Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jan 6, 2014 13:08:12 GMT -5
Sorry if this question is obvious, but seriously, I don't get why alcoholic beverages are appealing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a square or anything. I have no moral objection to people drinking as long as they aren't putting others at risk (i.e. drunk driving) or otherwise are being self destructive. However, adult beverages seem to have a lot of allure for many, many people, even non alcoholics.
But I just don't get it. Why is it so appealing to people? I've had beer, I've had wine, I've had hard liquior, and honestly, I'm not a huge fan of any of it. I'll drink on occasion, usually if I'm visiting someone and they offer it, just for a bit of variety, but it never really "does anything" for me. I even got drunk once on purpose to see if it was as great as says it is, but it sucked. I have no idea why every other college kid (and even adults) want to get smashed every weekend.
So can you guys help me understand? What is so great about alcoholic beverages? I suppose it's good because I'm not likely to ever become an alcoholic, but I do want to know.
I mean, some people drink every day, and some people go on vacations just to drink cheap booze. What's the point? Is there something wrong with me?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 6, 2014 13:09:17 GMT -5
Taste yummy, especially the frozen ones.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jan 6, 2014 13:10:46 GMT -5
Taste yummy, especially the frozen ones. Eh, I don't find the taste that appealing. At least of anything I tried. I even got scotch on a plane once. Man, I wanted to throw up. That stuff was aweful. I don't like beer that much, but at least I can stomach it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2014 13:10:48 GMT -5
I like the taste of beer.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 6, 2014 13:14:20 GMT -5
I like the taste of dark beer. On cinco de mayo I drink corona and shots of tequila. But to just drink a light beer, ugh.
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Jan 6, 2014 13:14:45 GMT -5
Phoenix, SHHH - I work in the liquor industry - we can't have people knowing that there is no good reason to drink the stuff.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jan 6, 2014 13:14:48 GMT -5
If I'm super stressed, alcohol will lower that stress level enough that I can relax on my own a little better. I also like the taste of my malt beverages - Bacardi Silver or Smirnoff.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 6, 2014 13:14:49 GMT -5
I've never learned to like scotch. I tried many a time but failed.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jan 6, 2014 13:16:17 GMT -5
They taste good. I can't drink alcoholic drinks just because they're alcoholic, they have to taste good. Sometimes the effects of it is desired too.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jan 6, 2014 13:16:46 GMT -5
If I'm super stressed, alcohol will lower that stress level enough that I can relax on my own a little better. I also like the taste of my malt beverages - Bacardi Silver or Smirnoff. How does it lower your stress? Is it an effect of the alcohol? Does this affect everyone?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2014 13:16:52 GMT -5
I am horrible in social situations. A drink or 2 allows me to realx and mingle with people I don't know. Also there are some nights where I am so stress, it feels like I am clenching every muscle in my body. A drink usually allows me to relax and unclench. I don't like beer, strictly a rum girl.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jan 6, 2014 13:17:14 GMT -5
Hmmm, so it's a taste thing then?
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jan 6, 2014 13:17:29 GMT -5
I like the taste of beer. Yep, I like beer. I don't drink soda or carbonated beverages other than beer. And I like the taste of wine. So I pretty much drink water, lemonade, ice tea, beer, and wine. Don't do too much into the juices. I don't really like hard alcohol though every couple years I'll have a bloody mary or a G&T.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2014 13:17:44 GMT -5
Scotch on a plane!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2014 13:17:56 GMT -5
Some of us get a feeling of euphoria from alcohol that is amazing. I guess you don't have that gene.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Jan 6, 2014 13:20:40 GMT -5
I like red wine, dark beers, and black coffee. I would say they are an acquired taste. I typically have a glass of wine to relax a bit in the evening when DD goes to bed. Heck, one nurse we know actually recommended a drink to DH to get him to calm down when he thought he was having a panic attack.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 6, 2014 13:22:20 GMT -5
I like mixed drinks. Mojitos are my favorite. I tend to like the types of frou-frou drinks that you feel fine after drinking. . .till you stand up.
I've never been a partier so I don't understand getting drunk/tipsy on a regular basis like my next door dorm neighbors did.
But it has been fun on certain occassions. I got smashed in Borneo. Got smashed at my bachlorette party.
Got smashed at a bar with DH and friends a couple of times and that was fun. They talked me into doing kareoke which is something you wouldn't get me to do sober, I'm usually too self concious.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jan 6, 2014 13:23:01 GMT -5
If I'm super stressed, alcohol will lower that stress level enough that I can relax on my own a little better. I also like the taste of my malt beverages - Bacardi Silver or Smirnoff. How does it lower your stress? Is it an effect of the alcohol? Does this affect everyone? For me, it often just shuts up my brain enough that I can relax. I have an rx for Xanax too and a glass or two of wine can have the same effect as popping a Xanax, it just tastes better.
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Jan 6, 2014 13:23:22 GMT -5
Some of us get a feeling of euphoria from alcohol that is amazing. I guess you don't have that gene. I've never before heard anybody use the word euphoria in reference to drinking alcohol. I've tried a few drinks over the years and never had that experience. Mostly, I found I didn't like the taste of it.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jan 6, 2014 13:24:28 GMT -5
If I'm super stressed, alcohol will lower that stress level enough that I can relax on my own a little better. I also like the taste of my malt beverages - Bacardi Silver or Smirnoff. How does it lower your stress? Is it an effect of the alcohol? Does this affect everyone? Alcohol lowers your blood pressure. So, it just takes the edge off of everything. Sometimes, I get sort of paralyzed by everything I need to do. If I have a drink, it lowers my blood pressure (not that I have high blood pressure but it does get elevated during high stress periods) and I can usually move past the paralysis to get moving again. Alcohol takes the edge off of things. The part of it that makes it dangerous to drink and drive, if you are high strung/stressed out can take that edge off of you so that you can move passed the things that are making you stressed out. Does it affect everyone the same? No. For most people, it takes the edge off of things, but some people are "mean drunks" and I guess it gives them more an edge. I don't know.
But yeah, "I'm so stressed" is a common reason people use for drinking.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jan 6, 2014 13:26:36 GMT -5
It's to help ugly people get laid. Either by better looking people who need to be drunk to sleep with them, or to help them not care that they're sleeping with someone even uglier than themselves.
Also it's a good excuse to be stupid and use the argument "I don't remember, I was drunk", when you definitely remember what you did.
It's also a good way to kill brain cells. Some of us have too many and we can't stop THINKING! If you don't kill a few, eventually they start coming out of your ears in the form of hair, and nobody wants that.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jan 6, 2014 13:26:44 GMT -5
Some of us get a feeling of euphoria from alcohol that is amazing. I guess you don't have that gene. I've never before heard anybody use the word euphoria in reference to drinking alcohol. I've tried a few drinks over the years and never had that experience. Mostly, I found I didn't like the taste of it. I wouldn't describe is euphoric, but if I have a nice buzz going I'm often just happily content.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2014 13:26:59 GMT -5
Some of us get a feeling of euphoria from alcohol that is amazing. I guess you don't have that gene. I've never before heard anybody use the word euphoria in reference to drinking alcohol. I've tried a few drinks over the years and never had that experience. Mostly, I found I didn't like the taste of it. That's probably why I'm alcoholic and you aren't. For that feeling I couldn't care less about the taste. I haven't drank in almost 20 years btw.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2014 13:28:06 GMT -5
I think most people go through the following alcohol drinking lifecycle:
1. Start drinking because other people are or because of curiosity. It tastes like shit, but is fun. 2. Become used to the taste. It is still fun. 3. Start to like the taste. It is still fun. 4. Really like the taste and seek out new products. It is not fun to get drunk anymore, but have gotten used to the feeling and like a few drinks.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jan 6, 2014 13:28:12 GMT -5
Phoenix84, you are not alone. I don't get it either. I don't really care for the taste of alcohol, and it certainly doesn't make me more sociable, it just makes me sleepy. I always thought that the yumminess of drinks was the other things in them, not the alcohol itself.
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reader79
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Post by reader79 on Jan 6, 2014 13:31:35 GMT -5
I don't really care for it myself. I didn't even go out on my 21st birthday. I will have one, maybe two drinks a year - less now that I am not supposed to mix alcohol with my meds. I don't even like the taste of champagne. So guess who always gets to be the designated driver? I hate shuttling around drunks, so I will sometimes skip the party so that someone else gets that job.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jan 6, 2014 13:35:28 GMT -5
I think shuttling around drunks is hysterical.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jan 6, 2014 13:38:53 GMT -5
::I mean, some people drink every day, and some people go on vacations just to drink cheap booze. What's the point? Is there something wrong with me?::
No, they go on vacations to drink cheap booze in a place where they can drink LOTS of booze (which is why they want it cheap) around people they either don't know, or they know also want to drink a lot, so they can do things they would never do around most others.
It sounds a lot more pragmatic to say you're going on vacation and it's a bunch of cheap cocktails and you're going to relax and unwind than it does to say you're going on vacation to get wasted and flash your genitals to a bunch of drunk idiots who you'll never see again.
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Jan 6, 2014 13:43:46 GMT -5
Alcoholic beverages have their appeal - and some (wines for example) taste wonderful when paired with the right foods.
I can't stand the taste of Scotch (not even top-shelf scotch) - but love Drambuie - which is a scotch-based liqeur. Don't like rum either. I'm not much of a beer-drinker - can't even remember the last time I had one.
A good whiskey or white wine is my beverage of choice.
I've never heard of anyone (not even alcoholics like my late DH) describe the taste of alcohol or the sensation from drinking as euphoric. More like a feeling of light-headed, blurred numbness - dulling the senses - usually achieved to escape reality & life.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Jan 6, 2014 13:51:47 GMT -5
Phoenix84, you are not alone. I don't get it either. I don't really care for the taste of alcohol, and it certainly doesn't make me more sociable, it just makes me sleepy. I always thought that the yumminess of drinks was the other things in them, not the alcohol itself. People will occasionally offer me a taste of their "yummy" drink, but mainly I just taste the alcohol. I drink a couple of beers a year.
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