New to the World of Liquors
 

Just curious, me and my buddy like to get together on weekends
occasionally, just to talk about whatever the hell it is we feel
like talking about, and of course, drinking. But we're both low
on money, being at college with no jobs, and have had very
little experience drinking, well, just about anything. Neither
of us are into beer or beer type beverages, so I'm wondering,
what are some good hard liquors - but for a reasonably
cheap price, ie, me and him wouldn't want to spend more than
15 bucks a piece (30 total) unless it's really really good and comes
in something bigger than 750 mL.

We both enjoy quite a bit:

Wine (#1 for me), Brandy, Vodka, Bourbon, Rum, Whiskey, and
probably anything else that's much stronger than Beer and tastes
good.

List some of your favs!

mad dog 20/20

night train

ripple

boone hill farms

----

for me... I don't drink cheap anymore...

Jim Beam Black Label

Johnny Walker Blue Label

Jim Beam Green Label

I too am a fan of bourbon. Spiced rum is another favorite.

But the best is *good* beer or wine. Like Cynthetiq, one eventually realizes that life is to short to drink cheap shit.

I just heard of a drink called "A Urine Sample". :blech:

might i suggest a great little Aussie Rum called, Bundy.

its actually called Bundaberg... but being from oz then it must have its name shortened.

Hobo wine!

I don't spend too terrible much on liquor, but I won't do "cheap" (think Early Times, Heaven Hill, King Kobra light...)

These are my brands of choice:
Smirnoff or Absolut Vodka
Jose Quervo Tequila
Bacardi Rum
Jim Beam Bourbon (love that stuff...)
Seagram's Lime Gin
Dekuyper Schnapps (peppermint and peach are good...not together, of course)

Beer, I enjoy Amber Bock and Michelob's Honey Lager.
Wine, I enjoy Sutter Home White Zinfandel or some kind of Merlot, I'm not really sure on brands yet.

I'm very versatile when it comes to liquor.

Wild Turkey all the way, man. Liquid candy.

Absolut
Crested Ten (great Irish whiskey)
Jameson's (nice Irish whiskey)
Tanquery Gin (the best gin money can buy...)
Poitin (illegal Irish "moonshine" - great if you get good stuff; potentially fatal or blinding if you get bad stuff)


Mr Mephisto

an interesting drink i've recently come across is called Hypnotiq the site is a little flash-heavy, but suffice it to say it's a little sweet, but alot tasty. i'm not much of a drinker, but this i like.

well if your lookin for cheap...
everclear... like 95% alcohol... mix it! but its pretty cheap and will last a looooong time... no good for shooting!

McKormiks Vodka less then $15 for a handle... tastes gross... but its super cheap...

as for beer... cant get cheaper then a 40... id say steel reserve high gravity... high alcohol content like 9% but its got pretty limited availability so i usually go for a hurricane...
$2 for 40 oz of beer daaamn cheap!

I’m in a similar situation as you (poor college student).

I usually get a big bottle of Smirnoff Vodka (Blue label preferably - but Red label isn’t bad either). That will run you $23-27

I'm also a huge sucker for Jack Daniels (Black label). You can get a decent sized bottle for $25-30.

Have fun, and remember to drink responsibly! =)

110 Proof Vodka - "The Proof that counts" it's 11 dollars, and 110 proof. It will knock you on your ass, but will give you a nice hangover.

Abslout, Sky, and Smirnoff are all nice vodka's.

Bacardi o3 is good rum.

For around $20 CDN you and your friend can split a 26oz of "Sour Puss." You can barely taste the alcohol - very fruity - and it's easy to slam back. :D

If you're really in need of a cheap fix, go to your local Asian market and get some rice wine vinegar. Albeit disgusting, it's very very cheap and you can mix it up to make it taste better.

I drank Johnny Walker every day for two years.

This past Friday, me and two friends went through an entire handle of Seagrams vodka. That was the drunkest I'd ever been, and the first time I've actually not remembered what happened after a certain point.

I'm a booze snob.

Ketal One. Guinness. Any singel-malt scotch over 12 years old.

You don't have the money for these I'm guessing.

I think mad dog 20/20.(not sure if it is Hard A or not)

Everclear now that will mess you up!!!!!!!!!! LoL..... the good old days. Everclear takes me back to my days of being 16 years old and really cheap, because I did not have that big of a allowance.

Back then I drank mad dog too. lol

I like a drink called puckers it is like drinking a Jolley Rancher, It's so good. I'm not sure if it's a, Hard A drink either but I know it got me drunk.

Decent vodka is good, (usual Russian brands etc) there is a good New Zealand one out called 42 Below, apparently some international vodka connoseurs liked it.

That and tequila (Jose is good, but I'm not picky), are the only spirits I drink.

PS, the voda MUST BE chilled beyond belief, like 6+ hours in the freezer.

I for one cannot stand most any beer, so it ends up costing me more, but anyways.. why drink stuff that taste like shit.

Smirnoff , Jose Cuerro Especial, and Rumple Minze (aka Rumple Mintz) are my top 3 pics to make for a very fun evening.

It has your vodkas, tequilas, and topping it off with a peppermint schnapp.

You will be regretting that combo, but not at the time of consumption :D :)

Aqua Velva is cheap, you get smashed and smell good at the same time!!


I had your problem when I first when off to University. I didn't like beer and found that most hard booze was expensive when I was at a club.

My soloution was to learn to appreciate beer. Do yourself a favour and start with some good beers. Anything from a major brewery is, generally speaking, piss. Find some good micro brews and experiment.

If you are not willing to go that route:

Tequilla - is good

Gin... often seen as a ladies drink but that's just bad marketing. Gin and Tonic or even better the Gimlet (1part gin to one part lime cordial - a classic, flavourful and after a couple it feels like your head has been cleaved by a big lime)

Scotch is good but is expensive when you start getting into quality scotch

Rum... This is good with Coke

Vodka... good with a variety of mixes and on its own. I prefer it freezer chilled. A friend used to stuff his bottle full of hot peppers, stick it in the freezer for a week or so and then consume... fire and ice baby!

jaegermeister

If you want something that tastes good and is pretty cheap, I would recommend picking up a few bottles of schnapps. It comes in a very wide variety of flavors, and around here I can usually find it for about $11-$14 for a 750ml bottle of the better brands, usually less for the cheaper ones.

Another suggestion would be to pick up a variety of "hip flask" style bottles (about 375 ml I think). That way you can try several different things for pretty cheap, and when you find something you like you can get it in larger quantities the next time around.

Beer is the way to go. I am a beer snob and only drink micro brews or beers in the Guiness, Newcastle or Murphy's Irish Stout quality. I went to a small college which had some of Humboldt's finest brews, i.e. Downtown Brown, Red Nectar, 8 Ball Stout and sooooo many more.

However, if you are short on funds, Heineken, Pacifico, Tecate, or Corona is the way to go.

I love to drink and my dorm room currently contains about fifty different bottles of liquor. I'm not rich -- I started with four bottles (vodka, triple sec, peach schnapps, midori), sold drinks for $2 to $4 each, and reinvested all profit into more liquor. Never in this process did I purchase liquor sold in plastic bottles.

My favorites:

Grand Marnier (You might not be able to get this under $30)
Cherry Heering
Havana Club Anejo Rum (not available in US)
Pirassunga 51 Cachaca
Campari
Dubonnet
Maker's Mark Bourbon
Calvados
Cointreau
Bombay Sapphire Gin
Bailey's
Alize (any color)
Chimay Blue Label
Pacifico

Somebody else said it: Everclear: 99 percent grain alcohol. In states where pure grain alcohol can't be sold, 75 percent Everclear is available.

Mix Everclear with purple Welch's grape juice and you get a drink called a Purple Jesus, which at one time was much beloved by chemistry majors. Sweet, cheap, and it'll take off the top of your head. What more could an undergrad want?

It was actually called a Screaming Purple Jesus when used with 198 proof.

I suggest you decide if you want to drink to get drunk, or drink to enjoy the taste of alcohol. I prefer a good vodka and tonic, and for me Absolut works very well. I personally think Smirnoff tastes like distilled ass, but everybody is different.

I suggest getting sampler bottles and deciding what you'd like. Talk with the liquor dealer as well; they can give you a hand in figuring out what's good for what price. Stoly (Stolychnaya) is also good, and is $20 a handle I believe.

Jack's great for whisky.

Actually, Screaming Purple Jesus is Purple Jesus with liquid LSD, or so I've been told.

For Cheap yet palatable liquor, for the most part, you get what you pay for. Really good beer is not much of a step down in price. Do not drink cheap scotch, unless you're into self abuse.

Handles of Jim Beam white are plenty cheap ($15 or $16 on sale), mix well, and aren't disgusting straight.

Two Fingers Tequila is your best bang for the buck. It's comparable to Cuervo for taste, perhaps even a bit smoother, and, because it's an off brand, it's about $5 a bottle less.

Vodka is vodka. If you're drinking it straight, spring for Absolut, Stolichnaya, or Finlandia, but don't get suckered into paying an extra 10 bucks for a pretty bottle. Smirnoff, Popov, Luksosawa (real Polish 'tater vodka), Wyborowya, are all perfectly good for mixing.

I'm not a big fan of gin, and you definitely get what you pay for.

Blended whiskey: I have almost no use for. Jim Beam 5 Star is perfectly acceptable and dirt cheap. I have a friend who swears by Jim Beam Rye.

Don't waste you money on schnapps if money is a concern.

my 2¢. Skaal!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of good cheap wine - You can get magnums for under $12 of Concha y Toro, Lindeman's Cawarra, Bin 50 shiraz or Bin 45 cabernet, or Glenn Ellen. Clos du Bois (little pricier and small bottle), La Crema, Ruffino chiantis - all yummy.
I think for mixing, Smirnoff is fine as is Jack Daniels.
Have fun and don't drink and drive ;)

Liquor that is cheap but has an undeservedly bad reputation in my opinion:

Old Crow Whiskey (or Old Dirty Crow as we call it)
Nikoli Vodka

-Lynchburg Lemonade

-shot of Rumple Minze if ya like the minty taste

-Duck Farts (Kaluha, Irish Creme, Vodka)

-Appletini (like a Martini, but with Sour Apple Pucker)

-Amaretto Sour

-Daquiris (any flavour, preferably double-shot)

-My special-request drink:
"The Power Pucker"
in highball glass:
1 shot sour apple pucker
1 shot vodka
1 shot Triple Sec
Splash of Sweet & Sour
Splash of Cranberry juice

absinthe

Thanks for all the help, hopefully we'll find something good for
whenever we get together for one of our last three weekends
here on campus before summer.

You have a lifetime to explore the bottles behind the bar, so it is good that you are curious. Over time your taste will become more and more refined. Some people find one drink and stay with it. Some move from one drink to the next gradually as they age. Some have a variety of drinks they enjoy in different circumstances.

I love to try new beers given the chance and a simple cold one is great at certain times. I love to have a glass or two of wine with a nice meal. I rarely have wine otherwise.

I need a margarita two or three times a year, but I find that is enough tequila. However, I have never been known to turn down "body shots"

Try a glass of port periodically late at night after a good meal. There are some good ones for not to much money.

All that being said, I choose whiskeys from Scotland or Ireland most of the time. Single malts are trendy and many are very good, but if you are trying to develop your taste, I would recomend sticking to the moderately priced blends. The cheap ones are only good for cleaning and the expensive ones are good, but best saved for after college. I like JW Black, but it is a bit pricey. If you are on a budget (and who isn't) Jameson is a GREAT choice. It is affordable and very drinkable. Bushmills Black may be the smoothest Irish out there, but it costs a little more and has a smokey flavor more reminiscent of Scotch which is the only whiskey that actually comes into contact with smoke in the manufacturing process.

When you have whiskey, always add at least a splash of water. It rounds out and brings out the flavor. It does not take much to accomplish this. Ice will do the same thing and I usually use ice and a splash. I add a lot more water when I want a lighter drink and have access only to an inferior whiskey.

Argh, Ketel 1? That dutch dark brown ooze? Been there, ick.

I mostly go for the good, expensive stuff instead of hangover heaven.
For vodka, go Stolichnaya.
For gin, Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray.
For whiskey, single malt only (blended is for girly-drinks and pussies and Canadian Club is a whiskey liqueur, not a whiskey.)
For tequila, ask somebody else. Can't stand the stuff, although I onle tasted some $70-a-bottle tequila which was alright.
For rum, Havana Club, at least 7 years old. The brown one for shots, the white one for drinks and cocktails.
You can't go wrong with any of these, they're some of the best brands out there, and they all taste good by themselves, or with a mixer. Try vodka, ginger ale and lime cordial. Anybody can drink it, it's fresh, tastes good and makes your breath smell good ;)

Jack D and Capn Morgan Special Stock only things I drink on most occasions

Being a Scotch drinker, and nothing UNDER 12 years old--ever--being consumed by me, I'm going to warn you ahead of time that it's an acquired taste--extremely acquired.

Sotch--drink of choice for ~80% of America's diagnosed alcoholics! Drink up!

My goto drink has always been Capt. Morgans and Coke w/ lime at a bar or w/o at home cause im too lazy to cut them. Its good stuff and reasonably cheap (the 1.75 is $20 something i think and you can usually find it on sale)

As far as tequila goes the Mexicans at work finally convinced me that the reason I didn't like it was because i was drinking Cuervo. I tried Patron and love it. They also recommended Sauza but i think both of those are more pricey than the Cuervo.

As some others have said your basic Jim Beam white lable is great with coke and not gonna break the bank.

Southern Comfort is also good with coke although its a little sweet for me so I only drink it once in a while when I'm in the mood for something different.

In the Gin catagory the only one I've tried that I like is Bombay Sapphire and that stuff I love. Mix it with some tonic and lime and your good to go.

Oh and I agree with Greytone. If your gonna drink whiskey straight go with the splash of water. You'll be amazed how that little bit of water brings out the flavor.

I'm also a booze snob, but in the day, you could do wonders with a bottle Everclear and a watermellon, or a bottle of cheap brandy, a jar of cherries and a month or so.

Make your own wine!

A kit consisting of primary fermenter, glass carboy, hydrometer, stir spoon and thermometer run less than $40.

Buy your wine kits from Costco. $$50-$60 (CDN) for two kits (enough to make 60 750 ml bottles. These kits come with corks, tubes and labels. Borrow the corker and filter from the store when you want to bottle.

Make 2 kits a month. After two months, you can start drinking your first batch. It'll end up costing $1 a bottle.

Up here in Canada you can go to a place that'll let you make the wine there, but it'll cost you $80-$100 a batch (30 bottles). I never did that but a lot of my friends did. I prefer to make my own. The hardest part is cleaning the bottles.