Alcohol consumption

[DaveBrown74]

First off, clearly this is a somehwat personal topic that some individuals may not wish to participate in, which is totally understandable. If that is how you feel, that is completely understood, please simply just don't participate if you're not comfortable with the topic or not interested.

For those who are comfortable, I'm just curious how much people are drinking these days and whether people are drinking more or less during the pandemic than they normally do. I think it is different for different people, so I'm just curious to get people's thoughts and observations.

To kick it off, I have selected 4-7 for myself. I typically drink on two evenings a week, occasionally three, but the majority of those evenings would be one glass of a wine, or one glass of wine with a half glass top-up. If we're doing something a little more interesting for dinner and I want to have a slightly better bottle of wine, I might go up to 2-3 drinks.

I am definitely drinking less now than before the pandemic, but probably not dramatically so. But since I currently never have any bigger nights out, the total is lower. These days (I'm 46) I don't go for big nights out anywhere nearly as much as I used to, nor are they as aggressive when I do, but if I'm going to dinner with friends and we meet somewhere beforehand or possibly have a nightcap after the dinner, I could easily 4-6 drinks over the course of a 3-4 hour evening. Obviously I haven't done one of those in over a year, so I have definitely drunk less during the pandemic. I know people though who, mainly out of boredom and perhaps an element of depression/anxiety, are drinking more during the pandemic than they normally do. I don't know anyone who has gone completely off the deep end, but I do have friends who have said that they are drinking on most evenings now, whereas they weren't a year ago.

I'm curious what others' thoughts and observations on this topic are.

[Blue4Life]

Once my college and military years ended, got married, had the first kid, I had became an occasional drinker.That's pretty much the way I am nowadays, even if the kids are out of the house.

When my kids went to school, I also cut back on the occasional drinks. It's a funny story actually...

My wife and I liked having a glass of red vine after dinner most of the night. Primarily for we like one after dinner, plus the health benefit that it may have. Evidently, in school, the kids were taught that people drinking everyday are alcoholic. After one of our dinners at home, my younger kid started to cry. After repeatedly asking, finally she said,

[LennG]

' In my youth, I did bend the elbow more than occasionally. When I was in the service, getting drunk was a weekly thing. Being in Germany for 3 years, I really got to love those Rhine wines and some good German Beer.

Fast forward to today, and I really don't drink at all. The main reason is we take certain medications that really don't mix with alcohol, but in reality, myself and my darling wife, just don't miss it at all. I was never a beer drinker, but from my service days (most of my company was from the deep South) I really got to like my bourbons and Southern Comfort. Now, maybe a glass of Manechevitz is all we do. 

[Sem]

Like many others I

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I rarely drink hard liquor, maybe a couple times a year depending on the circumstances  . If I do, it's either a Grey Goose dirty martini or a Margarita...or of course, someone buys a round of shots and I feel obligated to show my gratitude by drinking it, which I would then choose Southern Comfort. I usually crack open a beer in the evening when calling it a day and if I go golfing or go out on a weekend I'll have two or three beers, but that's it. Haven't been drunk since 2000 during a St. Patrick's Day celebration with a bunch of NYC cops and firemen - holy cow those guys can drink. I told myself the next morning, "never again". I always wondered how many of those party animal cops and firemen lost their lives on 9-11 
Now, if I get a buzz, I'll switch to soda water. I refuse to even get close to being drunk. I never want to lose a day of my life because of a hangover.

[jimv]

I have my Wild Turkey bourbon with cheese & crackers around 4 PM then an occasional ale with dinner.

[DaveBrown74]

These days I seldom touch spirits. I like a nice vodka soda as a cocktail when I am out, but I don't think I have made one at home for myself in at least three years. These days I mainly am a wine guy, and I drink beer with certain meals like barbecues and so on.

When things open up again, I expect us to have a big surge in social activity, which will surely mean a few nights here and there of relatively robust drinking. I am frankly fine with that, in fact I am looking forward to it.

[Bob In PA]

My Uncle Joe only drank Italian wine (made with feet LOL).  He never went anywhere (except as an ambulance volunteer) but belonged to every service organization known to man (Lions, Kiwanis, Sons Of Italy, etc.).

At those clubs, apparently, he entered every contest/raffle they ever ran, and he must have had a knack for winning "baskets of cheer."

When he passed on, I went into his basement to clear things out and discovered a huge conglomeration of adult beverages which rivaled the contents of any public bar I've ever visited.

I decided to "adopt" the collection and moved it to my basement.  We entertain a more-than-average amount in summer and on holidays, so I printed out a "menu" of Uncle Joe's stock for visitors to consult.

When a guest arrives, I dutifully hand them my dissertation with a friendly "what would you like." The two most common responses are "a diet Coke" and "probably just a glass of water."

Bob

[MightyGiants]

I drink a bottle/glass of beer with dinner each night.   On Saturdays, I treat myself to a glass of wine after dinner.   When I would go out to eat I would often have two beers (one before dinner and one with dinner).   I would skip one of the other nights of drinking to offset the two as I had eating out (I like to keep around 8 drinks a week).


I confess there have been a handful of days during the past year where I would treat myself to an extra glass of wine at night (the big holidays or after a particularly rough day).  Overall, I don't think my alcohol consumption has increased during the pandemic.

[MagicRat]

I'm from Scotland.
I can elaborate if you want.......