Who drinks (alcohol)? Why or why not?

[wombat]

Bintang! (pronouced bintheeeenngggg). Because I just want to

 

[jstar]

Better than Heineken yes.

But they don't care obviously.

Amazing marketing; what an achievement to be considered a premium brand worldwide for more than 80 years with a beer of mediocre quality.

 

[sumyunggai]

I rarely drink Bintang even though it is readily available, basically because it is very poor quality (good beer like Belgian beer, modern American 'microbrew' and such is not available here). It is basically piss in a bottle and there is little cause to drink it.

Also it is very expensive. Occasionally I drink Guinness but that's even more expensive.
I have gin (imported) which is fine but I am not a huge spirits drinker. And then I buy Balinese wine for around 100,000 per bottle (equivalent in a box). It is not exactly pleasurable but it is OK. I haven't even bothered to find nice wine because while I could happily drink a bottle of nice wine every night, I'm not interested in spending 400,000 on one here - haven't even considered it.
So I still drink maybe a glass or two of wine everyday, but I never really go over that because it just doesn't taste that great.

 

[jstar]

Well, there have been many blind tasting tests between the 'inferior' big brand commercial beers and lagers which are deemed to be of a higher quality (Carlsberg, Stella, Jupiler, Vedett, Kronenbourg 1664, ...). And even the fans of the higher quality lagers could not differentiate between the two groups. It is all self perception.

And price? Perhaps 58K rupiah seems expensive for a 600 ml bottle but in Europe, you would have to pay more; easily €2 for a 220 ml glass. And in NYC it is even more absurd. Corona is always overpriced but that is worlwide.

Anyway, many different beers are available in RI. Even ambers if you don't like a lager or blond beer. Kilkenny, Hoegaarden, Erdinger Dunkel, etc. can easily be found in the DKI. And in this climate, I don't really yearn for a 11-12% Rochefort or so; that is more for Christmas at home.

 

[sumyunggai]

Well, there have been many blind tasting tests between the 'inferior' big brand commercial beers and lagers which are deemed to be of a higher quality (Carlsberg, Stella, Jupiler, Vedett, Kronenbourg 1664, ...). And even the fans of the higher quality lagers could not differentiate between the two groups. It is all self perception.

Lager is all piss as far as I am concerned. If I buy lager (maybe for a party or something) at home I buy the generic version, because brand doesn't matter.

And price? Perhaps 58K rupiah seems expensive for a 600 ml bottle but in Europe, you would have to pay more; easily €2 for a 220 ml glass. And in NYC it is even more absurd. Corona is always overpriced but that is worlwide.

Well that depends if you care considering off or on premises. I think in Europe a 500ml beer costs generally under €1 in a supermarket, which is far lower than the cost in Indonesia. So it's cheaper in Europe to drink from a supermarket, but maybe cheaper in Indonesia in a bar. But even that fails if you compare to the cost of living generally. A plate of food costs less than half the cost of a beer, but in Europe it's the other way around.

Incidentally I don't know who drinks from a 220ml glass?

Anyway, many different beers are available in RI. Even ambers if you don't like a lager or blond beer. Kilkenny, Hoegaarden, Erdinger Dunkel, etc. can easily be found in the DKI. And in this climate, I don't really yearn for a 11-12% Rochefort or so; that is more for Christmas at home.

Well RI is a big place. I have seen Hoegaarden though not the others, but it's even more expensive and it's not available locally where I am - the problem for me is that beer is not so transportable, and I'm not about to source large quantities of beer from far away because it's more trouble than it's worse. For example, a duty free litre of vodka makes sense, but trying to bring back bottles of beer not so much [I did try this once, I had a huge luggage allowance, and packed two crates of 500ml beer in my suitcases; unfortunately a couple of bottles broke, and made a horrible mess].

There are lots of beers around 4-5% alcohol if you don't like strong beer in hot climates.

 

[Scooterindo]

Scoot: " That was until we were introduced to "Wizz" (BA is smiling knowingly at this point) Wizz or speed was the street name for amphetamine sulphate, which when taken with just a couple of pints of alcohol would certainly "speed things up a bit"."

Ahem!
I have never used wizz/speed or any other "recreational" drugs...
well, I have had my fair share of weed, I guess- but never felt much of an urge to experiment further.
I was too busy with my larger, cider / snakebites- I remember well the 10p a pint nights at one of the nearby nightclubs. we could get sozzled for a fiver and £4 of that was the bus fare there & the taxi home!

Sorry I hope you don't think I was casting aspersions on your character

 

[Bad_azz]

Sorry I hope you don't think I was casting aspersions on your character

None taken Scoot

 

[Smallworld]

... (Passed out girls lying half naked on the sidewalk.)

You just described Fridays and Saturdays night out in Leeds.

 

[Scooterindo]

You just described Fridays and Saturdays night out in Leeds.

Or every night of the week in Kuta.

 

[fastpitch17]

Or every night of the week in Kuta.

Kuta? I missed that or maybe I was just tucked in too early or something.

 

[jstar]

.
I didn't see or hear anything either....

 

[fastpitch17]

.
I didn't see or hear anything either....

And that would be an invitation for his buddy to use that particular one.

 

[Missnaughty]

Who drinks (alcohol)? I did.
Why?
It started in my late teens. Brought as an Indonesian, I was not familiar with alcohol concept. I have no ideas that men drink after work in pub nor the ladies having wine at sunday lunch. All it is for social life and culture. To enjoy life. All I know that all movie stars and cool people drink alcohol. In my late teens, i was introduced to alcohol by an older rich friend, I felt so proud, felt like a cool, rich uptown girl from California.. Especially, you were taken to nice places to have this kind of drinks, the places that I couldn't afford with my pocket money.. I was student. Thank goodness, I was only a sidekick back then, not the main actress.. So all meal and alcohol came free.. if you know what I mean.

Alcohol doesn't sit very well with me, so I always get drunk very easily. And before long, I did not drink to look cool anymore. I went for shots ( I can't drink a lot) so I can get drunk. By then I have mingled with different type of crowd. And that's when I can differentiate the bules..

Anyway, to cut the story short, I couldn't have the weekends without dancing on the table or forgetting where my shoe was. You know these things were cute, like dancing on the table, seducing a gay man or embarrassing yourself with the band on stage, but only when you are young and attractive. I was wasted almost every weekend and it was continuing to the extent.. I embarrassed myself to the max as I was not that cute anymore, it was obnoxious, and not only that, it was affecting my relationship... And his comment was.. your body was not design to drink.. you should stop.

And I stop.. since then I never take more than 1 glass of the lightest wine when we go out. Never again.

 

[Tocean]

I'm a drinker, like Scooter growing up in the 80's you had to test one's metal when it came to drinking, I also grew up in a household where I could freely grab beer or two from the fridge starting at 13-14 years old, started playing music and doing gigs and drank abandoned for much of my youth. Good times/bad times ensued out of it for sure, looking back I took it to far especially 17 through 23 living like I wasn't living past 25, I look at it now as a waste of time and missed opportunities, that's how things go.

Now I'm a social drinker and go with quality over quantity, I live in a small beach town and like to go down for a couple drinks, sit outside and people watch, or we'll have a few after a scuba dive or during a cookout(usually using seafood I get from diving.) The girl friend doesn't drink much so I might have one when we eat out. I love good sake, so I usually drink more when if we go for sushi where she works.

 

[wombat]

bintheeenng is good enough for me - but must be very cold, so cold it hurts my throat on the way down.

Lager is all piss as far as I am concerned. If I buy lager (maybe for a party or something) at home I buy the generic version, because brand doesn't matter.


Well that depends if you care considering off or on premises. I think in Europe a 500ml beer costs generally under €1 in a supermarket, which is far lower than the cost in Indonesia. So it's cheaper in Europe to drink from a supermarket, but maybe cheaper in Indonesia in a bar. But even that fails if you compare to the cost of living generally. A plate of food costs less than half the cost of a beer, but in Europe it's the other way around.

Incidentally I don't know who drinks from a 220ml glass?



Well RI is a big place. I have seen Hoegaarden though not the others, but it's even more expensive and it's not available locally where I am - the problem for me is that beer is not so transportable, and I'm not about to source large quantities of beer from far away because it's more trouble than it's worse. For example, a duty free litre of vodka makes sense, but trying to bring back bottles of beer not so much [I did try this once, I had a huge luggage allowance, and packed two crates of 500ml beer in my suitcases; unfortunately a couple of bottles broke, and made a horrible mess].

There are lots of beers around 4-5% alcohol if you don't like strong beer in hot climates.

 

[Dan]

I had my first sip somewhere around 7 or 8, and my grandparents always had wine with dinner. On occasion, I would partake in small amounts as well. This was considered very natural and normal where I am from.

Despite this atmosphere, I was never particularly excited by drinking. As a young adult I would drink socially, but rarely to excess. I was always very "good" at drinking, both in my ability to cut myself off and in my ability to drink large quantities without feeling inebriated or making a fool of myself. Around this time I had some relatives who were killed by a drunk driver, and that also turned me off of drinking.

But I think the number one thing that turned me off of drinking was simply that it wasn't the kind of buzz I was looking for. I wasn't socially awkward, so I didn't need it to break down barriers and I didn't like losing some of my co-ordination. I was never one for the taste. However, I loved amphetamines, and they presented me with total control over my body, oodles energy for an already hyperactive person and heightened awareness. Sometimes I would take the two together, but usually I just stuck with speed and eschewed drinking.

Today I have religious prohibitions against drinking, but I probably wouldn't be a drinker anyway. It's simply never been that fascinating to me, and I've always questioned why people indulge in it when you can get a much better high from other sources.

 

[fastpitch17]

Today I have religious prohibitions against drinking, but I probably wouldn't be a drinker anyway. It's simply never been that fascinating to me, and I've always questioned why people indulge in it when you can get a much better high from other sources.

Dan, let's say you were a drinker when you came into the faith. Do you think you would have still accepted a prohibition or would you have done as many seem to and think a drink is OK but drunkenness isn't. Prohibition would have been more difficult them I would imagine.

 

[Puspawarna]

I've always questioned why people indulge in it when you can get a much better high from other sources.

That's how I always felt in high school and college, though my "other sources" were relatively tame: I never tried anything stronger than marijuana and had zero interest in anything else. And I sort of looked down on people who drank; I thought getting stoned was a much more "creative" experience, mentally.

Somewhere along the line, though, that changed, and I'm not sure why. I like drinking to a state of mild/moderate tipsiness (beyond that, no way; it's both mentally and physically unappealing). However, if presented with safe, legal marijuana I wouldn't touch it. I'm a little worried it would make me paranoid, and/or that I wouldn't be able to shake off the mental effects if I wasn't enjoying them.

Short explanation: I've turned into an old fart.

 

[Joko]

I'm a drinker, and I live in the probably the most alcohol-friendly country in Asia. Yangon has "beer stations" on every corner, featuring ice-cold draft Myanmar lager at really cheap prices. 700 Kyats (US$ 0.55, Rp 6000) per 330ml glass. American whiskey like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels is cheaper here than it is in America. Everything is sold at duty-free prices. The local liquor is ridiculously cheap. Mandalay Rum is actually fairly well known worldwide and a fifth will set you back all of US$3.

In my recent travels through Java and Kalimantan, the unavailability of alcohol was quite surprising. Back in the 80's you could get beer and "Mansion House" liquor pretty much everywhere. Nowadays, not so much.

Anyone ever drank "Orang Tua Anggur Kuat"? Now that was some nasty stuff.

 

[jstar]

Yes, it has changed quite a lot on Central and East Java. There definitely has been a move towards restriction. In Jakarta you only see the effect of a ban on the sales in the smaller mini marts (Indomaret, Alphamart, Seven Eleven) and the separate sections in the bigger supermarkets. No real changes in the restaurants.