Bottom shelf liquor worth the buy? Top shelf?

[myrdale]

I seldom drink. If I'm out with friends, we will knock out a pitcher or two of whatever is on tap, beer wise. At home I may have a 6 pack sitting in my refrigerator for a month or two before I finally get to it.

As for liquor, once a year or so I might pickup a small bottle of Jager.

My mother's father was an alcoholic. My father was arguably a functioning alcoholic (had two or three beers every day) and despite my genetic testing showing i am at 52% risk, I still suspect it played a roll in his cancer.

There were a couple of girls who use to go ghost hunting with us. Their drinking was so bad, it got to the point we told them they had to show up sober or not at all.

My idiot neighbor has drinking issues, and landed a DUI a couple of months ago.

On my own personal budget, I do have a column listed as "Bar". If there is $50 in a month's span, it's rare.

Sorry if I am the downer on this one. Occasionally celebrating a good time is one thing. Working it into your weekly budget is something else altogether. Just be careful.

[bjl584]

I can't tell the difference when mixed, but I don't drink liquor too much.
I stick more to beers.

[disneysteve]

Sorry if I am the downer on this one. Occasionally celebrating a good time is one thing. Working it into your weekly budget is something else altogether. Just be careful.

We belong to a few whiskey groups. I'm shocked by what some people post both about their purchases and their consumption. Someone will post, "Stopped at XYZ Liquor store and found a few good bottles" along with a photo showing 7 or 8 or 10 bottles of bourbon. And I know they are buying regularly, so it's not like this is their once a year stock up trip. The bottles pictured are all in the $50-150 range so you're talking some big bucks. As for drinking, there was a conversation a week or two ago and more than one person said they'll have 3 or 4 pours at night, and those pours may be 2-4 ounces each. I can't imagine drinking 16 oz of whiskey in one sitting. Like I said, maybe 2 or 3 times a week, and often less than that, I'll have 1.5-2 ounces. We went to a private barrel selection tasting last week where we sampled 8-10 options. That was the most I've had at once in a long time and that was maybe 5 ounces total.

[disneysteve]

I can't tell the difference when mixed, but I don't drink liquor too much.

Depends if it's a mixer-forward drink or a spirits-forward drink. When the drink is mostly mixer, like bourbon and Coke, you can get away with almost anything half decent. When the drink is all or mostly liquor, it matters a lot.

[Fishindude77]

This thread has really derailed.
Started out as an inquiry regarding cost -vs- value for various liquors and has turned in to a lecture on over consumption and other things you could be doing with your money.

[ua_guy]

You must be new here.

Those medical guidelines for what constitutes "moderate" drinking are quite sobering though, aren't they?

[myrdale]

This thread has really derailed.
Started out as an inquiry regarding cost -vs- value for various liquors and has turned in to a lecture on over consumption and other things you could be doing with your money.

Discussing if it is better to buy top shelf or bottom shelf liquor specifically, it is all a matter of taste and what you can afford. It is the equivalent of "Starbucks or home brew".

[QuarterMillionMan]

In 1 week's time I will go through 4 Andre $5.99 each 750 ml bottles mixed with 1 Barefoot Bubbly 1.5 L bottle $8.99 each in order to make a concoction of cold duck champagne to drink with my dinner. In lieu of the Andres if my store has Cooks 1.5 L bottles at $11.99 each bottle, I would get 2 of the Cooks instead of 4 of the Andres. To me this is moderate drinking and not problematic, yet.

[disneysteve]

In 1 week's time I will go through 4 Andre $5.99 each 750 ml bottles mixed with 1 Barefoot Bubbly 1.5 L bottle $8.99

To me this is moderate drinking and not problematic, yet.

Thats 6 bottles of wine per week. You also mentioned a 12-pack of beer weekly. That is definitely not moderate drinking. As for it not being problematic, the issue is that once it becomes problematic it’s too late to do much of anything about it short of a liver transplant. The damage isn’t reversible. And there are lots of other issues besides the liver damage.

[QuarterMillionMan]

It’s either or and not combined. So 1 week it’s champagne & wine, the following week it’s Heinekens and Smirnoff. But yes my liver is my greatest concern. I really need to cut down or quit like ua_guy.

[disneysteve]

It’s either or and not combined. So 1 week it’s champagne & wine, the following week it’s Heinekens and Smirnoff. But yes my liver is my greatest concern. I really need to cut down or quit like ua_guy.

Dr. Steve agrees. Even 6 bottles of wine per week puts you well into the heavy drinking category. Do your future self a big favor and cut down now.

[myrdale]

I really need to cut down or quit like ua_guy.

I have a coworker who is a recovering alcoholic. He has been sober for nearly 20 years now. To quote him "One is too many and twenty is not enough."

A couple drinks a week seems reasonable. A liter a day feels excessive.

Honestly if it were me, I'd consider cutting back to a couple times a week, and then start experimenting the the shelf above the top shelf.

[ua_guy]

It’s either or and not combined. So 1 week it’s champagne & wine, the following week it’s Heinekens and Smirnoff. But yes my liver is my greatest concern. I really need to cut down or quit like ua_guy.

My cessation was triggered by a panic attack, first ever, at 40 years old. Alcohol didn't cause it, some crazy and acutely stressful life events did. Subsequently setting aside alcohol for a little while was recommended by my doctor, just to help in the aftermath of the episode. He suggested cutting back in general. My intake basically matched yours, and that categorized me as a "heavy drinker". And that's not who I wanted to be anyway.

The decision stuck, and I still don't know if I intend to quit forever. I figured I'd ride it for as long as it was bringing good things, and it has been. That was last Spring.

The cost savings are inconsequential. The motivation to confront certain situations head-on without alcohol, and to find better cures for boredom... Those things have paid off, though. The downside? Lots of people assume you had some kind of problem.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I will admit in the beginning of covid (during the lockdown) I had a very heavy drinking consumption. I never had before, i was maybe a glass a day of wine, during the first 3 months of covid when we literally sat on the street with our neighbors outside from 4 pm, all i did was drink. I drank a bottle of wine I believe. I know my DH had a flat which is 24 beers in a week. We were literally doing nothing but work, help the kids and stay outside from 4-7 drinking with neighbors, then we went inside and drank while we ate dinner with the kids and went to bed. By the end of the summer i gave that up when the weather turned thankfully and never went back. But yes it was very easy to down and not feel it when you are consuming say 4 - 5 glasses of wine (bottle) from 4-11 pm. It's how you drink 4 beers a day without feeling any effects either.

And DH likes craft beers. He has not been able to give it up but he also has scaled back since then to 1 a day, but that's been a 20 year habit of a beer with dinner. Until covid we'd never had time before to indulge so heavily and even now it's not every day since we're out with kids again and doing stuff that we don't necessarily have it every day. But i certainly noticed the bills from that period and thinking woah.

Now I'm likely to have a cocktail on the weekends when we go out and i like top shelf. I like sometimes straight and I do not like cheap vodka or whisky. Vodka is my preferred choice and DH likes whiskey straight and mixed. I don't really like wine anymore, but I'll have a glass at someone else's house. After visiting peru we enjoy Pisco Sours and have a bottle to make it but we have yet to open the bottle.I

I will say that having a drink when out which i tend to do more is very pricey but it does keep how much I drink in check. Much like ice cream. We don't eat ice cream except when out so yes it's like $20 for us four to go to ice cream. But we've had it once this summer so....I would say that balances out use buying say 4 half gallons and eating that much ice cream once. Or ate least that's what I tell myself.

QMM I think my DH is probably on the similar consumption, 6-12 beers a week. A beer a night or skip a weeknight to have two on the weekend. Definitely if we go out he's a beer with dinner guy. He's also a meat and beer guy with all his smoking of meat and sitting there with his beer. It's a hawaii thing for sure. he definitely drinks too much in hawaii with my uncles and the grill. Even my dad liked to have a beer a night if he wasn't on call or a shot or two of sake or whisky. My mom I recall used to drink a lot of gin and tonics.