My sympathies, Robin. When I'm in a similar situation, I like to fill a shot glass with water and sip off that, Helps me get that 1 or 2 oz of water an hour down so that it stays down. I have strong dehydration fear.

Bummer about the power, Lee.

Scotch always tastes medicinal to me. I may very well have never had anything that was good, though.

Hi Sean! I sent you an email a day or so ago. You should answer it.

You did? Which email address did you send it to?

throws body between Sean and ita's wholly justified wrath

Hey! The bottle is right here, pristine and untouched! How is a request for proper education from the person most qualified to give it ever appropriate justification for wrath? What kind of talk is that?

(Thanks for the bodily protection, though. That's very kind)

You did? Which email address did you send it to?

Hee. The wrong one. Fixed now.

really good scotch is almost like vodka (the good stuff should have no taste or flavor at all, unless it's added flavor).

Nuh-uh.

Huh. I think I said that very poorly. Every good scotch I've ever had has been full of nummy flavor. But all the really good ones I've had were missing the alcohol bite I associate with lesser quality sample of scotch, and don't associate with good vodka.

Which is all I was trying to say.

And may still be wrong anyway.

Huh. I think I said that very poorly. Every good scotch I've ever had has been full of nummy flavor. But all the really good ones I've had were missing the alcohol bite I associate with lesser quality sample of scotch, and don't associate with good vodka.

Ah. They do have a smoother taste, but if you're not used to hard alcohol at all, there will be a bite and burn to it no matter how esteemed the malt. It read to me like you thought it should have the smooth lack of taste that good vodka is said to have. (I think good vodka is a myth, mind, as even the supposedly good stuff tends to make my brain explode into migraine land too often for comfort.)

I like Appleton Special in my rum and coke. Did your friend say what about it was wrong? In fact, when I need a flavourful rum to mix, Special is my choice (white is for making things alcoholic, and Estate is for drinking straight).

Oh, hell yeah. It's been around for maybe 6 months -- it's not as good as I had hoped, but it has its moments. (Particularly the luchadore named Snow Pea -- he's the one in the middle, who looks like, well, a pea pod -- whose signature move is called "The Cuddly Hug of Friendship," and who can only say his own name, much like Pikachu.)

Even better there used to be a live action luchadore kids show on American TV called Lobo Fuerte. The evil villain mastermind was a cyborg chihuahua. I have one episode on tape (which, curiously, has a Wishverse plot).

I've never run across a hard spirit that I couldn't taste, at base, as alcohol. Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for the makers of various mixers), the base alcohol taste, to me, is what I imagine Windex must taste like. You can distill Windex as long as you like; it still tastes like cleaning fluid.

In this, I am assured I am a Philistine. Anyway, the upshot is, any kind of alcohol neat, even "sweet" stuff like SoCo or rum, is mostly just yucky to me.

Yes, I can admit it -- wine coolers are my friend! You cannot shame me out of my enjoyment of wine coolers!!1!

I did a vodka tasting last year with, oh, probably 8 different good vodkas. Varying somewhat in quality, which was very noticeable. But even among the very best, there were subtle differences in flavor. Which is to say, there was flavor.

Then again, I like the taste of water, so maybe flavorless is just one of those concepts I don't get.

the base alcohol taste, to me, is what I imagine Windex must taste like

You should try Windex. It mightn't help you like hard alcohol, but at least you'll understand the true nasty.