I love blackberries...and blackberry wine (when not TOO sweet) is v. good indeed.

In the Pacific Northwest, we have an unusual fruit called a huckleberry. It's a cousin to the blueberry, but it has a deeper, spicier flavor and is more juice than meat. And it makes AMAZING wine. You do have to add sugar to it in the fermenting process though.

This wine is so good and so smooth when done correctly. In fact, when I was 4 years old and we were having a bridal shower for my sister-in-law-to-be, I apparently went around drinking the leftovers from everyone's glasses...and got drunk off my butt! It's not good for 4 year olds to be passed out behind the couch. And talk about a hangover...I still remember that! (And I don't remember a whole lot from my childhood!)

I believe the closest thing to blackberry wine around here is Chambord Liqueur, which is fabulous when added to chocolate ganache and used to ice a chocolate cake, or added to raspberry sauce. Not bad in hot cocoa either (or chocolate milkshakes).

I first got drunk at age 2 or so, going back and forth stealing sips from beer cans. My parents apparently didn't realize how much I'd consumed until I walked into the coffee table.

Oddly enough, I don't especially like beer now. A good single malt scotch, or a nice glass or wine yes, but not beer.



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"I've often said that the difference between British and American SF TV series is that the British ones have three-dimensional characters and cardboard spaceships, while the Americans do it the other way around."
--Ross Smith

What was that Canadian apology to the US thing again;
"We'd like to apologise for your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer, bur we feel your pain."



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I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the Universe and everything surrounding it. - E. L. Wisty

we actually have some good beers here, it's just that the majority of Americans who drink beer seem to use price as the deciding factor rather than quality. Hence, Budweiser and Miller are two of the most "popular". However, there are some great min-brews like Moose Drool and Red Hook along with Henry Weinharts and George Killian's Irish Red (a particular fave of mine) that are fantastic. Then there are some not so microbrews that are also quite good like Samuel Adams and Pete's Wicked. Those are also quite tasty.

I just had a Woodchuck hard cider the other night. It was Granny Smith varietal. VERY tasty. Almost tasted more like wine and had a really fantastic tart apple smell. Couldn't even taste the alcohol, but sure felt it later! LOL

I love Woodchuck cider, although I prefer the Dark or the Amber to the Granny Smith.

The problem with American beer is that prohibition killed off most of the smaller brewerys, and only recently (the last 20 years or so) has there been a resurgence of them. The big companies were able to survive prohibition, by adapting their equipment for other products. The Strohs brewery in Detroit, for example, made ice cream instead of beer (and it was popular enough that they still make it--it's quite good ice cream, actually). And until recently, the large companies in the US (Strohs, Pabst, Budweiser, Miller) all made only @#$%&, weak, rice based beer.

I will say that I dislike good beer less than I dislike bad beer. In the weak nasty beer I can only taste the hops (which I'm not fond of). At least in darker beers I can taste something else as well.



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"I've often said that the difference between British and American SF TV series is that the British ones have three-dimensional characters and cardboard spaceships, while the Americans do it the other way around."
--Ross Smith

I pretty much loathe anything which is normally served in a pint glass, but I'm fond of a good wine, and also liqueurs now and again (my favourites generally falling under the general category of "fruit-flavoured firewater").

I got (mildly) drunk once. By accident. Nobody thought to tell me that the difference between Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey involved more than a casual letter E. I can knock back Irish with the best of them, but let's just say the only thing Teacher's ever taught me was to avoid it like the plague in future!



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

I am a zider drinker *silly grin*
Never quite developed a taste for a good pint - and I'm not wasting my money on anything less. But a good cider..mmmmm
Waterloo Sunset and Ruby Tuesday (which really is red), are both highly recommended.

A friend once remarked that 'Grolsch' was a good name for a drink, because by the time you've had a few, 'grolsch' is about the only thing you can say.