Well it had to be done. For the seasoned purveyors of a casual beer, wine or whisky, it would be unfathomable to comprehend that there are some people out there who actually don’t like drinking as much as the social aspect of it.
Come child. We’re your shoulder to cry on. Just kidding. Get your own damn shoulder. This is what you should be drinking if you don’t like drinking – whether that be because of its taste, your social insecurities or just because Jesus told you not to.
Helping us out with this hit list of cool and masculine drinks for those who don’t like drinking is Cameron Northway of Sweet&Chilli, a specialist drinks agency based in Sydney. These guys and girls know their booze palate better than you know your way around a bottleshop, so pay attention.
Beer
Kolsch
Taste: An easy drinking top-fermented ale, with a bright, straw-like colour. Lightly fruity with bready notes, clean and fresh with a gentle hop bitterness.
Lager
Taste: The most popular beer style in the world, lager generally has a golden, straw-yellow hue and is clean, crisp, lightly malty, fresh tasting, with a mild bitter finish. Peroni, Kirin and Stella Artois are are great places to start.
Cocktails
Boilermaker
Taste: Rich spice that softens with hints of barley and malt welcoming a light fizz
Recipe: Use your favourite whisky (not the expensive stuff) as a chaser to your beer. Some freaks bomb the shot into the beer but be warned, it won’t make for a great tasting drink.
- 1 shot of whisky
- 1 beer
Negroni
Taste: Bittersweet with hints of citrus and rich pine
Recipe: Mix together in ice and then strain over fresh ice. Garnish mix with orange peel.
- 30ml gin
- 30ml vermouth
- 30ml Campari
Old Fashioned
Taste: Robust with hints of oak, vanilla and spiced honey
Recipe: Mix and serve with orange peel twist.
- 45ml bourbon
- 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- Splash of water
- Ice
Martini
Taste: Clean and crisp with hints spice and floral notes
Recipe: Mix in glass with ice cubes, stir to dilute accordingly and strain into chilled Martini glass.
- 75ml dry gin
- 15ml dry vermouth
- Bitters or orange bitters
- Garnish with lemon twist or olive
Whisky Sour
Taste: Ripe stone fruit with hints of citrus and vanilla
Recipe: Mix all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and dry shake, garnish with slice of orange.
- 60ml whisky
- 30ml lemon juice
- 15ml sugar syrup
- Half an egg white
- Slice of orange to garnish
Mint Julep
Taste: Robust with hints of stone fruit, mint and spice served over crushed ice
Recipe: Place mint leaves at bottom of glass and crush with sugar. Add crushed ice, pour bourbon in, stir until glass frosts, add more crushed ice. Garnish with small mint leaf.
- 90ml bourbon
- 5 – 6 mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon of sugar or sugar syrup
Wine
Chardonnay
Taste: Pale straw to gold in colour typically displays notes of melon, grapefruit and toasty oak, with a buttery mouthfeel and drying acidity.
Tempranillo
Taste: A medium to full-bodied red wine with warm red fruit flavours and gentle spice.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Taste: A medium to full bodied red that displays flavours of black/bramble fruits but with a savoury/herbaceous note and a drying tannic finish.
Mocktail
Virgin Mary
Taste: Savoury with hints of ripe tomato and citrus that build to warming spice
Recipe: Blend everything for 30 seconds except the celery stalk. Salt the rim of the glass.
- 350ml chilled tomato juice
- 1 pinch of celery salt
- 2 pinches of white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh horseradish sauce
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1/4 cup onion finely minced
- 1 small celery stalk, leaves on
Whisky
Single Malt Whisky On The Rocks
Taste: Single malt widely varies in flavour from cut grass, vanilla, honey, toffee, citrus, pear drops and orchard fruits through to savoury, smoky, spicy, salty, meaty and earthy notes.