Evolution in a Glass

After the evening out on Friday, I started thinking about how my drinking habits have evolved from the simple girl I used to be, downing a beer on tap and/or tequila shots and calling it a good time. And I also started thinking about how my tastes have evolved along the same path that my life has progressed and that when I look back on my drinking evolution, there are moments that stand out and send me down a slightly altered path.

I have always had a penchant for the drink, but not because I am a raving alcoholic but because I was never told there was anything inherently bad or forbidden about booze. It was more about knowing what you liked, knowing how to be responsible, and knowing when to walk away so you did not make an absolute ass of yourself. And I think I have learned that pretty well from a young age, so that would almost be the start of the evolutionary chain for me.

From there, it was fitting in with the crowd when I could drink which normally meant beer on tap that was relatively cheap or on special. After all, grad students are notoriously underpaid but like (some may say need) to get out and drink. After a while, I started getting invites to attend free scotch tastings from Johnnie Walker and I thought, why not? Free fits in with my budget and scotch was something I grew up around but did not have strong feelings for one way or another. And every tasting I went to, I was introduced to new ways to drink scotch (manhattan, anyone?) and also the art of drinking scotch and learned to appreciate it. So, suddenly, I was a scotch drinker. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the taste and the difference of being a scotch drinker. I liked going to bars and ordering something different and to be honest, it seemed to garner me a bot more attention from bartenders and strangers close by alike. A bit different than the other girls chugging down whatever brand of beer happened to be offered to them and was 'cool' at the moment.

Then I made the greatest leap into my foray into scotch and moved to England. It is like moving to the nieghbourhood where scotch was invented and mastered. I was in heaven and in England, I learned how to appreciate the single malts. If Johnnie Walker was my bottle, then the single malts were what the grown ups drank. And I felt like a grown up, so I owned it. I wanted to learn more about scotch. I associated with fellow scotch drinkers and they taught me things they had learned and introduced me to scotches I had not even fathomed. If the scotch shelf in any self-respecting bar in America had maybe four or five bottles, even the diviest place in England had at least ten. Again, it was heaven. And then we met our whisky guy, Phil. Someone who was a professional and trained myself as well as others on how to taste and what different areas did to different scotch and how to buy and generally, how to really love a good scotch. He even introduced us to blended scotches that were nothing to sneer at. These were not the training wheels of the scotch world; these were well thought out concoctions.

And now I have brought it back here and I am training others. I am introducing my boss to drams that I think he might like based on his preference, but may never have sought out. I am taking friends with me to more refined tastings to see that scotch is not a scary drink and that like a fine wine, each scotch (and every year) has something different to offer. Maybe, one day, when I am back in the UK, I can get my wine guy to really introduce me to wine and make me a convert. But for now, I will take mine straight up, with a splash of water on the side, or on the rocks.