What is your favorite drink when you sit down for some tunes? Whisky? Beer? Tea? Anyone against having a drink while the session is on? Mine is the Half & Half. ( it seems to take the bitterness off of the well traveled Guinness).
any kind of beer that's going's my drink, but I try (try being operative word) to intersplice it with drinks of water when the playing starts to suffer!
Our local session is in the taproom of a micro-brewery, so we usually have a wide selection, from pale ales to porter and stout. The porter's my favorite, but it's got a kick and two pints makes the tunes swim. Some nights we proceed to a pub and someone brings a round of whiskey (the 12-yearold Jamesons) or bourbon (Maker's Mark or Baker's are my favorites). Then the tunes may be the only thing left afloat....
I can remember a couple of sessions where the riverdance or lord of the dance troupes came through town. When asked what they wanted - it was always a budweiser, much to the amazement of the oirish crowd who think that Irish only drink Guiness & always wear cable-knit sweaters. I myself drink whatever you put in front of me, I like the Guiness but I've been known to order a few Pabst blue ribbons for the fun of it. The problem is when you get locked, that's when your ruined.
I agree Brad. Pabst was the local choice back in high school in suburban Philly. I still like a frozen-cold Budweiser now and then. And once enjoyed a terrific blueberry ale from a micro-brewery in Bar Harbor Maine.
VB is a really aussie beer and I love it. When I was in Ireland I couldnt get any so it was the guiness for me there and altho the pints are getting better here, it really doesnt taste the same as it does in Ireland.
They tempt me by having Guinness (or even Murphy's) on tap, but then when I try it, it inevitably tastes nothing like the stout in Ireland. I don't know if it's the way it's brewed, the way it's stored or the way it's pulled, but they get it completely wrong.
So, I'll try a local beer instead. Unfortunately, all the ales and bitters just taste like warm dishwater to me.
Thank goodness for imported bottled beer. Shame about the price though.
To answer the question: when I'm in Ireland, it's Murphy's all the way (up Cork!). When I'm in the States, it's whatever the local microbrewery has on offer. When I'm in Germany, it's anything German: it's all good. When I'm in England, it's a nice glass of water - sometimes I'll go mad and have ice, or even a slice of lemon, too.
To any English people here: no offense. I'm sure the problem is really with my palette.
No Jeremy, the Guinness definitely tastes different here in England (Not for the better)*. Which in some respects is good, as I can't resist the stuff in Ireland and always end up ratted. However, Guinness is what I drink if I'm playing, as it settles the stomach more than bitter - it's no fun trying to burp when you're half way through a tune on the flute.
* I don't know if it's still the case, but I believe the only place you used to be able to get the genuine article in england was in the bar on the end of the pier in Liverpool, which had it's beer delivered by the little 'Guinness Tanker' (honest) that they used to have.
I'm for the Black Stuff, but sorry Jeremy, I can't get draught Murphy's in Barcelona, so it has to be Sir Arthur's, although I agree it's not the same taste here either.
Ocassionally (when I'm not working next morning) a good glass of Uisce Beatha (preferably Bushmill's).
Cider (testament to years spent in Bristol and Cornwall), sometimes half-and-half with mineral water - which gets me some deadpan looks from the barstaff. (unofficial name of this concoction = Snailbite).
Or just plain mineral water, which seems to be more the norm these days at sessions than it used to be years ago.
I'm not much of a beer person. I can go for a good dark bitter beer (but I prefer a good Belgian Trappist Ale over a Stout), but only with food. If I'm playing, I'm not eating (don't want to blow chunks of food into my instrument!), and I really don't like any kind of beer without food.
So for me, it's cider, but only if they have the good dry stuff, which, alas is dreadfully hard to find here in the states.
American hard cider is almost always very sweet. Woodpecker is pretty tolerable, but still sweeter than I really prefer. The real stuff, like I had in both Ireland and England, is very dry and very crisp, and quenches your thirst wonderfully. The sweet American stuff leaves your mouth feeling all sticky and syrupy. There's no way that you'd want to go and blow into a whistle or flute after drinking that American goo.
I was once told by a member of the Guinness family, over here for some special event or other, that it's the way it's shipped, Jeremy, that makes it taste different. Guinness apparently doesn't ship well at *all* and apparently it's only since I talked to him quite a few years back that they figured a way out to fly the stuff without completely wrecking it -- they had to bring it to the States by BOAT, and so not only was it shipped in a manner that was terribly injurious to the stuff, but it was also comparatively old by the time it got here.
It's better now, but I guess Yanks who want the taste of the real stuff still tend to make special arrangements to get it to the States rather than depend on the normal shipping routes!
Zina, the shipping of the stout is probably the problem in America, but the Guinness we drink in England (apart, maybe from the stuff on the end of the pier), is brewed in London.
Well, i'm glad to hear there are others who go for the cider. I was afraid you'd all call my sissy boy and start throwing virtual tomatoes at me. ;) In any case, I cannot for the most part drink (alchoholically laden beverages) while i'm playing tunes. But i find nursing a cider for a few hours is perfect. I don't get loaded and the touch of sweetness keeps my mouth from drying out. Got on to drinking Bulmers during my last trip to ireland; but unfortunately, as MarkCC points out, it's hard to find good cider in the states. But I'll definitely have to try a snailbite!
I save the guinness and other fine beers of the world for boozing after the session. the best for last, as they say...
I've never been to Ireland and tasted the real stuff, but i love even what we can get in the US. I'm lucky, because the pub where i've been sessioning draws a pretty good Guiness. I was raised on Brazilian beer, which comes from a strong German tradition, and i can't tollerate any of the main USian beers, but Guiness hits the spot. I even like their pint-size cans, the ones that have the white plastic ball inside.
This is all part of the BS (sorry i mean, the magic) that's involved in doing music. I find that i play *much* better if i have a pint of Guiness before i start. All psychological stuff, of course, the effect of the alcohol should be to make me play less well.
The other day i was horrified when someone (a bodhran player, of course!) got a large pina collada. Yuk! what kind of Irish drink is that!
According to a Guiness distributer I spoke with the Guiness in the US is the same as the stuff in Ireland (brewed at St James'). So when you hear stories of "the Guiness is so much stronger in Ireland" you'll know that it's all just psychosomatic. The pints are bigger but it's the same brew.
Yep, my guy said the same, Brad -- just that it was older, especially when they used real actual live ships.
I quite like ciders, but it's so sweet that I generally get way too inebriated on two pints. One is my limit if I want to be able to play well at all, and I'm a two drink sessioner...
Glauber - I also find that I relax a bit better at a session with a nice pint of Guinness. I usually nurse one for an hour or so while I'm playing and then just stick to water, as I'm always thirsty...
My tolerance is shamefully low these days even though I do drink regularly. SO I have to watch how much I drink when playing...I get pretty damn sloppy when I've exceeded my limit....
Jeez, I could go for a pint right now! Wish some of you folks lived a bit closer. : )
My playing is usually restricted to Greece and Saudi Arabia. In Greece it's either Heineken or Amstel. In Saudi Arabia: a cold glass of water or a diet Vimto! Last time in Ireland I had so much Guinness that it was with some relief I hit the bitter (good quality English bitter) at Gatwick Airport. A change is as good as a rest.
Well, usually I believe 1) you have to buy an awful lot of the stuff, 2) be in with your distributor, and 3) have money enough to pay for the air freight costs. Probably cheaper and easier to fly one of our Session compatriots who lives in Ireland out with the requirement that they smuggle in a keg or something. *grin*
No matter what it is you drink, I find it very difficult to disassociate drinking from playing music. I've always played in pubs, beer tents at festivals, and at dances where alcohol flows freely. There's that line in Christy Moore's 'Lisdoonvarna' . . . 'Before the Cheiftains start to play, six creamy pints come out on a tray.' (Or something like that.) The idea of a 'dry' session seems a bit odd to me. My mate, the nimble fingered Jerry, who fairly flies on the mandolin, won't start playing at a session until a pint of Guinness is inside him. After two pints he reckons he goes seriously downhill, but then he's only a little feller and can't absorb that much.
I used to reckon that you could drink as much as you like if you started drinking when you started playing, but if you had two or three pints somewhere else 'on the way to the session', you'd be lost before you started. I still think the latter part of the statement is true, but that really, much more than three pints of McGuinness, even over a three hour session, just about does for me. An excess of alcohol, does though have the advantage of encouraging you to play all those interesting tunes that you never really learned to play properly, which can provide some amusement for others at the session!
Rum and coke when I'm at a session......the rum is relaxing, and the caffeine in the coke keeps me alert enough to keep playing with SOME degree of coordination. I never liked the Guinness they serve in Canadian pubs, but after visiting Northern Ireland this year discovered a TOTALLY different beer---it's great stuff! Too bad they screw it up here in Ontario (it's brewed by Labatt's here ---I guess that good Liffey water is absolutely crucial)! But--the hops in beers makes me too sleepy to play fiddle--so I 'll only have a beer at the end of the evening.
in no particular order and depending on the pub,landlord,location,time of year,day,climate etc:
guinness (almost always overpriced in the uk and dublin) on its own or guinness/cider (the poor man's black velvet),black&tan(1/2 a bitter & a bottle of guinness) - i usually think the guinness tastes better in ireland but then i'm on holiday and so in a good mood! you can get decent pints in the uk if it's kept well and if a lot of punters are drinking it,which means mainly irish run pubs;cask ale bitters that are kept well - jeremy,i don't know brighton so i can't comment on your local brews but most of the bitter over here is a damn sight better than the smithwicks i've tried,even in kilkenny, so i would urge you to venture further afield;pints of mild;draught or bottled german and czech lagers (the american budweiser firm should be ashamed of itself for trying to steal the name of the czech budweiser budvar by the way);dry cider,light & lager;most spirits but for rum and brandy( excepting port&brandy- good for your stomach if you have gut ache),vodkas,gin&tonic in summer,whisky macs in winter,scottish and irish whiskies, both blended and malts (that added 'e' in the irish whiskey is a recent invention,much like the spelling of crack as 'craic'),bourbons,sometimes wine,lemonade and tea.
how much you drink and its effect will vary,depending on how your body is at the time.i've been well gone after only 3 pints sometimes and am barely drunk after a lot more than that.i do know that there is sometimes an 'optimum' level above and below which things don't gel quite so well,obviously worsening with more rather than less alchohol.my crystal ball tells me that some bright spark will say i only think that because of the drink...
i've seen other people play great sober and 'with a drink taken'.
my quote for today is: work is the curse of the drinking classes...
now,where was that coat......
Usually, I'll have a Guinness or two (depending on how long we play) and then switch to iced tea. But stout is my favorite and I like Guinness more than the others I've tried. When I'm playing in public, I usually avoid the hard stuff. House sessions are another thing altogether
Speaking of whisky, I just tried Powers for the first time, and it really reminded me of bourbon. I don't know much about making whisky, but I guess I expected something like Jameson and was suprised at the difference. Someone said I should try Bushmills...
Good to hear non-alcoholic musicians DO exist! :^) I get so teased at sessions for not drinking beer that I've started to call my boring glass of water "clear beer". I have nothing against a good drink. The truth is drinking alcohol just doesn't set well with me anymore for some unknown reason; I get sick on 1/2 a glass. So, cheers to you all as I raise my clear beer...on the rocks! :^D
Once, at a session where I had the excellent priveledge of meeting and playing with 2 amazing musicians, well above my present level, They asked if they could get me a drink. "no thanks," I said, "I don't drink..." "You don't smoke either," one of them said, "and you play Irish music?!" "I know it's part of the culture," I said, "but I'm really in it for the music." "Oh, we're in it for the culture!" one of them jokingly said. I am a curiosity at most sessions...
It certainly isn't necessary to drink to be able to PLAY Irish music. Terry Moylan, in his fine book 'Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra', quotes Johnny as saying (Of Denis Murphy and P
I have to respond to this question...I have had Guinness both here and in Canada, generally speaking it has been a great disappointment.......I am fortunate enough to have a brother-in-law who is a brewer with great credentials and I'll take his porter or pale ale over anything else......besides a good couple of pints will make all the session music good.
What micro brews have to offer is freshness, no doubt about it. A well done micro brew should outperform the Guiness you can get in the US, any time. But if a good and fresh micro brew is not available, Guiness is, at least for me, acceptable.
Also, it is certainly possible to play the music without drinking alcohol. It'd be a bad thing otherwise.
For myself, the preferred drinking pattern is a couple of Guiness followed by a good single malt (Lagavulin, Springbank, etc.) or a Jameson gold to sip the remainder of the evening. The Guiness on tap in Santa Fe (yes, you can actually get it here) has been awful - I suspect that it is the case of one keg opened per year, with the pints pulled for me being at the far end of that year - so, I've stuck with water, which is probably much better for me, anyway.
This will all change with the move to Chicago, as Glauber said, the Guiness at the pub where he plays is quite good and the one I had at the Abbey was excellent. Yikes, I'm going to have to get a membership to a gym first thing!
Glauber, in one of your previous posts you incorrectly referred to the little white ball in the big guinness cans as "the little white balls." They are, in fact, called "Floating Widgets." Just in case you cared. And if I catch you referring to the floating widgets as "little white balls" there will be serious consequences (!)
lol (BALPA Spokesman sketch)
I stick with my refreshing, ice-cold Coke (What's that word, when people subtly advertise like that? I couldn't think of it.)
That's all from me.
I used to drink Guiness exclusively, but these days prefer Murphy's. There is also a terrific locally-brewed porter (Drayman's Porter). Wonderful stuff. When I just want a drink and not a meal, I'll have a Harp.
It is old wisdom btw that beer does not travel well. That is why in the old days each village had its own brewery. It is less known that malt (roasted barley, basically) does not travel well either, which is why each village had its own maltery, too. Oh, well: All is vain.
Du siehst wohin du siehst, nur Eitelkeit auf Erden
Was dieser heute baut, reisst jener morgen ein
Wo itzund Staedte stehen, wird eine Wiese sein
Auf der ein Schaeferskind wird spielen mit den Herden.
Oooo, Halldor, hot whiskeys, I'd forgotten all about them, and I drank ever so many of them while we were on our honeymoon in Ireland. It was the first blizzard they'd had in 18 years, and there we were, in the middle of it. One night I drank five of the things without even noticing. Thank goodness I'd come from the high altitude of Denver, which is what saved me.
What's your drink?
What's your drink?
What is your favorite drink when you sit down for some tunes? Whisky? Beer? Tea? Anyone against having a drink while the session is on? Mine is the Half & Half. ( it seems to take the bitterness off of the well traveled Guinness).
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Caoimghgin
Re: What's your drink?
any kind of beer that's going's my drink, but I try (try being operative word) to intersplice it with drinks of water when the playing starts to suffer!
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Kenn
Re: What's your drink?
That's a funny one Kevin. I got pressured into drinking Guiness from some awfully big people. Thank GOD that I grew to enjoy the taste.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Mark Cordova
Re: What's your drink?
Our local session is in the taproom of a micro-brewery, so we usually have a wide selection, from pale ales to porter and stout. The porter's my favorite, but it's got a kick and two pints makes the tunes swim. Some nights we proceed to a pub and someone brings a round of whiskey (the 12-yearold Jamesons) or bourbon (Maker's Mark or Baker's are my favorites). Then the tunes may be the only thing left afloat....
Water is always welcome.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: What's your drink?
I can remember a couple of sessions where the riverdance or lord of the dance troupes came through town. When asked what they wanted - it was always a budweiser, much to the amazement of the oirish crowd who think that Irish only drink Guiness & always wear cable-knit sweaters. I myself drink whatever you put in front of me, I like the Guiness but I've been known to order a few Pabst blue ribbons for the fun of it. The problem is when you get locked, that's when your ruined.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by B Rad
Re: What's your drink?
I agree Brad. Pabst was the local choice back in high school in suburban Philly. I still like a frozen-cold Budweiser now and then. And once enjoyed a terrific blueberry ale from a micro-brewery in Bar Harbor Maine.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: What's your drink?
VB is a really aussie beer and I love it. When I was in Ireland I couldnt get any so it was the guiness for me there and altho the pints are getting better here, it really doesnt taste the same as it does in Ireland.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by bb
Re: What's your drink?
I'm in drink hell right now: England.
They tempt me by having Guinness (or even Murphy's) on tap, but then when I try it, it inevitably tastes nothing like the stout in Ireland. I don't know if it's the way it's brewed, the way it's stored or the way it's pulled, but they get it completely wrong.
So, I'll try a local beer instead. Unfortunately, all the ales and bitters just taste like warm dishwater to me.
Thank goodness for imported bottled beer. Shame about the price though.
To answer the question: when I'm in Ireland, it's Murphy's all the way (up Cork!). When I'm in the States, it's whatever the local microbrewery has on offer. When I'm in Germany, it's anything German: it's all good. When I'm in England, it's a nice glass of water - sometimes I'll go mad and have ice, or even a slice of lemon, too.
To any English people here: no offense. I'm sure the problem is really with my palette.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Jeremy
Re: What's your drink?
No Jeremy, the Guinness definitely tastes different here in England (Not for the better)*. Which in some respects is good, as I can't resist the stuff in Ireland and always end up ratted. However, Guinness is what I drink if I'm playing, as it settles the stomach more than bitter - it's no fun trying to burp when you're half way through a tune on the flute.
* I don't know if it's still the case, but I believe the only place you used to be able to get the genuine article in england was in the bar on the end of the pier in Liverpool, which had it's beer delivered by the little 'Guinness Tanker' (honest) that they used to have.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Ottery
Re: What's your drink?
I'm for the Black Stuff, but sorry Jeremy, I can't get draught Murphy's in Barcelona, so it has to be Sir Arthur's, although I agree it's not the same taste here either.
Ocassionally (when I'm not working next morning) a good glass of Uisce Beatha (preferably Bushmill's).
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Toni Ribas
Re: What's your drink?
I like to have a tea and a Paddy
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by crannog
Re: What's your drink?
Cider (testament to years spent in Bristol and Cornwall), sometimes half-and-half with mineral water - which gets me some deadpan looks from the barstaff. (unofficial name of this concoction = Snailbite).
Or just plain mineral water, which seems to be more the norm these days at sessions than it used to be years ago.
# Posted on September 30th 2002 by Nell
Re: What's your drink?
I'm not much of a beer person. I can go for a good dark bitter beer (but I prefer a good Belgian Trappist Ale over a Stout), but only with food. If I'm playing, I'm not eating (don't want to blow chunks of food into my instrument!), and I really don't like any kind of beer without food.
So for me, it's cider, but only if they have the good dry stuff, which, alas is dreadfully hard to find here in the states.
American hard cider is almost always very sweet. Woodpecker is pretty tolerable, but still sweeter than I really prefer. The real stuff, like I had in both Ireland and England, is very dry and very crisp, and quenches your thirst wonderfully. The sweet American stuff leaves your mouth feeling all sticky and syrupy. There's no way that you'd want to go and blow into a whistle or flute after drinking that American goo.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by MarkCC
Re: What's your drink?
Guiness, no question.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by glauber
Re: What's your drink?
I was once told by a member of the Guinness family, over here for some special event or other, that it's the way it's shipped, Jeremy, that makes it taste different. Guinness apparently doesn't ship well at *all* and apparently it's only since I talked to him quite a few years back that they figured a way out to fly the stuff without completely wrecking it -- they had to bring it to the States by BOAT, and so not only was it shipped in a manner that was terribly injurious to the stuff, but it was also comparatively old by the time it got here.
It's better now, but I guess Yanks who want the taste of the real stuff still tend to make special arrangements to get it to the States rather than depend on the normal shipping routes!
Zina
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What's your drink?
Zina, the shipping of the stout is probably the problem in America, but the Guinness we drink in England (apart, maybe from the stuff on the end of the pier), is brewed in London.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Ottery
Re: What's your drink?
Guinness and most good microbrews!
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by JMH
Re: What's your drink?
Well, i'm glad to hear there are others who go for the cider. I was afraid you'd all call my sissy boy and start throwing virtual tomatoes at me. ;) In any case, I cannot for the most part drink (alchoholically laden beverages) while i'm playing tunes. But i find nursing a cider for a few hours is perfect. I don't get loaded and the touch of sweetness keeps my mouth from drying out. Got on to drinking Bulmers during my last trip to ireland; but unfortunately, as MarkCC points out, it's hard to find good cider in the states. But I'll definitely have to try a snailbite!
I save the guinness and other fine beers of the world for boozing after the session. the best for last, as they say...
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Brendan
Guiness
I've never been to Ireland and tasted the real stuff, but i love even what we can get in the US. I'm lucky, because the pub where i've been sessioning draws a pretty good Guiness. I was raised on Brazilian beer, which comes from a strong German tradition, and i can't tollerate any of the main USian beers, but Guiness hits the spot. I even like their pint-size cans, the ones that have the white plastic ball inside.
This is all part of the BS (sorry i mean, the magic) that's involved in doing music. I find that i play *much* better if i have a pint of Guiness before i start. All psychological stuff, of course, the effect of the alcohol should be to make me play less well.
The other day i was horrified when someone (a bodhran player, of course!) got a large pina collada. Yuk! what kind of Irish drink is that!
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by glauber
Re: What's your drink?
According to a Guiness distributer I spoke with the Guiness in the US is the same as the stuff in Ireland (brewed at St James'). So when you hear stories of "the Guiness is so much stronger in Ireland" you'll know that it's all just psychosomatic. The pints are bigger but it's the same brew.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by B Rad
Re: What's your drink?
Yep, my guy said the same, Brad -- just that it was older, especially when they used real actual live ships.
I quite like ciders, but it's so sweet that I generally get way too inebriated on two pints. One is my limit if I want to be able to play well at all, and I'm a two drink sessioner...
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What's your drink?
Glauber - I also find that I relax a bit better at a session with a nice pint of Guinness. I usually nurse one for an hour or so while I'm playing and then just stick to water, as I'm always thirsty...
My tolerance is shamefully low these days even though I do drink regularly. SO I have to watch how much I drink when playing...I get pretty damn sloppy when I've exceeded my limit....
Jeez, I could go for a pint right now! Wish some of you folks lived a bit closer. : )
Joyce
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by JMH
Re: What's your drink?
Zina,
How exactly does a Yank like myself make a 'special arrangement' for a fresh delivery of Guinness to Dallas? Does it involve bribery? I'll pay!
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Caoimghgin
Re: What's your drink?
Can't remember who it was that said, "I drink to make other people interesting." But it works with sessions, too, heh.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: What's your drink?
Loved the quote so much, had to do more research...
George Jean Nathan (1882 - 1958)
American editor and drama critic & Early supporter of Eugene O'Neill.
http://www.bartleby.com/65/na/Nathan-G.html
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Caoimghgin
Re: What's your drink?
My playing is usually restricted to Greece and Saudi Arabia. In Greece it's either Heineken or Amstel. In Saudi Arabia: a cold glass of water or a diet Vimto! Last time in Ireland I had so much Guinness that it was with some relief I hit the bitter (good quality English bitter) at Gatwick Airport. A change is as good as a rest.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by lukegarry
Re: What's your drink?
Well, usually I believe 1) you have to buy an awful lot of the stuff, 2) be in with your distributor, and 3) have money enough to pay for the air freight costs.
Probably cheaper and easier to fly one of our Session compatriots who lives in Ireland out with the requirement that they smuggle in a keg or something. *grin*
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: What's your drink?
No matter what it is you drink, I find it very difficult to disassociate drinking from playing music. I've always played in pubs, beer tents at festivals, and at dances where alcohol flows freely. There's that line in Christy Moore's 'Lisdoonvarna' . . . 'Before the Cheiftains start to play, six creamy pints come out on a tray.' (Or something like that.) The idea of a 'dry' session seems a bit odd to me. My mate, the nimble fingered Jerry, who fairly flies on the mandolin, won't start playing at a session until a pint of Guinness is inside him. After two pints he reckons he goes seriously downhill, but then he's only a little feller and can't absorb that much.
I used to reckon that you could drink as much as you like if you started drinking when you started playing, but if you had two or three pints somewhere else 'on the way to the session', you'd be lost before you started. I still think the latter part of the statement is true, but that really, much more than three pints of McGuinness, even over a three hour session, just about does for me. An excess of alcohol, does though have the advantage of encouraging you to play all those interesting tunes that you never really learned to play properly, which can provide some amusement for others at the session!
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by Ottery
Re: What's your drink?
Rum and coke when I'm at a session......the rum is relaxing, and the caffeine in the coke keeps me alert enough to keep playing with SOME degree of coordination. I never liked the Guinness they serve in Canadian pubs, but after visiting Northern Ireland this year discovered a TOTALLY different beer---it's great stuff! Too bad they screw it up here in Ontario (it's brewed by Labatt's here ---I guess that good Liffey water is absolutely crucial)! But--the hops in beers makes me too sleepy to play fiddle--so I 'll only have a beer at the end of the evening.
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by aoife
Re: What's your drink?
in no particular order and depending on the pub,landlord,location,time of year,day,climate etc:
guinness (almost always overpriced in the uk and dublin) on its own or guinness/cider (the poor man's black velvet),black&tan(1/2 a bitter & a bottle of guinness) - i usually think the guinness tastes better in ireland but then i'm on holiday and so in a good mood! you can get decent pints in the uk if it's kept well and if a lot of punters are drinking it,which means mainly irish run pubs;cask ale bitters that are kept well - jeremy,i don't know brighton so i can't comment on your local brews but most of the bitter over here is a damn sight better than the smithwicks i've tried,even in kilkenny, so i would urge you to venture further afield;pints of mild;draught or bottled german and czech lagers (the american budweiser firm should be ashamed of itself for trying to steal the name of the czech budweiser budvar by the way);dry cider,light & lager;most spirits but for rum and brandy( excepting port&brandy- good for your stomach if you have gut ache),vodkas,gin&tonic in summer,whisky macs in winter,scottish and irish whiskies, both blended and malts (that added 'e' in the irish whiskey is a recent invention,much like the spelling of crack as 'craic'),bourbons,sometimes wine,lemonade and tea.
how much you drink and its effect will vary,depending on how your body is at the time.i've been well gone after only 3 pints sometimes and am barely drunk after a lot more than that.i do know that there is sometimes an 'optimum' level above and below which things don't gel quite so well,obviously worsening with more rather than less alchohol.my crystal ball tells me that some bright spark will say i only think that because of the drink...
i've seen other people play great sober and 'with a drink taken'.
my quote for today is: work is the curse of the drinking classes...
now,where was that coat......
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by biggus dave
Re: What's your drink?
Usually, I'll have a Guinness or two (depending on how long we play) and then switch to iced tea. But stout is my favorite and I like Guinness more than the others I've tried. When I'm playing in public, I usually avoid the hard stuff. House sessions are another thing altogether
Speaking of whisky, I just tried Powers for the first time, and it really reminded me of bourbon. I don't know much about making whisky, but I guess I expected something like Jameson and was suprised at the difference. Someone said I should try Bushmills...
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by soft black stars
Re: What's your drink?
Good to hear non-alcoholic musicians DO exist! :^) I get so teased at sessions for not drinking beer that I've started to call my boring glass of water "clear beer". I have nothing against a good drink. The truth is drinking alcohol just doesn't set well with me anymore for some unknown reason; I get sick on 1/2 a glass. So, cheers to you all as I raise my clear beer...on the rocks! :^D
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by linda
Re: What's your drink?
Cider please !
# Posted on October 1st 2002 by kolaz333
Re: What's your drink?
Once, at a session where I had the excellent priveledge of meeting and playing with 2 amazing musicians, well above my present level, They asked if they could get me a drink. "no thanks," I said, "I don't drink..." "You don't smoke either," one of them said, "and you play Irish music?!" "I know it's part of the culture," I said, "but I'm really in it for the music." "Oh, we're in it for the culture!" one of them jokingly said. I am a curiosity at most sessions...
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by Andee
Re: What's your drink?
It certainly isn't necessary to drink to be able to PLAY Irish music. Terry Moylan, in his fine book 'Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra', quotes Johnny as saying (Of Denis Murphy and P
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by Ottery
Re: What's your drink?
I have to respond to this question...I have had Guinness both here and in Canada, generally speaking it has been a great disappointment.......I am fortunate enough to have a brother-in-law who is a brewer with great credentials and I'll take his porter or pale ale over anything else......besides a good couple of pints will make all the session music good.
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by frosali
Micro brews
What micro brews have to offer is freshness, no doubt about it. A well done micro brew should outperform the Guiness you can get in the US, any time. But if a good and fresh micro brew is not available, Guiness is, at least for me, acceptable.
Also, it is certainly possible to play the music without drinking alcohol. It'd be a bad thing otherwise.
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by glauber
Re: What's your drink?
For myself, the preferred drinking pattern is a couple of Guiness followed by a good single malt (Lagavulin, Springbank, etc.) or a Jameson gold to sip the remainder of the evening. The Guiness on tap in Santa Fe (yes, you can actually get it here) has been awful - I suspect that it is the case of one keg opened per year, with the pints pulled for me being at the far end of that year
- so, I've stuck with water, which is probably much better for me, anyway.
This will all change with the move to Chicago, as Glauber said, the Guiness at the pub where he plays is quite good and the one I had at the Abbey was excellent. Yikes, I'm going to have to get a membership to a gym first thing!
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by chicagofiddler
Glauber
Glauber, in one of your previous posts you incorrectly referred to the little white ball in the big guinness cans as "the little white balls." They are, in fact, called "Floating Widgets." Just in case you cared. And if I catch you referring to the floating widgets as "little white balls" there will be serious consequences (!)
lol (BALPA Spokesman sketch)
I stick with my refreshing, ice-cold Coke (What's that word, when people subtly advertise like that? I couldn't think of it.)
That's all from me.
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by no longer exists
Re: What's your drink?
Mark, that'd be "subliminal," not to be confused with sublime....
# Posted on October 2nd 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: What's your drink?
What does that emoticon mean? Are you drooling, or throwing up?
# Posted on October 3rd 2002 by Nell
Re: What's your drink?
I used to drink Guiness exclusively, but these days prefer Murphy's. There is also a terrific locally-brewed porter (Drayman's Porter). Wonderful stuff. When I just want a drink and not a meal, I'll have a Harp.
It is old wisdom btw that beer does not travel well. That is why in the old days each village had its own brewery. It is less known that malt (roasted barley, basically) does not travel well either, which is why each village had its own maltery, too. Oh, well: All is vain.
Du siehst wohin du siehst, nur Eitelkeit auf Erden
Was dieser heute baut, reisst jener morgen ein
Wo itzund Staedte stehen, wird eine Wiese sein
Auf der ein Schaeferskind wird spielen mit den Herden.
# Posted on October 4th 2002 by Bloomfield
Re: What's your drink?
Hot whiskey!
Definitely a winner on a cold and wet autumn night when you come in from the cold and could need something to warm you up
# Posted on October 5th 2002 by FiddleTramp
Re: What's your drink?
So what the heck is Half & Half that Caoimghgin mentioned - sounds interesting!
# Posted on October 8th 2002 by NancyU
Re: What's your drink?
Oooo, Halldor, hot whiskeys, I'd forgotten all about them, and I drank ever so many of them while we were on our honeymoon in Ireland. It was the first blizzard they'd had in 18 years, and there we were, in the middle of it. One night I drank five of the things without even noticing. Thank goodness I'd come from the high altitude of Denver, which is what saved me.
Is a Half & Half like a Black and Tan, I wonder?
# Posted on October 8th 2002 by Zina Lee