Monday, February 05, 2007

Drinking and wallpaper

I want to drink tequila out of tequila barrels in Tequila, Mexico. Land of the blue Agave and the Jose Cuervo.
I want to drink the Gringo Killer in Costa Rica. White man supposed to die within 15 minutes of drinking this shit. Brown man not expected to fare any better.
I want to drink Viper rum in Belize that is manufactured by drowning a viper in a rum bottle.
I want to do 10 imperial pints in one hour in Mumbles, Wales. Record is one hour 15 minutes.

However, I can't do all this because I am on an H1B and I have to get a visa stamp in the Mumbai consulate before I can venture outside the USA. How life sucks for the H1B software engineer.

Yes, I've been watching the Three Sheets marathon after the tremendous sucking of the Superbowl.

Here's a nice little anecdote. I was drinking in the John Harvard brewpub with my sister and my brother-in-law about two years ago. I ordered the Belgian beer. The bartender served it to me in what looked like a wine glass. I asked him, "Is beer usually served in a wine glass?" I had a mischievous glint in my eye which should have informed him that I was kidding in the spirit of being drunk. Unfortunately, he snapped at me, "It's not a wine glass, Belgian beers are served in what is called a goblet". And even though he didn't air quote me, he might as well have with his livid tone and gestures. Ever since, I have stayed away from Belgian beers, even in the privacy of my own kitchen.

By the way, I didn't post last week because I got a new work computer and I had to search for a new wallpaper.

I will post this week because I found my wallpaper (via Selva). It features a penguin and its baby standing on an ice floe in the middle of a thirsty desert. It is a statement against global warming and I hope my office colleagues will heed my message and quit using the microwave to heat their horrible smelling lunches. Jeez, just get a sandwich.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having lived in Belgium, I can confirm that what the bartender said was right - beer is indeed served in a goblet, with the name of the beer printed on the goblet. I read somewhere that American beer manufacturers are planning to do the same in the US with their imported (read upmarket) beer.

Yes, it does suck to be on H1B.

Anonymous said...

Hoegarden and Chimay are good Belgian beers, though I only had Chimay in a goblet. Chimay has some interesting history (according to Wiki. Make sure you visit Stumbling Monk pub, if you are in Seattle.

-Naveen.

Unknown said...

May be you can hop across to canada instead and get the H1B stamped? I guess you can drink icewine there, out of a wine glass that too. Not your types, eh? ;)

Anonymous said...

I am currently a fan of Cleveland brewed Great Lakes. Elliot Ness is lovely, and so are others. They have a variety pack .. not sure if you get them there though.

Anonymous said...

Gawker, you are a fella after my heart. Ahh..the talk of booze. Different types of them. Cant wait for the work day to end to go and get sloshed :-) Cheers

gawker said...

anjali : Yeah, although I hadn't heard the term goblet with reference to beer, I had indeed seen people drinking it in one. And I thought I was making funny when I asked the guy if he was serving me beer in a wine glass but he kinda didn't like my joke.

naveen : I haven't tried those, I probably will soon. My favorite is Leffe. Sadly it costs 40 bucks for a 24 pack. Stumbling Monk is a cool name for a pub.

TGFI : Nah, they say its risky to try it, ah well, what to do. Icewine? Is that made by stomping on icecubes?

bhad: Wasn't Elliott Ness the name of Kevin Costner's character in the Untouchables? The guy who brought down Al Capone? I will see if I can get it here. My beer store might have it, I think. They keep all kinds of beer, even Kingfisher.

rinku : Isn't that what we all work for...to get sloshed at the end of the day.

Anonymous said...

yes Elliott Ness is the same Capone catcher. Apparently he moved to Cleveland after Chicago and frequented the brewery often during his tenure. They named this beer to honor him. They brew some spicy beers too, kinda weird at first but they get a grip on u. They brew a speciality beer during Christmas .. Christmas Ale, verr nice.

gawker said...

bhad : I will try it out. It's got a good rating on ratebeer.com even though its a website where people are usually very snobbish about beers.

Anonymous said...

I like Leffe too, though Hoegarden is my favorite.

you were funny about the wine glass. your bartender was probbaly belgian and thought you were insulting his national drink.