Can you fill in this sentence?: “I can’t drink ________, it makes me ______.”

I’ve noticed a lot of discrimination towards pretty much any given spirit behind any bar.

I’ve heard lots of absolute statements from my bar patrons, including:

“I can’t handle brown liquor. I can only drink clear liquor.”

“I can’t drink gin, it makes me mean.”

“Tequila makes me dance on tables.”

“If I drink rum, I have to only drink rum for the rest of the night.”

“I only drink vodka and only ____  vodka.”

But when I start asking questions, those with the most bold statements have very little to back up their strong opinions.

Some of them didn’t even form their opinion from experience. Their grandmother told them to stay away from gin because “it will make you mean and ruin your life.”  And, sadly, they have.

I know that all of those bottles behind the bar may seem foreign, distant, and perhaps even intimidating. I’ve been there. But consider this:

If you never try anything new, you fall into the trap of denying yourself a potentially better drinking experience than what you currently enjoy.

Another unfortunate statement that I hear a lot is: “I order vodka tonics all the time because I don’t know what else to drink.”  Is this you?

If you never branch out, you also perpetuate myths to yourself and to others about what you only think you can and can’t drink.

Why live in such a limited world? The spirits world is wide open for exploration.

This is an open invitation to stop the discrimination. If you catch yourself thinking that you “can’t” drink something, consider that it’s probably because you haven’t discovered the most delicious way to enjoy it yet.