Weeeeeeeee! And a Spot on the Devil's Kickball Team
I made a tragic discovery yesterday afternoon. I was off work and helping a couple friends with a little home improvement project. They were drinking beer and whiskey. Sadly I'm not really a fan of either. I've been known to drink whiskey in a pinch, but beer is a definite 'hell no' (I don't care how cute she is). I thought I was going to have to dip into the whiskey when I was reminded that there was a bottle of Deep Eddy's Sweet Tea Vodka (officially my favorite of the sweet tea vodkas) in the freezer.
Weeeeeeeeee! I may have squealed as such. I really don't remember. Then, 'Oh, wait', said one friend, 'I drank all the sweet tea (meaning 'mixer') earlier'. Ooooh. What to do? As a general rule, I drink my sweet tea vodka mixed with diet sweet tea (preferably the kind made with Splenda so I can continue my New Years Resolution to cut back on aspartame). To me, using sweet tea just accentuates the sweet tea part of the sweet tea vodka. God knows, I don't want to accentuate the vodka part of the sweet tea vodka. Here's what you do - Fill a 'big girl glass' (eff the small cocktail glasses and dig out something big and plastic) three-quarters of the way with ice (rabbit pellet ice from Sonic is the best), then add a shot to a shot and a half of sweet tea vodka. Fill to the rim with diet sweet tea. Stir (I usually use a butter knife) 'til thoroughly mixed. Enjoy. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best.
I guess one could say that I'm an amateur expert in the sweet tea vodkas. The first time I had it was at Oil Can Harry's (on 4th in Austin, Texas). My ex and excessively former little roommate and his boy toy let me take a sip of their drink. Nirvana. Absolutely and positively Nirvana. What is THAT?!?! It was Firefly (sweet tea vodka) and sweet tea. My life was irrevocably changed. Of course I forgot all about it until a friend and I were sitting at the bar at the Pink Pony in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Sick of drinking rum and diet coke (you do it constantly for nearly a week and not get a wee bit bored of it) and checking out the liquor selection for another option, I saw a bottle of Firefly. Weeeeeeeee! I may have squealed as such. I really don't remember. My next drink was a Firefly with water. It wasn't exactly what I remembered but it was good. The next day, we went back and I added a squeeze of lemon. Better, but still not as good as the Firefly and sweet tea.
Flash forward to a few weeks later in Austin, Texas. On my way home from Chicken Express in Bee Caves, I stopped at my favorite retail store, Specs. I will shamelessly admit over and over again that I love a liquor store. Small. Large. It doesn't matter. Specs, though, is the biggest one I have EVER had the pleasure of experiencing. I walked in the door intent on my usual bottle of rum. Along the way, I breezed past the vodkas and the sweet tea variety jumped out at me. I stood there entranced, my decision made for me. As luck would have it, a sales associate happened past. I knew about Firefly, but there were several others to choose from - Jeremiah Weed, Deep Eddy's, Grahams. 'What's good?', I asked the kid. He said that he'd never had any of them, but said that Firefly was by far the most popular (it was also the most expensive). He then pointed out that two are brewed right here in Austin, Texas - Deep Eddy's and Grahams. Always one to favor local businesses, I chose the Deep Eddy's. It turned out to be the best choice I made in 2010 (I made a lot of interesting to bad choices in 2010...just let me celebrate this one with no questions asked). One more stop at HEB to get a gallon of Red Diamond Diet Sweet Tea (by far my favorite...beats the snot out of Walmart brand) and I was on my way to Heaven. Weeeeeeeee! I'm fairly certain I got drunk that day.
From that day forward, I never drank sweet tea vodka without diet sweet tea. It was just my thing. I'd stop at Chris's Liquor at Slaughter and Manchaca and then run into the HEB nearly next door and pray they had a gallon of the Red Diamond left. Occasionally I've had to get other brands, which work but aren't nearly as good. Then came yesterday afternoon. I had Deep Eddy's and no diet sweet tea to go with. Wanting a drink, I weighed my options - Whiskey and Coke Zero or Sweet Tea Vodka and water? Truly, it was a no-brainer. Remembering back to that night with Brian at the Pink Pony, I chose sweet tea vodka and water. Even if it wasn't as good, it would be better than whiskey (my apologies to my whiskey drinking friends). I filled a 'big girl glass' three quarters of the way with ice, then added what may (or may not) have been a shot or shot and a half of Deep Eddy's. It's syrupy so it slowly drips down the ice. I promise you, it adds to the Nirvana feel. I turned the kitchen faucet on 'cold' and filled 'er up with plain old water. A couple stirs with a butter knife and I was set to try it. Weeeeeeee! It was good. Damn good, in fact. Damn it.
At that moment, I knew that I'd made a tragic discovery, one that is currently haunting me. No longer would I need diet sweet tea to go with my sweet tea vodka. No, from here on if need be, I could drink it with plain, old water. What could be easier? I'm here to tell you, 'nothing', absolutely nothing could be easier. Now I'm not going to say I prefer it this way; I'd still rather mix it with diet sweet tea, just to accentuate the sweet tea part of the vodka. Turns out the sweet tea flavor shines through pretty well on it's own. And that's the tragedy. Take tonight, for example. I have a sliver of a bottle of Grahams left but no diet sweet tea. I assure you, I'm not going to run all the way to HEB at rush hour for a gallon of Red Diamond. In days past, I'd have skipped the drink(s) and rationalized that sober was better anyway. Not tonight. I got out my 'big girl glass', cranked it with ice and poured what was probably a shot of Grahams. I turned the kitchen faucet on 'cold' and filled 'er up. After a stir and a taste, I discovered that I needed a bit more tea flavor. No worries there. I poured another shot(ish) in the glass and gave it another stir. Perfect.
In a way. Somehow, though, I feel like I've been asked to join the devil's kickball team. Realistically, this is a tragedy of the nth degree. Previously, I needed two things to drink - alcohol and mixer. More often than not, I'd have had one or the other. Having both requires planning, forethought, and money. I seldom have, nor practice, any of those. Therefore, many nights I stay sober. However, I now have the mixer issue taken care of. All I need is the sweet tea vodka and paid water bill. Hell, I don't even need a kitchen faucet. I could mix up a good drink in the backyard with a garden hose. Hear that? It's the death rattle of my sobriety. Thanks friends. Thanks a million. Y'all had to drink the sweet tea mixer. The Apocalypse is upon us and I'm choosing to blame you. You didn't think I'd take responsibility for this one, did you? I own up to many things, but a downturn in my sobriety? Not a chance. That's decidedly on y'all.
Weeeeeeeeee! I may have squealed as such. I really don't remember. Then, 'Oh, wait', said one friend, 'I drank all the sweet tea (meaning 'mixer') earlier'. Ooooh. What to do? As a general rule, I drink my sweet tea vodka mixed with diet sweet tea (preferably the kind made with Splenda so I can continue my New Years Resolution to cut back on aspartame). To me, using sweet tea just accentuates the sweet tea part of the sweet tea vodka. God knows, I don't want to accentuate the vodka part of the sweet tea vodka. Here's what you do - Fill a 'big girl glass' (eff the small cocktail glasses and dig out something big and plastic) three-quarters of the way with ice (rabbit pellet ice from Sonic is the best), then add a shot to a shot and a half of sweet tea vodka. Fill to the rim with diet sweet tea. Stir (I usually use a butter knife) 'til thoroughly mixed. Enjoy. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best.
I guess one could say that I'm an amateur expert in the sweet tea vodkas. The first time I had it was at Oil Can Harry's (on 4th in Austin, Texas). My ex and excessively former little roommate and his boy toy let me take a sip of their drink. Nirvana. Absolutely and positively Nirvana. What is THAT?!?! It was Firefly (sweet tea vodka) and sweet tea. My life was irrevocably changed. Of course I forgot all about it until a friend and I were sitting at the bar at the Pink Pony in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Sick of drinking rum and diet coke (you do it constantly for nearly a week and not get a wee bit bored of it) and checking out the liquor selection for another option, I saw a bottle of Firefly. Weeeeeeeee! I may have squealed as such. I really don't remember. My next drink was a Firefly with water. It wasn't exactly what I remembered but it was good. The next day, we went back and I added a squeeze of lemon. Better, but still not as good as the Firefly and sweet tea.
Flash forward to a few weeks later in Austin, Texas. On my way home from Chicken Express in Bee Caves, I stopped at my favorite retail store, Specs. I will shamelessly admit over and over again that I love a liquor store. Small. Large. It doesn't matter. Specs, though, is the biggest one I have EVER had the pleasure of experiencing. I walked in the door intent on my usual bottle of rum. Along the way, I breezed past the vodkas and the sweet tea variety jumped out at me. I stood there entranced, my decision made for me. As luck would have it, a sales associate happened past. I knew about Firefly, but there were several others to choose from - Jeremiah Weed, Deep Eddy's, Grahams. 'What's good?', I asked the kid. He said that he'd never had any of them, but said that Firefly was by far the most popular (it was also the most expensive). He then pointed out that two are brewed right here in Austin, Texas - Deep Eddy's and Grahams. Always one to favor local businesses, I chose the Deep Eddy's. It turned out to be the best choice I made in 2010 (I made a lot of interesting to bad choices in 2010...just let me celebrate this one with no questions asked). One more stop at HEB to get a gallon of Red Diamond Diet Sweet Tea (by far my favorite...beats the snot out of Walmart brand) and I was on my way to Heaven. Weeeeeeeee! I'm fairly certain I got drunk that day.
From that day forward, I never drank sweet tea vodka without diet sweet tea. It was just my thing. I'd stop at Chris's Liquor at Slaughter and Manchaca and then run into the HEB nearly next door and pray they had a gallon of the Red Diamond left. Occasionally I've had to get other brands, which work but aren't nearly as good. Then came yesterday afternoon. I had Deep Eddy's and no diet sweet tea to go with. Wanting a drink, I weighed my options - Whiskey and Coke Zero or Sweet Tea Vodka and water? Truly, it was a no-brainer. Remembering back to that night with Brian at the Pink Pony, I chose sweet tea vodka and water. Even if it wasn't as good, it would be better than whiskey (my apologies to my whiskey drinking friends). I filled a 'big girl glass' three quarters of the way with ice, then added what may (or may not) have been a shot or shot and a half of Deep Eddy's. It's syrupy so it slowly drips down the ice. I promise you, it adds to the Nirvana feel. I turned the kitchen faucet on 'cold' and filled 'er up with plain old water. A couple stirs with a butter knife and I was set to try it. Weeeeeeee! It was good. Damn good, in fact. Damn it.
At that moment, I knew that I'd made a tragic discovery, one that is currently haunting me. No longer would I need diet sweet tea to go with my sweet tea vodka. No, from here on if need be, I could drink it with plain, old water. What could be easier? I'm here to tell you, 'nothing', absolutely nothing could be easier. Now I'm not going to say I prefer it this way; I'd still rather mix it with diet sweet tea, just to accentuate the sweet tea part of the vodka. Turns out the sweet tea flavor shines through pretty well on it's own. And that's the tragedy. Take tonight, for example. I have a sliver of a bottle of Grahams left but no diet sweet tea. I assure you, I'm not going to run all the way to HEB at rush hour for a gallon of Red Diamond. In days past, I'd have skipped the drink(s) and rationalized that sober was better anyway. Not tonight. I got out my 'big girl glass', cranked it with ice and poured what was probably a shot of Grahams. I turned the kitchen faucet on 'cold' and filled 'er up. After a stir and a taste, I discovered that I needed a bit more tea flavor. No worries there. I poured another shot(ish) in the glass and gave it another stir. Perfect.
In a way. Somehow, though, I feel like I've been asked to join the devil's kickball team. Realistically, this is a tragedy of the nth degree. Previously, I needed two things to drink - alcohol and mixer. More often than not, I'd have had one or the other. Having both requires planning, forethought, and money. I seldom have, nor practice, any of those. Therefore, many nights I stay sober. However, I now have the mixer issue taken care of. All I need is the sweet tea vodka and paid water bill. Hell, I don't even need a kitchen faucet. I could mix up a good drink in the backyard with a garden hose. Hear that? It's the death rattle of my sobriety. Thanks friends. Thanks a million. Y'all had to drink the sweet tea mixer. The Apocalypse is upon us and I'm choosing to blame you. You didn't think I'd take responsibility for this one, did you? I own up to many things, but a downturn in my sobriety? Not a chance. That's decidedly on y'all.
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