All things alcohol

Without a doubt I have a penchant for anything ethanol based or fermented ;-).

Of late, my palate has accommodated to the taste of beers. It wasn't a natural progression, this sudden surge of liking them beers! It is definitely a learnt or rather acquired taste that grew with fondness due to the warmth spreading from my taste buds to my heart and mind. May I say, it is the strong influence from the company I'm with. My hubby dearest, inclusive.

Where shall I begin? I grew up on pilsners and lagers - good ol' Calsberg, Anchor, Tiger and not then to a darker and more mysterious toasty malty beer, The Guinness. Such ruled my life up to my mid 20s.

America exposed me to hard liquors and liqueurs, and flavoured beers. I eventually gravitated to a Dutch beer - Heineken, and the Chinese Tsing Tao. Then went nuts with beers from micro breweries.

Upon returning to my homeland, I reverted back to all beers I grew up with as imported beers are way too costly for my pay package. That was my world of beers right up to 30s. Then I gravitated towards lagers like Tiger, the Thai Chang beer and lots of Guinness.

When I met Martin, I fell in love with not just him, but all the beers he loves. The growth in loving Aussie beers began. All the Matilda bay beers, but I never abandoned the Irish Guinness ;-).

Then bam...I'm all into Whisky and reds. Beers became a distant memory...until I met a bunch of astrophysicists who are mad about their beers. My love for beers grew in tandem with my love for reds. Reds are a great influence from my sister dearest.

Eventually, a Portsmouth colleague came along, and taught me how yummy beers can be. This, my love for the Pale Ale and the Indian Pale Ale began. I'm taught to look at the clarity, the head and the aroma and the different types of grain in beers.

This year, I met a Dutch who shared all his notes about beers with me, and my love for Belgian and Dutch beers grew in leaps and bounds. I can't differentiate whether it's because I like this Dutchie heaps, hence my palate expanded or I'm just totally changed with regards to my open mindedness towards beers. The latter must hold more water than the former, as I still can't stomach the Yokel Grolsch that he sings praises of... Yuck. In a nutshell, I like it all except for weak piss types with the likes of Foster, the XXXX, VB etc.

Whilst my taste buds also gravitated towards sparkling Shiraz, sparkling whites and white wines like SBS, Chardonnays and Verdelhos. As for reds, I've moved beyond just my all time fav Shiraz fruit bombs to red I never liked before ... But now I love Malbecs, Cabernet Sauvignons, Cabernet Franc ... But still not Pinot Noirs. I guess I'm just not a Burgundy girl.

I've also gone towards all gaga with Japanese alcohol...Sake! Nikkas! Yum...;-).

Very well, all these talk of alcohol, I'd sum it all up as I'm moving towards liking almost or most alcohols. I'd better take it easy...as I can't end up having to join the AAA! Teehee!