Drinking for the Taste and Playing Poker for Funsies
I gotta admit, I had no idea what this was about:
Nestlé is adding a limited-edition gin and tonic-flavoured variant to its After Eight range of fondant mints this September.
According to Nestlé, After Eights are made with 100% natural peppermint oil and are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.
The brand's 'zingy' new offering features gin and tonic-flavoured mint fondant covered in rich dark chocolate.
But I was intrigued.
Unfortunately,I think it's a British thing, and the product has no alcohol in it.
I've never understood efforts to get the alcohol taste without the alcohol. Zing beer, for instance. For sheer taste, there are much better drinks than alcoholic drinks.
It doesn't mean alcoholic drinks don't taste good. It just means that you don't drink alcohol for the taste, but rather for a more complex experience, one with a promise of some sort at the bottom of the glass.
When I was in high school, I got on a poker kick. I bought a book by a master of the game and absorbed it. At one point, he said that poker is for gambling and that, if you're going to play funsies, don't play at all. If there's no money involved, he explained, the element that brings poker together as a great game is gone. There are, he said, far better card games than poker, if money isn't involved.
That's exactly how I feel about alcohol. It makes great beverages, but the element that brings the drink together as a great beverage is the alcohol. There are far better drinks than alcoholic ones, if you're just drinking for the taste . . . for funsies.
