Driven to secret drinking!

Tweet

@xFiacre inspired me to write this post. I have a selection of bottles of spirits in the back of the cupboard. I had a few because, once upon a time, I fancied treating myself to a cocktail every now and then. Of course this virtually never happened because they almost always require some ingredient I never had to hand. Then of course you always need a bit for Christmas cake or trifle. Then I inherited a few from my parents because, although they virtually never drank except on some special occasion such as Christmas, they couldn’t resist a bargain so bought a few bottles when they saw a good deal! I do enjoy a gin and tonic on a summer evening, but rarely drink whisky, brandy, Cointreau, or rum. My partner was more likely to drink these, but he gave up alcohol about three years ago. I gave a couple of bottles to friends, and thought of trying to sell a couple of the half-bottles of brandy which are unopened and must date from the 1980s (since they pre-date the use of metric measurements). But sales sites I tried do not permit the sale of alcohol. I also found what I think is sloe gin from several years ago. A friend is very fond of this drink, but this was too old to gift to anyone. So in the end I have resorted to drinking the stuff myself. On cold evenings I made spiced fruit punch - then added a glug of the sloe gin to mine. I’ve found a recipe for Mexican hot chocolate which has added rum and a dried chilli - that was surprisingly nice (rum is my least favourite, except in the form of chocolate rum truffles). I’ve added a shot of brandy to my coffee a few times too, Italian style. Slowly the collection is being whittled down. It is making me feel like a secret alcoholic though! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2021.