Drinking

So you are writing a thread and the subject of drinks come up! But what does your character order? What can they order? How will it affect them? These are all great questions to ask- and sometimes you don' know because you are not a big drinker, or aren't old enough to drink- it is no reason for your character not to partake and you also want to get things right and accurate. This guide is aimed at helping people who aren't used to drinking to get some basic information on how to write about this particular subject.


Types of Alcohol

So there are a LOT of different types of alcohol http://classyboozer.com/different-types-of-alcohol-and-alcoholic-drinks/ this site gives a good basic list of what a couple are and how they are made. The site also contains more in-depth descriptions of various types of popular alcohol (so more informations on Whiskey, Dark Ale, etc).

If you wanna really just narrow it down like me- in my mind there are usually a three main categories: Wine (Fine/Cheap/Sparkling/Normal), Beer (Ale/Malt/Cheap/Hipster/Designer), and Liquor/Liqueur (other types of drinks go here).

Another thing to look at is https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_proof Proof of alcohol (Alcohol by Volume) or percentage of how much a drink is alcohol. Most drinks will have this information to show how much alcohol is in a drink. Basically- the higher the percentage of Alcohol in a drink- the stronger the drink is and more potent the effects of Alcohol will be.


Choosing Preferences

What have they been exposed to? Often times, favored drinks are drinks we started off with. My first drinks were vodka based and as a result I favor vodka over some other types of liquor. Regional drinks like Sake for Japanese characters can also be a good start. It gives you a broad category that you can further narrow down.

What sort of flavors do they like? Alcohol- like food comes in various tastes and flavors. You have sweet, bitter, strong, fruity, amongst others. If your character likes sweet things- they might prefer a sweet drink, and in some cases even bitter since bitter drinks can be a compliment to sweeter things (Dessert Wines tend to be bitter to help accent the sweetness of a dessert). http://www.absolutdrinks.com/en/drinks/ This site has a bunch of various drink recipes that you can sort by color, taste, and base alcohol- you can use this to figure out some base drinks and direction of where to go.

How do they drink?- Do they drink alone? A lot? A little? Are they a party drinker? These and more can all be factors on what your character drinks, and what they have access to. Depending on the personality of a character you can discover various facets of them that you can apply to their drinking.

For example: If a character drinks a lot- they could gravitate towards cheaper drinks because of their financial situation (drinking is expensive especially for good/high quality drinks). On a night out a person can easily drop 20-40 dollars on drinks alone depending on where they go (locally for me a beer averages about 8$ and mixed drinks depend on what it is can cost from 6-9$).

On the other hand if a character is well-off they might not mind spending a lot for good alcohol.

If they are a social drinker, they might drink more if they go out- if they are more reclusive they might partake slower and in more relaxed settings.

Typically unless a character has drink knowledge or knows recipes they might not drink a lot of cocktails at home- they are expensive and can be tricky to get right (some recipes like coke and rum and shirley temples, are easy to get down). If they drink at home- they might gravitate towards Wine

Tolerance: How much can they drink without getting drunk? How much can they handle? There are some graphs out there and calculators that try to measure this- but often times each character will have a different tolerance based on various factors.

Basically how big a person is can be a large factor. Usually a larger person will get drunk slower than a smaller person. Also their gender can be a big impact- Males can typically hold their drinks better than women because their bodies process alcohol more efficiently.

http://oade.nd.edu/educate-yourself-alcohol/alcohol-and-women-critical-information/differences-between-men-and-women/ This link has information on the differences of drinks between males and females as well as Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC).

Another thing is the amount of drinks the character is used to- characters who have drank often for longer periods of time can form an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_tolerance Alcohol Tolerance. Characters who are new to drinking (or are underaged) may not be able to hold the drinks as well.

**Children/Teenagers especially can be in danger when they drink since it can be easy to drink too much without realizing it. If you do write about underaged drinking, make sure you are doing so responsibly and work in In-Character Consequences**

Rules of Drinking and Effects

Remember the laws of the area/time period- In Japan for example there is a 0 tolerance policy for drinking and driving a car /riding a bike. Different countries have different definitions as well. So make sure you understand the drinking culture/local rules and laws since it impacts how your character drinks (whether they care or not, what they do).

Drinking and how you drink can alter the effects of what will happen (especially the morning after). Some of these rules are widely accepted for responsible drinking- you can have your characters follow or break them as you will.

1) Eating Food before drinking  (Greasy=better and starches like bread/potatoes) - supposedly this helps you not get drunk as fast, and as well as not getting sick. Drinking on an empty stomach can easily cause you to get drunk faster and sick.

2) Staggering Drinks- Slamming drinks down will increase the likely hood of getting drunk faster.

3) Hydration- Drinking water along with drinks will help lessen the hangover the next day. Hangovers are typically a result of dehydration amongst other factors.

4) Mixing Liquor/Drinks- Mixing different color liquors or Beer/Liquor can often invite more hangover/sickness as a result of drinking. Some people can handle this because of a heightened tolerance- but typically people tend to avoid doing this.

Alcoholic Intoxication is pretty straightforward. It ranges from that fuzzy feeling as you begin to drink, to as something as drastic as stumbling, slurring, collapsing, and comas. While I http://oade.nd.edu/educate-yourself-alcohol/alcohol-and-women-critical-information/differences-between-men-and-women/ linked this above- this has a useful table that gives ideas of how far alcohol intoxication can affect someone and is relevant here. Remember a lot of how the intoxication will affect them depends on the characters tolerance and personality.

There is a difference between Tipsy and Drunk. Tipsy is usually considered that starting point of getting intoxicated- drunk is usually when it reaches a point where a character/person is really inhibited.

Drink Personas

You might've heard the types of "Drunk Personalities" that come out when people drink and are intoxicated. Basically these are personality changes that come forth once a person's inhibitions and other safeguards are lowered. In a way- alcohol can be a bit of a truth serum. You will find people who are drunk tend to express who they really are and what they are really thinking. I am naturally pretty social and very talkative- when I drink this gets ramped up.

Drunk personalities do not come from nowhere- a kind, sweet, and loving person will not become a hateful and abusive person when drunk- if they do there is likely underlying causes, feelings, and emotions that causes those negative reactions to surface.

Easy Situations and Inferences

Like I said above there are easy ways to figure out what will be most likely for your character to partake in should they drink depending on the situation and surroundings they are.

Frat Party/High School Party/Tailgate/Casual Party: Typically Beer and other cheap alcohol will be found here- Smirnoff, Margaritas, 6-packs and cans.

Fine Dining/Dinner Parties/Vineyards: Wine is most likely going to be present. Here wines are typically paired with courses http://www.foodandwinepairing.org/ this site allows you to get a good picture of what sort of wine can be served. Wines like other forms of alcohol come in a variety of flavors (Dry, Sweet, Fruity, Bitter, etc) Your character might prefer a wine that is different than the pairing, but when combined with the other flavors of the food the taste could become more palatable to your character.

Bar/Club/Restaurant- This depends on the type of establishment. A casual or sports bar will often serve beer. Same with a brewery.
Clubs and Bars also tend to specialize in mixed drinks. An easy go-to could be "The House Special". Most places will have one and some specials are rotated while others are tried and true faves.

Cultural Situations: Is your character in Russia- perhaps they are drinking Vodka then. Mexico? Then maybe it is Tequila. Japan perhaps it is Sake or Umeshu (plum wine). Research where the character is and adapt accordingly.


Hopefully this guide helps give a basic overview on what to consider. If you have any questions let me know!