do you drink spirits straight or not?

[Marvin]

Do you water down your malts? Put coke in yer rum? Red Bull in your voddy? Tell us about it in this thread!

[Di Blasi]

I usually drink my single malts straight, but lately have been experimenting with adding a bit of water. I use to not at all, even with high alcohol cask strength whiskies.

[Lawrence]

It all depends on the whisky, some with and some, no water at all.

[Dubois]

Allways straight

[StephenBaird]

almost always drink whisky straight

also vodka and rum are usually straight (sometimes with the addition of ice)

and tonic for the gin

[Reggaeblues]

I'm with Dibiasi - usually drink malts straight, but occasionally add a splash to cask strength drams.

Worst mishap: Before a gig in Kent i asked for a Bowmore with a pint of water on the side. they mixed the two can u believe?!?

I don't business with other spirits! Maybe in a cocktail at a party, but not by choice.

...and gin - yuk!

[Wave]

I'll add a few drops of springwater to a bourbon casked cask strength and sometimes to a sherry casked casked strength if needed. For normal strength whiskies (40 to 50% alc/vol) no water as it's got enough already!

I also drink Vodka straight and Rum with a Diet Pepsi chaser. The only 'mixers' I like is when I pour in copious amounts of Canadian Mist in a tall iced glass of (Diet) Pepsi!


Cheers!

[TreacleSponge]

I’m with Lawrence with the single malts – some with with a wee drop of water, some straight.

For others, it depends entirely on what spirit it is.

I have whisky blends with ginger wine & ice; Brandy straight; Jack Daniels with ice; Cointreau with ice; Gin & tonic no ice; Vodka with bitter lemon or grapefruit juice no ice; Morgans with soda water, lemonade, fresh lime, no ice.

And to diversify from the spirits… In summer after a hot shift at work, I have white wine with soda or else lager with a lemonade top. So I guess I tend to add to almost everything!

[mrt]

I usually drink bourbon and prefer straight, but sometimes I prepare a mix with tonic, cola, etc...And sometimes I take it on the rocks. For all the ways to drink whiskey, there's something to enjoy.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Again mainly straight but as others have attested some high strength whiskys need a dash of water but not all.

The only mixer I use is Tonic in my Gin if I'm having one.

[Drammer]

Straight, you will never see me drink a single malt with anything but maybe a little drop of spring water.

On the other hand, i do ocassionally drink JD with Ruby Port, it sounds ridiculous, but when a mate introduced me to this strange mixture i was hooked. You should all try it, its equal parts of Jack with Ruby Port.

Apart from that, I have a bottle of bacardi white, which i find abslolutely undrinkable so i just put it in my coke to get rid of it.

Another blend i had gotten was MacArthurs, a nasty gnarly vile contraption, which was not even fit to drown in coke, I managed to drink about 1/3 but the remaining crap went down the drain, and it was a litre bottle too.

[maverick]

I drink everything straight. Sure it's happened that I've drank a G&T or even, I'm ashamed to say it, Red Bull & Vodka but it's been a while since.

[Choochoo]

I'll put a drop of water in a single malt now and again. In Bourbon or Rum I'll throw an ice cube or two in, but I also have those straight at times also.

[Ardbeg311]

I rarely will add water to single malt scotch or bourbon. I will always mix something with vodka and gin.

[Reggaeblues]

From Jim Murray:

"Caol Ila Cask Strength...Mysteriously the back label instructs the drinker to drink one part Caol ila for two parts water to "enjoy a single malt cask at its best" (as do Lagavulin with the 12!!)Bizarre. you might as well buy it at 43%.

Take it from me: for best results add one part Caol Ila to one part Caol Ila, and if in doubt add another part Caol Ila..."

Nice one,Jim!

[Scotty Mc]

I drink mine straight. My philosophy is that if it was meant to watered-down/mixed with a mixer then a) the % should be reduced and b) it should be neutral in taste

[TheLaddie]

I add literally a drop or two of water to wake thinks up a bit but not to dilute it. I guess that counts as a vote for straight.

Blends or bourbon I add to a large flushable water receptacle to make room for something decent in the glass

[Deactivated Member]

From Jim Murray:

"Caol Ila Cask Strength...Mysteriously the back label instructs the drinker to drink one part Caol ila for two parts water to "enjoy a single malt cask at its best" (as do Lagavulin with the 12!!)Bizarre. you might as well buy it at 43%.

Take it from me: for best results add one part Caol Ila to one part Caol Ila, and if in doubt add another part Caol Ila..."

Nice one,Jim!

Bobby told us a story about an old gent in an Irish pub who ordered a whiskey.

"And what would you like in your whiskey?" he was asked.

"More whiskey!" he answered.

Whisky pretty much always straight for me--I only equivocate because I never say never. Cask strength? So much the better.

There are other spirits?

[laphroaig10_65]

No water in whiskies under 46%.
Bye
Luca

[Reggaeblues]

Yes,Laphroiag! totally agree...and then add H2O advisedly in anything over 46% ( areally good drinking strength IMO)

But wait, you don't water your 48% Lap.QC do you?

Inspired by Mr. Tattieheid's story, there's another Irish legend that runs something like this:

"Never steal another man's wife and never water another man's whisky!"

[gregralls]

out of the bottle, into the nosing glass & then into my belly - no water, ice, or anything else.

[Marvin]

"Never steal another man's wife and never water another man's whisky!"

And never piss on a Bush when he's on fire.

[Mustardhead]

Mostly I drink my malts straight but sometimes a drop of water. I never dilute them though.

Other spirits take their chances

[peergynt323]

I can't answer this one. I add a little bit of water to cask strength highlanders. I add less water to cask strength Islays and sherried highlanders. I add a few drops to everything else if I can, but not necessary.

[Deactivated Member]

I drink the first one straight. By the fourth or fifth one, I'm pretty loopy.

[Quaichuser]

Single malts--usually straight. A few drops of water in a cask strenght.

Does putting the vermoth bottle next to the gin make it a mixed drink?

Vodka & rum get fruit juice because I need the Vitamin C.

[Admiral]

The need to add a mixer to a spirit probably reflects that the spirit ain't all that nice to begin with.

It's a bit like flooding your cooked steak or food with tomato sauce (that's ketchup to the yanks here) to disguise the poor flavour of the food.

How many distillers start out their day with the objective: "To produce a spirit that tastes so poor that we expect our customers to add coke."?

(Besides Jim Beam or Tullamore Dew )

Cheers,
AD

[shoganai]

It really depends on a few factors for me (the whisky, my mood, etc.) but I usually add a bit of water.

With bourbon sometimes I like to add some bitters, some sugar, an orange wedge and a cherry.

I was recently told by someone that Scotch must be enjoyed over ice. Anything else was unacceptable. He actually became slightly angry that I wouldn't agree with him. When I asked him why, he told me that he had recieved a bottle of Johnny Blue as a gift and that it tasted best over ice. It was one of those situations where you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I can drink decent rum & vodka straight. Although I don't prefer either.

I have another friend who has been trying to turn me onto tequila. I didn't know there was such thing as good tequila. Any advice on how to drink that stuff?[/b]

[vitara7]

single malt straight, preferably at cask strength.

only other sprit i drink is vodka, and thats mixed with diet irn bru....

[Muskrat Portage]

Like the forumers before me; Treacle Sponge; IWC; Lawrence; I dram neat.
I may add a drop or two of water after the first dram to see if the bouquet is affected but otherwise it's the way the Nectar of the Scots is delivered to my whisky lair.
Pete

[Frodo]

I have another friend who has been trying to turn me onto tequila. I didn't know there was such thing as good tequila. Any advice on how to drink that stuff?

Neat - just like good whisky. Most tequila expressions won't be higher than 40% abv so it's less likely to be difficult that way...

[Wave]

After many years of drinking crap tequilas where you needed the salt & lime I'm hesitant in trying a (supposedly) good tequila, the different bottles are cool though!


Cheers!

[Lee]

I have never added anything to a single malt but then again I have had very few cask strength.

[martin grant]

Must confess I always have a wee sip of any malt straight, then add a very little splash of water - cask strength or not.
For a blend it's usually the same, with the exception of Bailie Nicol Jarvie. This is very enjoyable with a splash of water, but also very refreshing with a squeeze of fresh lime, lots of ice and topped up with tonic - your very own BLT - Bailie Lime and Tonic.
Another mix I enjoy and find refreshing is with lots of ice, a really good quality vodka topped up with pomegranate juice. Both these last two drinks are very much summer drinks, and I have always found they are best supped in the garden, with friends as you wait for the barbecue to warm

[Muskrat Portage]

shoganai:
I would recommend that you PM Frodo about Tequila, he seems to have one of the best handles on that beverage that I've read posts from.
Personally, I'm very afraid of it, after an evening of lemons, salt and messing up the sequence in my misspent youth.
Muskrat