine you guys that would go on year long binges. You guys must have HIGH pain thresholds.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 191
I was almost a 100% beer and wine drinker during my regular heavy drinking life. I think the fact that I drank that (and only microbrewed beer to boot) helped fuel my denial somewhat. I pretended like I was some kind of drinking gourmand when I was really just a drunk who could afford to buy $5 pints.
I did vodka a lot in college when I was more of a binge drinker. Started out my drinking career with rum but has some hangover experiences that left me with a rum taste aversion that's probably still going strong (well, except for those mai tais I had in Hawaii last year). I also went through a brief whiskey stage in college -- never liked it but somehow felt hard core drinking it.
Aside from the denial angle, I think the gravitation away from hard liquor and towards beer and wine helped fuel the regular drinking also because I found I could drink longer with those drinks. Hard liquor hit too fast, whereas I could have several hours of drinking with beer and wine.
I did vodka a lot in college when I was more of a binge drinker. Started out my drinking career with rum but has some hangover experiences that left me with a rum taste aversion that's probably still going strong (well, except for those mai tais I had in Hawaii last year). I also went through a brief whiskey stage in college -- never liked it but somehow felt hard core drinking it.
Aside from the denial angle, I think the gravitation away from hard liquor and towards beer and wine helped fuel the regular drinking also because I found I could drink longer with those drinks. Hard liquor hit too fast, whereas I could have several hours of drinking with beer and wine.
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midwest USA
Posts: 2,284
I should note that between 4AM and 9AM if I didn't have booze I resorted to rubbing alcohol, mouthwash & other household items to ward off withdrawals. Those items were also easier to steal if I didn't have money. The Sundays were the worst as they didn't sell booze until 11AM.
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 189
lol. Yeah I drank Vodka myself alot. SOmetimes mixed with coke or straight. Most of the time I'd take swigs all night from the bottle. I use to drink beer most of the time until I discovered hard liquor could get me drunk faster and make me more encouraged to talk to people. Crazy times. I won't lie, in the beginning it was so much fun whenI did it once in awhile but as it progressed to twice a week then 3 times then 4 days straight each week it wasn't fun anymore though I kept lying to myself that I was having fun. I'm just glad I'm free from it once again. May the force be with you
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 189
I should note that between 4AM and 9AM if I didn't have booze I resorted to rubbing alcohol, mouthwash & other household items to ward off withdrawals. Those items were also easier to steal if I didn't have money. The Sundays were the worst as they didn't sell booze until 11AM.
:O I never got to that point.... yet and plan on not doing so but as for the time when places opened. Here in Canada Ontario liquor stores opened by 9:30am and I never use to go in the mornings until recently. Glad I'm sober now and not dealing with that anymore
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