What can't you drink?

zoid wrote:Pedro Romero Medium Sherry.
Yes that's correct, I'm watching football and drinking sherry.

This is the post that prompted me to start this new topic. Are there specific alcoholic beverages that you just cannot stand to drink? Bourbon is one for me; I can't stand the smell. But sherry is another, and it mystifies me. I like the aroma and flavor of sherry in cooking, particularly in sauces and dishes that contain cream and/or mushrooms. So why can't I stand drinking it straight? Looking through a Frugal Gourmet cookbook the other day, I noticed that he recommended sherry, often, with salty snacks such as salted nuts or cheese. Perhaps the accompanying nibble that you choose is key. Or perhaps it is the type of sherry?

Southern Comfort. I got sick on it 29 years ago and even the smell of it makes me gag to this very day.

=R=

LOL - sorry about that Katie!

I can't drink rum of any kind. I actually like the taste. When I was in my twentys every couple months or so a group of friends would go to Tong's Tiki Hut in Villa Park for dinner and tropical drinks. After one unfortunate night that involved way too many zombies I developed a problem. I can still drink rum but within 15 minutes I actually get stomach cramps, like my body is saying;

Hey STUPID - remember that weekend?! No you DON'T, DO YOU! Well I DO!

Gin. Thirteen year old me tried to keep up with her older friends one very unfortunate night and had a 3 day hangover.
The mere smell of it makes me gag.

Tomato Juice

Ursiform wrote:Gin. Thirteen year old me tried to keep up with her older friends one very unfortunate night and had a 3 day hangover.
The mere smell of it makes me gag.

Identical story but with 15 year old me--and, thankfully, my gag reflex is only tripped with Tanqueray pine juice! Good gin I can (and do) enjoy just fine

ronnie_suburban wrote:Southern Comfort. I got sick on it 29 years ago and even the smell of it makes me gag to this very day.

=R=

+1,

I had the same aversion with vodka until recently.

Getting sick off of bad tequila back in high school has ruined it for me. The smell makes me nauseous.

Are we talking get ill from the thought of or just don't like?

ronnie_suburban wrote:Southern Comfort. I got sick on it 29 years ago and even the smell of it makes me gag to this very day.

THIS - was 15 years ago for me.

I can't even get near anything minty or cinnamon-y...Rumple Minze, Hot Damn, After Shock, various DeKuyper varieties, etc. They make me gag even more violently than SoCo does.

This revulsion worked in my favor once: a friend harangued me into doing a shot of Rumple Minze, and after expressing my hatred of the stuff, I gave in...the bartender stood there chuckling, thinking I was being dramatic. After I did the shot, I guess my face said it all, because the bartender stopped laughing and said "OH SHIT!", grabbed the first thing within arm's reach (a bottle of Miller High Life), and shoved it into my hands so I could wash the taste of minty hell out of my mouth and not throw up on his bar. That was 11 years ago, and was my last minty shot...but hey, free beer!

I had this cocktail at Sepia last night called "two in the hand" -- scotch, some horrible bitter, dubonnet, angostura -- it was the most disgusting cocktail I've ever tasted. It tasted like something you'd keep under your sink. So, so medicinal.

tonic water, just something about it.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Southern Comfort. I got sick on it 29 years ago and even the smell of it makes me gag to this very day.

=R=

I think you and I were on the same camping trip.

A few years ago we read a book for book club called Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson. The main character drank it quite a bit. None of us liked the book-not very funny and hard to like any of the characters in the book. I thought it would be fun to find a bottle and bring it to the meeting. We all tasted it and hated it. Worst stuff ever, thick and syrupy.

I also can't stand the taste of Galliano. Maybe too many Harvey Wallbangers in college?

I also can't drink Gin. I feel as if I am drinking a rubbing alcohol. I tried it once and it surely knocked me down. After I drank that, my stomach felt as if it's going to burst. I didn't stop throwing up until almost everything I had for dinner was out.

Milk makes me want to gag. I haven't had a glass since I was a toddler.

Frenet Branca on the other hand....................hoo wee!

Can't go near an open container of Bacardi white rum...

I love Fernet Branca...in fact, finished the night last night at the Violet Hour with a Fernet Flip (equal parts Fernet/Carpano, Whole Egg, dashes of Demerara and Angostura).

For the Southern Comfort avoiders, I'd recommend the Duckhunter on TVH's current fall menu. It's based on Prichard's Sweet Lucy, something akin to the "original recipe" SoCo.

Jagermeister. Enough said.

Katie wrote:I like the aroma and flavor of sherry in cooking, particularly in sauces and dishes that contain cream and/or mushrooms. So why can't I stand drinking it straight? Looking through a Frugal Gourmet cookbook the other day, I noticed that he recommended sherry, often, with salty snacks such as salted nuts or cheese. Perhaps the accompanying nibble that you choose is key. Or perhaps it is the type of sherry?

Sherry comes in a broad range of styles from very sweet to bone dry. It seems odd that you'd dislike all of them.

I haven't tried them all, I've only tried one - the one I normally cook with - which is labelled "very dry." If I don't like sipping that, any suggestions on which direction to go to find one I would like?

A Pedro Ximenez sherry (that's the style, not the vintner) is probably the most well-known sweet sherry (you can also look for cream or Moscatel sherries). But manzanilla, fino, amontillado and oloroso are all going to be on the drier/nuttier side, I think.

Katie wrote:I haven't tried them all, I've only tried one - the one I normally cook with - which is labelled "very dry." If I don't like sipping that, any suggestions on which direction to go to find one I would like?

Katie - there's no chance you tried drinking "cooking sherry"? Cooking sherry is sold in grocery stores and is very bad. It shouldn't be drank or cooked with.

Luckily, good sherry isn't that expensive. Lustau is a good brand that is easy to find. Serve it slightly chilled (an hour or two in the fridge; or if it is already chilled, let it sit out for an hour).

No, not cooking sherry. What exactly is "cooking sherry," anyway? I've seen cooking wines (salt added) in the food aisles of a grocery store, near where the vinegars and salad dressings are shelved. But I don't recall seeing a cooking sherry among those products. In the liquor section or liquor store, sherries are shelved near the ports and marsalas and such. I don't recall seeing any there labelled cooking sherry. I've looked at a couple of different brands other than the one I normally buy to cook with, and the prices all seem reasonable, so I'm unsure whether price is an indication of quality. If "medium dry" is the style I find hard to sip straight, what style might be better for me to try? Or, any recommendations on specific brands?

"Light"/"Lite" beer.

"Room temperature" (or anything other than ice-cold) Jagermiester will kick my gag reflex into full gear and send shivers down my spine.

Ice tea sends me running from the room.

Katie wrote:I've seen cooking wines (salt added) in the food aisles of a grocery store ...But I don't recall seeing a cooking sherry among those products.

Looked for and saw one today at Sunset, Roland brand.

Katie wrote:I haven't tried them all, I've only tried one - the one I normally cook with - which is labelled "very dry." If I don't like sipping that, any suggestions on which direction to go to find one I would like?

I'd suggest Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry. It's a classic. You can get it in those little bottles some liquor stores have near checkout, so you don't have to make a major investment. It's a dessert sherry. I love cream sherry, but don't like dry at all (except for cooking). A nice cream sherry is a great defense against cold weather.

As for things I don't like: beer, Scotch, vodka. No tales of abuse and illness, just don't like the taste. Pretty much everything else is either delightful or tolerable, depending on the application.

Cynthia wrote:As for things I don't like: beer ...

Same as the sherry discussion, except on steroids. There are so many beer flavors out there, it's hard to believe anyone couldn't find something in the category to like - fruit beers, aged barley wines ... so many flavors, so little time ...

Katie wrote:No, not cooking sherry. What exactly is "cooking sherry," anyway? I've seen cooking wines (salt added) in the food aisles of a grocery store, near where the vinegars and salad dressings are shelved. But I don't recall seeing a cooking sherry among those products. In the liquor section or liquor store, sherries are shelved near the ports and marsalas and such. I don't recall seeing any there labelled cooking sherry. I've looked at a couple of different brands other than the one I normally buy to cook with, and the prices all seem reasonable, so I'm unsure whether price is an indication of quality. If "medium dry" is the style I find hard to sip straight, what style might be better for me to try? Or, any recommendations on specific brands?

Cooking sherry is like cooking wine, cheap product with salt added. They all date from Prohibition, when it was deemed that if you added enough salt to make it unpalatable, it was OK to sell alcoholic products.

What is your taste in wines? That might help us guide you to sherries that you might like.