How to drink like a pro
Which cocktails are attributed to the Royal Navy of England?
The Royal Navy of England is credited with the invention of both Gin and Tonic as well as Pink Gin. The reason for this is that these drinks were created as a way to make the English sailors more resistant to malaria.
Gin and Tonic was created by adding quinine to gin which made it more palatable and thus easier for sailors to drink.
Pink Gin on the other hand was created by adding a dash of Angostura bitters to gin, the dark red bitter turned the whole drink pink. This concoction was supposed to cure sea sickness.
Gin and Tonic though, is generally attributed to the Colonial Armed Forces of England in general, not just the Navy.
Lying on the grass is not good when you lie on it unconsciousThere is no endless pit
We all have that friend who can knock back a few beers without becoming a slurring, stumbling mess. The secret? Knowing how to drink like a pro, says Tommy Tomlinson, author of the book How to Drink Like a Billionaire. "The first step to drinking better is realizing that you are not a professional".
Drink and make merry vs Drink to appreciate
When we think of drinking, we often think of drunken nights out or parties. But theres another side to drinking: the art of appreciating fine wines, whiskies and other spirits. This is a craft that takes years to master, and can be the difference between simply getting drunk and having a truly great drinking experience. The best way to learn is to get expert tutelage from people who have dedicated their lives to the subject, and the best way to do that is to go on whiskey tastings and wine tastings.
Binge Drinking Ends Lives
Know your BoozeThere are ways to handle a drink and not get drunk
Have you ever looked at someone and wondered how they can drink so much without getting drunk? Or perhaps youve watched a pro down cocktails like its water, wondering how they can do it. Well, the truth is that theres a skill to drinking, and its one that anyone can learn. All you need is the right techniques, and you can learn to drink like a pro.
Drinking for the urge of it or drinking to get drunk? You are a rookie
When it comes to drinking, most of us are amateurs. We drink when were thirsty, in whatever quantity is available. We dont really think about how much were drinking or when. We dont analyse the flavour, or savour the sensation, or consider the effect on our bodies.
Theres an art to drinking. It takes years of practice to become a professional drinker. But with the right training, anyone can learn to drink like a pro. All it takes is a little bit of know-how.
Dont drink for the urge of it or to boast
Steps to better drinking
The first step to drinking better is realizing that you are not a professional. The second step is to learn from experts. The best way to do that is to go on whiskey tastings and wine tastings. When you go on a tasting, the expert will teach you about the different types of whiskies, the different varieties of wine, and the different types of cocktails. Learn the art of appreciating fine wines, whiskies and other spirits. This is a craft that takes years to master, and can be the difference between simply getting drunk and having a truly great drinking experience.
Blackouts and Hangovers, the curses that can ruin the experience
If youre like most people, you probably drink to have fun. But when you have a few too many, you wake up feeling like your head is going to explode. Thats not fun. The next time you feel the need to drink too much, try these tips to drink responsibly and still have a blast. That is, if you are not a college kid who enjoys a blackout, but should not, since blackouts do affect the brain.
When it comes to drinking, theres a lot of mystery and misconception about what constitutes a good drink, how much is too much, and what the best way to drink is. The truth is, theres no one drinking style thats better than another”it all comes down to personal preference and the kind of drink youre drinking. Generally speaking, the more complex the drink, the higher the alcohol content, and the longer you drink it, the more likely you are to get a hangover the next day. But that doesnt mean you cant still enjoy a great drink without getting a hangover, it just requires a little more planning and forethought.
The basic rules to come out unscathed of a probable evening of binge drinking
1. First and foremost, dont drink on an empty stomach, eat something before and in-between your drinks. Eating before and during an alcoholic drink can help you avoid the unpleasant effects of alcohol. Food keeps the alcohol from entering your blood stream, since the liver has to process the food too, and slows the rate at which the alcohol is absorbed into the body, which means you'd need more alcohol to feel intoxicated (and have a hangover the next day)
2. Avoid the fizz, Soda or aerated water can cause a hangover because it contains carbon dioxide, which can cause the blood vessels to expand, this causes increased blood flow to the brain, which can cause headaches and nausea. Most carbonated beverages contain sugar too, which can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels.
3. Avoid sugar, although most recent studies show that mixing sugar and alcohol tends to attenuate the rate of absorption of alcohol into the blood stream, the delayed absorption usually leads to more drinking and more sugar intake than recommended. This sudden increase in sugar intake induces a blood sugar spike, which in turn can induce the dreaded œsugar hangover along with the alcohol hangover and make things worse.
4. Avoid œdiet versions of cola drinks too, since research indicates that drinking alcohol with diet cola results in higher BrAC (Breath Alcohol Content) and although this doesnt have any different effect on impairment of senses, and you are as drunk as you are with a regular augurated beverage, you are more likely to fail a driving fitness Breathalyser test.
5. Try eating a stick of butter or Greek yogurt before you go out drinking and partying. Butter and Greek Yogurt tend to line your stomach and delay alcohol absorption, while also providing you with the necessary micro nutrients to replenish your body and prevent a bad hangover.
6. The next thing you should do is drink plenty of water between drinks. This will help prevent an embarrassing drunken stupor and also helps keep you hydrated, which reduces the urge to grab another drink. One glass of water for each beer, one glass of water for each cocktail, and so on. This not only keeps you hydrated, it keeps you full and reduces the urge to grab another drink.
7. Now that you have mastered the delay inducing methods of prevention of binge drinking. It's time to graduate to the next level. This requires more consciousness, since now you practice pacing your drinks without drinking water or trying to delay absorption by using tricks shown above. You simply hand on to your glass without emptying in a flash, you now are a master of alcoholic nirvana, you can sip and enjoy and you are in no hurry, no one is going to snatch your glass.
Avoid Binge Drinking at any cost
Drinking responsibly should be the goal of any college student (although most will vouch for drinking irresponsibly), but it can be difficult to manage when youre faced with the temptation of binge drinking. With the right strategies, you can still get your drink on while maintaining good health and avoiding the negative consequences of over-drinking. The goal of this guide is to provide you with the knowledge and skills to drink responsibly in college.
Develop a test for liquors like a single malt
The first step to drinking like a pro is to stop trying to drink less. Instead, learn to drink your liquor instead of mixing it with soda or water. This will teach you to pace yourself, which is the key to being able to drink alcohol without getting drunk. It will also help you build up a tolerance to alcohol which will make you less likely to black out.
If you are a cocktail lover, think like Bond, James Bond. Go for cleaner and fresher cocktails and once again, avoid cocktails with sugar and too many coloured ingredients. Congeners are the major source of hangover.
Not an easy art to master, especially if you do not like the taste of liquor, but this is important for this means learning how to pace your drinks without drinking water, using tricks like the mouth guard to delay absorption, and avoiding the classic binge drinking methods. This will help you avoid the awful hangover and keep you from going too far when you are craving a drink. This will also help you limit the amount of binge drinking in your life.
Know your body and what suits you
The second step to drinking like a pro is to learn how your body responds to different drinks. The most obvious way to do this is to drink a lot of alcohol, which will make you feel intoxicated. But this only tells you half the story. The other half is to learn how your body responds to alcohol, so that you can predict when youre going to get a buzz and when youre going to feel sober again.
Master cocktails, the evolution and history
The third and final step is to become an expert, we have discussed wine and whisky tasting as part of the training, what we didn't mention is the art of cocktail mixing, the history and the cultural roots of cocktails. Read, understand and ask to learn more about cocktails and how they evolved. The more you understand, the better you behave like a Pro and also the better you know the cocktails, the easier would it be for you to assess how many of them or which one of them would suit you tonight.
There are no fixed rules - it finally is on you
Finally, we have written much already but there are no fixed rules, the trick is. To be wise and learn about health and psychological implications of drinking too much, learn about the social implications of being an alcoholic, and then understand that you can still enjoy your drink without being knocked off the floor every time you drink. And, there is more to getting drunk in a drink.
Trending Recipes
Good Reads
Any Glass
When there is no specific glass suggested for a cocktail, it's up to you to chose a glass.
Either you just go ahead and serve using any glass available to you following these simple rules
A. Go for Tall or Collins Glasses, Highball Glasses or even Hurricane Glasses for cocktails with loads of non-alcoholic mixes, and those that require crushed or cubed ices,
B. But if your cocktail is aromatic and liqueur based, and has a complex character that must reach the nose use a wide mouthed Cocktail Glass.
C. Red Wine Glasses for cocktails that have a Red Wine as the base spirit. Red Wine Glasses have a wider mouth and a long stem, so that the wine can be swirled an aerated to release the aroma while the long stem keeps the fingers away and avoid quick warming of the wine.
D. White Wine Glasses for cocktails with a White Wine base, since White Wines must not be aerated as much as a Red Wines, since they oxidise fast when in contact with air, White Wine glassware, in contrast to the wide mouthed bowl of a Red Wine Glassware, is narrow with a narrow mouth. A White Wine has much lighter and delicate notes and the narrow mouth and less surface area in contact with air helps retain the aroma.
E. If your cocktail is based on a Sparkling Wine like Champagne then a Flute Glass is more suitable since a Sparkling Wine is a White Wine with a secondary fermentation that produces the bubbles, and the narrow mouth flute prevents the bubbles from escaping.
F. If it's winter and you are in the mood for some hot cocktails like the Irish Coffee or Hot Toddy, go for the Irish Coffee Glass, it has a heat resistant glass and a handle.
G. Martini Glasses for Martinis or "Tinis" in general, but since these glasses have fallen off of favour these days, a Cocktail Glass will be good too.
H. IF you are serving Margaritas, don't look for Margarita Glass if you don't have one at home, Double Old Fashioned Glass or other glasses are more common these days, for serving Margaritas.
I. If you are the adventurous one, and are serving shots or shooters, of course the Shot Glass is your choice of glass,
J. Finally, if you are going all out and serving depth charges and car bomb shots, all you need is a Double Old Fashioned Glass or a Beer Mug for the beer and a shot glass to drop the bomb in.Simple Guide to Cocktail Glassware
When there is no specific glass suggested for a cocktail, it's up to you to chose a glass.
Either you just go ahead and serve using any glass available to you following these simple rules
A. Go for Tall or Collins Glasses, Highball Glasses or even Hurricane Glasses for cocktails with loads of non-alcoholic mixes, and those that require crushed or cubed ices,
B. But if your cocktail is aromatic and liqueur based, and has a complex character that must reach the nose use a wide mouthed Cocktail Glass.
C. Red Wine Glasses for cocktails that have a Red Wine as the base spirit. Red Wine Glasses have a wider mouth and a long stem, so that the wine can be swirled an aerated to release the aroma while the long stem keeps the fingers away and avoid quick warming of the wine.
D. White Wine Glasses for cocktails with a White Wine base, since White Wines must not be aerated as much as a Red Wines, since they oxidise fast when in contact with air, White Wine glassware, in contrast to the wide mouthed bowl of a Red Wine Glassware, is narrow with a narrow mouth. A White Wine has much lighter and delicate notes and the narrow mouth and less surface area in contact with air helps retain the aroma.
E. If your cocktail is based on a Sparkling Wine like Champagne then a Flute Glass is more suitable since a Sparkling Wine is a White Wine with a secondary fermentation that produces the bubbles, and the narrow mouth flute prevents the bubbles from escaping.
F. If it's winter and you are in the mood for some hot cocktails like the Irish Coffee or Hot Toddy, go for the Irish Coffee Glass, it has a heat resistant glass and a handle.
G. Martini Glasses for Martinis or "Tinis" in general, but since these glasses have fallen off of favour these days, a Cocktail Glass will be good too.
H. IF you are serving Margaritas, don't look for Margarita Glass if you don't have one at home, Double Old Fashioned Glass or other glasses are more common these days, for serving Margaritas.
I. If you are the adventurous one, and are serving shots or shooters, of course the Shot Glass is your choice of glass,
J. Finally, if you are going all out and serving depth charges and car bomb shots, all you need is a Double Old Fashioned Glass or a Beer Mug for the beer and a shot glass to drop the bomb in.
Please Note All Recipes and Articles on this site are for entertainment and general information only. None of it is to be considered final or absolutely correct or medical in nature.
All photos used are representative and don't reflect the actual look of a cocktail. Representative Cocktail Photos are watermarked with FreePik logo and are mostly random cocktail images from FreePik.
Contact Us using the Email Contact on the Sidebar if you think any Copyrighted photo has been unintentionally used on this site, and we'll take remedial action.
Photos sourced from Royalty Free Photo Platforms like FreePik, Unsplash and Wikimedia Commons
About Us
Neel B and Mani, we are a team of two, originally from India and the United States. We are professional software engineers and passionate cocktail enthusiasts. We built this app because we saw a need for a more comprehensive and user-friendly way to find cocktails and bartending recipes. We hope you enjoy using our app as much as we enjoyed making it!We decided to use our technology skills to help others who were in the same position as us and wanted to experiment with making cocktails at home but didn\u2019t know where to start. We have been working together for more than two years and has managed to collect an extensive library of recipes as well as tips and tricks for making the perfect cocktail.
Neel B is an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer and martial arts and fitness enthusiast. He is an avid reader, compulsive doodler, and painter. His love for cocktails arises from the art in it and the history that traces the ups and downs of modern civilisation over centuries.
Mani is an ERP and SaaS developer and architect by day and a cocktail enthusiast in her leisure. She holds a Masters in Computer Application and Programming. In addition to writing stories on the history of cocktails and alcohol, she has a special interest in cocktails in literature. She believes that the perfect cocktail can make any moment special.