Down the Hatch

I am a wine drinker. I like the look of the glasses and the pop of the corks. I enjoy how the flavor melds with certain meals and makes it taste better. I love the clink of of the toasts that you hear during a night out with friends. Wine makes me feel happy. When I say happy I don't mean drunk happy but happy that wine exists. Honestly it took until I was around 30 to feel like I was old enough to drink alcohol. Before that I always felt like a little kid sneaking candy. Then I gradually started sampling wine and teaching my tongue to decipher between two buck chuck and twenty dollar nectar. Becoming a lover of wine takes time and that is OK because lovers of wine are usually people that don't mind investing that time.

In contrast I remember the first time I snuck next to my dad's chair and took a swig from his beer can. I was probably 8 or 9 when I built up the courage to see what mystery sloshed inside that shiny can my dad always popped open and savored through the evening. The same minute the bubbly yellow liquid hit my tongue the bitter smell hit my nose. Both made me cringe and involuntarily open my mouth so the beer dripped down my chin and onto the carpet. Luckily scooting the chair over a few inches hid the stain That one mini sip scared me away from alcohol in a big way. Especially beer. Beer drinkers etched out a certain image in my mind. Men. Big men that obviously had absolutely no taste buds in their mouths. Remember I was 9!

As the years went on and people around me started drinking beer I started wondering if that one time I had tried it was a mirage. Maybe I was missing out on something important

in my life. So I tried beer again. Still underage mind you. I had a few more sips then the first time. Every swallow was excruciating. I tried I really did but I just couldn't hack it. The people around me obviously didn't even notice the flavor after a few cans just the effect. A light bulb moment! Alcohol was not necessarily about the taste! That ah-ha moment was then followed by the usual college parties of experimenting with the effect instead of the taste.

Once real life started and being a grown up with responsibilities began I realized I had come full circle in my alcohol journey. Taste really is what is important. I don't enjoy wasting hard earned money on a vats of beer or wine. I would prefer to have less but enjoy it more. Sometimes quality is better then quantity in life.