By Dustin Griffin, Opinions Contributors
As university students, we are not shy about our relationship with alcohol. It seems the game of drink is as integrated into the educational experience as the all-nighter. Alcohol acts a social lubricant that helps us catch up with old friends and make new ones. However, I’m afraid we have lost our way.
Sitting in the cafeteria of Risley Hall, it’s clockwork that every Saturday and Sunday morning the common topic of discussion is how drunk someone was last night. Fellow students reminisce over glasses of orange juice about who couldn’t stand, who blacked out and what stupid act topped the evening’s entertainment the night before.
Never mind the health implications of getting repeatedly inebriated, getting shit-faced is also a disgusting exploitation of a true cultural institution.
Nearly every culture on the face of this planet has a customary form of alcohol. Traditionally, northern Europe has beer, southern Europe has wine, Russia has vodka, Mexico has tequila, and Japan has saki. I could go on for pages about the different types of drink that have their roots in the world’s many cultures.
Beer, wine and spirits have many methods of production, which serves to give us a multitude of wondrous tastes, smells and textures in our choice of drink. Yet, it is all horrifically ignored in pursuit of intoxication.
Beer is humanity’s oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. The craft of brewing is known the world over.
All beer is made of four prime ingredients: water, yeast, malt and hops. Yet even with only four ingredients, brew masters have varied the brewing process and added their secret to the recipe to give us thousands of tastes. Even two beers made exactly the same way that use ingredients from different locations will have different tastes.
The problem is you cannot fully enjoy a beer if it is ice cold. Pale beers should be served chilled but stronger beers should be at room temperature.
That ice-cold can of (insert mainstream brand here) can be enjoyed only because you can’t taste it. If you could, you would recognize it for the swill it truly is. So put down the crap and properly enjoy a real beer, otherwise switch to water because it’s the same thing.
Wine has a reputation for being an aristocratic drink, which is understandable because wine has a culture of its own. Wine tastings can be an intense experience with the converted but even those of us who lack such a ‘refined palate’ can enjoy the nuances of the different wine varieties in our midst.
We have the luck of being in a country that produces top quality wine. One type of wine that Canada in particular is well known for is ice wine. These grapes are harvested only after a cold snap of at least – 8 C. Ice wine is a risky business as you have to leave the grapes on the vine until they freeze and if the cold comes too late the crop will rot and be lost. But the risk is worth it as the freezing allows for a more concentrated grape that is sweeter than any other type.
And to those who think wine is for sissies, remember your cherished beer is only five to seven per cent alcohol while wine is eight to 23 per cent.
Spirits is a class of beverage that encompasses drinks made by distilling. Rum, whiskey and tequila are all made by distilling. Unfortunately these are the most commonly exploited drinks because of their high alcohol content. Many of these drinks must be enjoyed on their own.
You absolutely do not mix soda with scotch.
Good tequila and whiskey can be enjoyed similarly to wine. Essentially, the rule is the better the spirit the greater the offence if you do not enjoy it on its own.
Spirits also permit mixologists, more commonly known as bartenders, to continue to wow us with their new creations. Cocktails open a new world of enjoyment for spirits but a good cocktail does not hide the flavours of their base. If your drinking a drink that you would not be able to tell if it was alcoholic or not, then you’re missing out.
Take the time to look into different types of alcohol and see how they are made and what makes each of them special. Each class of drink has its own special experience for each to us to try.
Getting blasted should not be the reason for drinking. Sure drinking games are fun and serve their purpose but who said you can’t enjoy your weapon of choice? Take up the responsible appreciation of the diverse world of alcohol.
If your goal is to not remember the night, you are missing out on liquid art.
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