If she had the proper words to say,

Apple Beer is yummy. treehuggies brought some over last night to share with us - a very thoughtful treat, since they purposely bought it for two reasons: 1) it's non-alcoholic, and she wanted the boys to be able to try it, and 2) it was the closest thing to Butterbeer they could find.

It is very, very good. I'm sad to have just finished off the last bottle. Also, I wish our recycling still collected glass...

First off, I'd like to thank Kris for the experience. For that is assuredly what it was.

I had my first taste of alcohol tonight (note to self: re-do userinfo page now). When Kris visited us on September 15th, she came bearing gifts: toys for the boys' recent birthdays, and a bottle of wine for me and Philip. It's been over a month now, and we finally had the opportunity to open the bottle tonight.

Even while Kris was visiting, Philip had to leave for work that evening, and he had already started into his 22 solid days of working. Since he didn't have time off, we didn't have a chance to drink the wine together for those weeks. Then, once he was off, there were other things that cropped up. Last Tuesday, we tried again, only to learn upon unwrapping the bottle that we'd need a corkscrew - which, of course, we didn't have. He was able to borrow one from Ryan in the next day or so, but then we had to wait until he had a day off again to open the wine.

He successfully opened the bottle (Ryan had explained to him how to use the corkscrew), and then he - feeling a bit silly - poured a bit of wine into two holiday champagne glasses from Hardee's. Being the "wild 'n crazy" twenty-somethings that we are, the glassware was the closest thing we had to serve the alcohol in.

He brought my glass to the table, and the sourness of the smell was enough to begin triggering a mild asthma reaction, a choking dry feeling in my throat. Nonetheless, I still raised the glass to my lips and took a decent sip.

...

I was going to say *gag*, but there's really just not a word to describe the taste properly. Still, I hated to write it off after only one sip, so I forced myself to take another, slightly larger taste. This second taste screwed up my face something fierce, and Philip couldn't hold back his amusement. I started choking, and he got me a soda from the fridge so I could wash out the taste. Oh, it was horrible!

Seriously, it doesn't even taste anything like Nyquil! I've had Nyquil a time or two before when I've been sick, and if it had tasted ANYTHING like that, I probably could have suffered through the glass. How in the HECK do people drink this stuff?! Better yet, WHY?!

I watched carefully as Philip tasted his wine, knowing that he was going to attempt to mask his reactions so that I would possibly try more (he has had fantasies of getting me drunk for the past month now), but he couldn't hold back the grimace either. He told me to try mixing some of my Pepsi in with the wine; I did, but it was only about 1/100th better in taste. Which means, of course, that I'd need to add about six Pepsis to it just for it to be palatable, and then I'd have been "drunk" on caffeine anyway.

Philip mixed quite a bit of Coke in with his, and he finished the glass. He still made faces, though. While we were eating dinner, the heater kicked on, and the vent blew the sour smell of the wine across the table (where I'd moved my glass far away from me) back to my sensitive nose. Truly, I was amazed that anything could be so vile unless I'd actually tried to lick a loaded paintbrush.

But we did try it, and I'm no longer an alcohol virgin. We actually did offer a taste to the boys, as I could see no better way to turn them off alcohol than to try it right then, especially after having witnessed my own reaction to it. Both of them recoiled from the glass, staunchly refusing to try it, though Jack did have the guts to sniff the cork.

It was neat, but I truly can not understand how people drink alcohol. I've been told many times over that "it's an acquired taste" - I realize that, but I can tell you right now, there is NO WAY I could ever "acquire" that taste. I'm glad folks like it, but it's not for me.

Kris, thanks for the memories, but pass me the sparkling cider, yo. :-)