My first legal beer purchase was in Idaho as I just turned 19 while on vacation and on the way home my parents stopped at Post Falls right before the Washington border and I bought a case of Coors cause like you said, it wasn't available in Oregon, of course I wasn't of age in Oregon either, but that's not important.
I once performed that chore for my first father-in-law who went to Veterinary school in Fort Collins nearly 50 years ago.
My first beer wasn't "legal" by any means...I was 14 and we got someone to buy it for us...I drank THREE Colt 45 "tall boys" (16 oz I think)...and next thing I knew I was out of my mind. And later as I was puking, I made the first of several promises thereafter to God that "I'll never drink again".
Wow, that's never happened to me . . . more than six thousand times. My first time I was also 14 and went camping on Sauvie's island with a 16 year old boy who was the nephew of a guy heading our camping trip who was a friend of the family. I think I had two beers when suddenly I couldn't seem to stand up while trying to help pitch a tent. The friend of my family and another older friend of my family suddenly started laughing their asses off. I couldn't figure out why they were laughing and I couldn't figure out why I as having so much trouble setting up the tent pole. I really enjoyed that trip. The next day my mother found out what happened and boy was she pissed. Oh no, she wasn't pissed at me. My next drunk was when I was 17. I went to a party with another guy who was about 21 or 22. I had boiler makers all night until I started passing out in a chair. The older friend got another girl who drove us there to take us home. On the way I got sick and had to lean out of the window of a moving car and puke all along the side of her car. God, she was pissed. I next got drunk while rushing a fraternity. I got falling down drunk singing dirty songs with some of the members and some other freshmen that were rushing the same fraternity. I was literally falling down drunk but never got sick. Good think I slept on a sleeping porch 'cause the fresh air was great. Next, I drank a beer here and a beer there while working in construction for my father. My father and my uncle who was employed by my dad and I would sit down after work and drink a beer. When I got a beer one time I drank it down in one continuous gulp. I thought my uncle would die laughing. Me? I just wondered what was so funny. It went down easy for me. By the time I was 21 I had experience with lots of beer. Haven't had a boiler maker since I was 17. I was extremely sick for two days. Reminds me of when I chewed some Copenhagen.
My favorite brewery is easily Level Brewery off Airport Way. They had a beer mixed with oyster juice once. It was actually pretty good. It is called Shucker Gently. I like a bunch of breweries. 10 barrell. Full Sail. Pelican. Widmer. Gilgamesh. They all usually have something I like. Usually I'm into sours, pilsners, wheat beers, radlers, porters, kolsch, or hazy ipas. Pyramid has a really good Berry Tart ipa.
I've had a few quality single malts and never really liked them. I've always preferred the blends with Haig and Haig Pinch leading the way and at least 12 year old Chivas Regal as a close second. I think my Pinch is 14 years old and one of my Chivas Regals is 20 years old. I love a good Scotch. Not a great admirer of bourbon. Love a great cognac. However, due to my exposure in my youth, beer is my go to drink.
Vodka is the least flavorful of all the hard drinks. I've tried vodka martinis but always returned to the gin ones. To me, it's just a way of delivering alcohol to my system. Edit: When I do drink vodka, and it's not very often, I prefer Stolichnaya.
I love me a Bloody Mary once in awhile. I always have some mix at home and canned asparagus, green beans and peppercinis
Bloody Mary's can be good when properly made. I seldom drink one other than at home because I've gotten too many bad ones. I put a stalk of celery heart with a tad bit of the leaves on top although I'm willing to try one with pickled asparagus or maybe even try one with pickled pepperoncini. I wonder how it would turn out with a pickled okra pod in it. I love pickled okra pods.
Whenever i can I like to make my own bloody mary mix...and instead of v8 or tomato juice as a base I really like "Clamato" when I can find it and then add the garlic, herbs and spices. As far as bottle mix, I used to like Tabasco mix or Major Peters...but now, Zing Zang is my fav. And pickled okra is great in BMs and I am the king of okra around here and I generally put up 10 12 jars a year and about 20 zip lock bags of blanched okra. (we like to put it on top of our beans/peas about 10 minutes before the beans/peas are done cooking...good stuff. For pickling I like to pick the smaller/younger okra when they are still very tender and the larger pods are for blanching and putting up in the freezer. I put water in the bag and get all of the air out before sealing and freezing. If you remind me in July/August I may figure out a way to send you a few jars.
I agree that vodka is not very flavorful, but that's the beauty of it in my opinion. A top notch vodka like Crater Lake Reserve is incredibly smooth and goes down easy. The impurities in vodka are what generally give you a hangover which is why I like to drink this stuff. Vodka goes great with everything as well.
I love okra, fried, boiled or pickled. I often eat a lot of raw vegetables but I've never tried eating raw okra. I once visited the greatest farmers' market I've ever experienced in Atlanta. My father taught me about boiled peanuts. All these many years later and I still prefer roasted Spanish peanuts, so small, so crunchy. Speaking of food, we use to eat at this great restaurant chain called Morrison's Cafeteria. Some of the best food I've ever had. Now the chain is gone from Alabama, Georgia and Florida where I experienced it. Their only remaining restaurant is the original near Birmingham. My aunt tells me it's not good anymore. Sad, sad, sad. My dad and I would often eat at one on Peachtree street. I always had prime rib, baby new potatoes, turnip greens and iced tea. God, I miss that.
Okra is just fine raw, when I'm picking I always eat at least one right off the stalk. I love it fried too but most people cut it up then bread it with flour/corn meal before frying...but give this a try, trim the caps off the ends and then bread it and fry it whole...makes it easir to get a good even fry plus it's easier to eat. I usually also put up a bushel of boiled peanuts in the freezer in zip lock bags...a bushel will yield about 35 bags. Take 'em out of the freezer and put them in the microwave for 5 minutes and you're good to go.
