Eckroate: Upgrade your alcohol and upgrade your lifestyle

I declared the rash statement after my first few sips of beer that I hated it. Not just the beer I was drinking, but all beers, because I was sure that each of them would taste equally strange. I decided that I hated liquor when I first smelled it at parties. How would I ever like vodka when it smells like nail polish remover? These generalizations most likely occurred because I was dealing with the stuff of the absolute worst quality possible.

Of course, as college students, we can’t really afford to buy top-shelf alcohol. When a liter of Vladimir Vodka costs less than $8 and just 375 milliliters of Belvedere costs an estimated $17, you begin to question your priorities and do some math to find out just how much each drink is worth.

It’s time to abandon the plastic bottles of liquor and move up to something just a bit classier. Sure, when you’re having a sizable party, you have no interest in spending huge sums of money, especially if you’re making a vat of jungle juice for 50 of your “closest” Facebook friends and whomever they choose to bring. But when you and your real friends are the ones consuming the alcohol, consider going up a shelf.

A bottle of Absolut costs $13. Of course, you’re getting less in terms of quantity than you would with the dreaded “Vlad,” but have you ever heard of someone who enjoys drinking Vlad? I certainly have not. Absolut is a much smoother vodka without Vlad’s horrifying smell, which reminds you of something out of a chemistry lab. A more enjoyable experience is worth the extra money.

Chances are that everyone’s first beer was a cheap one. Perhaps it was from a frat party and had a stale carbonated taste. Perhaps it was just a bunch of foam from a keg someone had pumped a few too many times. If this is the beer you’re using as a base for your judgment of the beverage as a whole, think again.

I understand that many people do not like the hoppy taste of some beers. The key word here is “some.” There are plenty of beer options for those who are not particularly keen on the unusual and otherwise unfamiliar taste of hops.

There is always the light version, which seems to go down easier, but those might become boring pretty quickly. For those who want to drink something sweet and minimally alcoholic tasting, there is a plethora of varieties that have a mostly fruit-based flavor. An example of this is the Leinenkugel Berry Weiss, which is flavored enough to have a reddish-pink color to it. Leinenkugel also offers its Summer Shandy, with a taste akin to lemonade and a hint of beer.

In my experience, I learned to enjoy beer beginning with Blue Moon because of the often-included orange garnish, which emphasizes the spices in the ale itself. At first, “garnish” for me meant several large slices of orange, but I was able to tone down the citrus infiltration over time. The drink then became my go-to order, and I was willing to try other beers, recommended for their similar taste.

Just don’t move up to something like a Guinness until you’re sure you’re ready.

By choosing better quality beverages overall, young people like us are often discouraged to drink in excess simply because we cannot afford to upgrade from the well drinks with the intentions of heavy consumption. When you purchase alcohol for the sake of enjoying the taste of the beverage itself, the experience is entirely different.

Furthermore, it helps to be familiar with beers and liquors of a higher quality for when you’re outside the bubble of Oakland bars. You don’t expect to see a case of Natty at any cookout or dinner party in your future, do you? No, but you can imagine that there will be some imported beers, rather than the standard domestic ones we’re used to seeing our peers carry in large quantities down Bates Street.

But by all means, make sure you acquire your classy tastes for alcohol in a polite manner. If you are offered a Yuengling at a party but are used to nothing less than a fancy imported Belgian beer, be kind if you must refuse the drink. Nobody wants to hear about how you don’t drink anything brewed in Pennsylvania.

Since drinking is, legally speaking, an activity reserved for adults, it’s time we start broadening our horizons in terms of the booze we choose. When you have the opportunity to try something new, and perhaps a bit fancier than what you would normally drink, go for it. It might be pricier to partake in this now, but a better-tasting beverage is worth the price in the end.

Write Claire at cve3@pitt.edu.