Your Favorite Shots... Drinks...

I like a Bloody Mary - vodka, tomato juice, worcester sauce, tabasco, stick of celery. It tastes like cold soup. You either love it or hate it. It's damn good for hangovers as well.

Long Vodka - vodka, lime, lemonade, Angusturas bitters (dash)

The long vodka sounds like a great summer cooler.

Yeah, Cav. It's one of those drinks that goes down so easily it's almost obscene. I'm a bit of a shandy-belly when it comes to beer (5 imperial pints is my usual limit), but can get through most of a bottle of vodka over an evening drinking it Long. The only downer is how hard it is find Angusturas Bitters in the shops!

Try the West Indian shops.

To me there is a constant question that always puzzle me: WHAT makes so many people love drinks?
Is that well-tasted? Or make you more healthy? Or just want to follow the fashion? Or people are just forced to do so? Or maybe i am to young and at the certain age i will like it naturally?
Sorry, maybe today i will irritate some guys
But i am just curious.

Some drinks taste good, some do not. Like any drug, alcohol makes you happy, in moderation. Some drinks, in moderation, can make you healthier, like red wine, which contains antioxidants, good for the heart. If you never have the desire to take up drinking, John-Bush, don't. In excess, it is the cause of many problems.

I didn't realise it was from the West Indies. I'll have to go to Leeds 'cos the only black people in York are the street theatre guys playing the drums and dancing. As much as I like York, it's about as ethnically diverse as your average KKK meeting.

Another drink I like (but is usually prohibitively expensive to drink more than 1) was one we invented at university: The Skanky Di (don't ask) - Malibu (coconut liqueur), Amaretto (almond liqueur) and lemonade.

Right...Scary Spice is from Leeds. My wife's family is from Trinidad, so that's how I know where to find it. Even here, it's not sold everywhere. You should come to Toronto some day. It's a revelation in terms of diversity in a relatively small space.

I know 2 people (Brits) who've emmigrated to Canada in the last year, one to Toronto to become a film-maker, and the other to somewhere in the middle (near where the winter olympics were a few years back?) to become a football (soccer) coach. They both love it and would never move back to Blighty.

Another drink: Pimms & lemonade. Sometimes seen here as a 'posh person's drink', but tasty nonetheless.

I commit that alcohol is a real magical thing.
ALL the nations on this planet have the history of it.
the strength of culture!

John - What sort of drinks are popular in China?

Before John answers, I can say from personal experience, avoid the 3-snake wine.

Actually, this is a cool link: http://www.jerryhopkins.com/stories/exoticwine.html

Sounds interesting. I've eaten stuff like snails, frogs legs and tripe, but never tried any really exotic drinks. I think I might have to make a start!

Mmm...I love tripe. Once, for a live cooking demo at a food show, I did a little hors d'oeuvre of Chardonnay-braised tripe with Savoy cabbage on rye flour scones topped with shaved white truffle and parmesan. People were hesitant at first, but even the tripe haters loved it. Musta been the white truffles...

I had to make do with having it in the traditional way - with milk & onions. Weird, but I would have it again. Your way sounds alot tastier!

I also have at least two great Italian recipes for tripe, in green and red. 'Tripa Verde', very traditional, and Paul Bertolli's recipe which includes tomatoes.

cav, I just looked at that website, it's really interesting. Brings up some interesting questions about wine 'snobs' and how long it will take for it to become fashionable in the West.

A lot of it sounds quite revolting, but it's amazing what some of the ingredients are. In Fortnum and Mason in London, they sell peppermint lollipops with ants and scorpions in, and dried tree ants (I think - they have massive bodies) in packets. Also edible pearls for decoration.