Wapsi Square Forum

Here's an interesting question that my husband has proposed (and we've started to test): Does the music that is playing affect what you can/will drink?

As I've stated before, I don't like whiskey or any of its brethren (I don't do bourbon or scotch either). Whiskey was the last thing I had before my first case of alcohol poisoning, and I've been unable to abide it ever since then unless it's barely there in a mixed drink. My husband and my best friend have been working dilligently to change my opinion of their favorite kind of alcohol, but unlike beer, I've just not developed a taste for it (I don't like the heat and sometimes burn that is associated with how that stuff feels going down, and I can detect it even in fairly weak mixes).

However, my husband has noticed that I will categorize certain kinds of music or specifc songs as "whiskey sipping music" based on how the music makes me feel. This inspired an experiment (which he didn't explain to me until afterwards). He pulled out his "expensive stuff" (Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or), poured it over a couple of ice cubes, and put on "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" from the Fallout 3 soundtrack (something I have definitively classified as "whiskey sipping music").

I actually was not repulsed by the drink and was able to appreciate the notes of flavor in it (and no one was more surprised by this fact than me since I've tried that particular beverage at his request in the past with zero enjoyment). Interestingly enough, when he switched the music over to something that didn't match the atmosphere I associate with sipping whiskey, I choked a little on it and told him I couldn't drink anymore and he'd have to finish it.

When he told me about his theory about my taste for alcohol being affected by the music I'm listening to, I had to admit that it was interesting, and it's something I'd be willing to try again in the future. I've since thought about it further. I've noticed that in certain atmospheres, with certain music playing, I will turn down my favorite beers in favor of a mixed drink (a little too bright or too much club vibe usually), or I'll turn down a drink of fruity, rummy goodness (I adore rum) in favor of a beer I rarely ever touch (usually in a dark bar or pub where you can barely hear the music).

I've mentioned this to a friend of ours who has her bartending license and is also a psych major. Unfortunately, the area of psychology she's intending to pursue when she gets to grad school won't really touch on where this little theory is going , but she thinks it could have merit. She actually intends to put me in touch with any psych students who would be interested in testing it further (if she should encounter any).

What do you all think? Is this just silliness? Or do you think that where you are and what you're listening to can affect what you want to drink or what you're willing to drink?

Seems to have merit to me. Music affects mood, and mood affects taste - along with craving for certain tastes.
Here's what I wonder: Could one's drink of choice affect one's mood, in turn affecting one's choice of music?

MerchManDan wrote:Seems to have merit to me. Music affects mood, and mood affects taste - along with craving for certain tastes.
Here's what I wonder: Could one's drink of choice affect one's mood, in turn affecting one's choice of music?

Having been a part time mixologist back in the bad old days...yes.

I associate SoCo with arse beating, as in, My high heeled boot to your head. I avoid it everywhere, even in mixers, as it is instantaneous 10 foot tall bulletproof {insert expletive here. } When the daily drunks would come into my friends bar, I quickly hid the SoCo and EverClear like substances. Bar fights by them dropped to two a month (the days the non believers ran the bar ).

After they learned this, two out of ten quit drinking the trigger drinks, five went to other bars, and three opted to meet either my Doc Martens, or the bouncers. They usually put in fighting music(or bad moody country). I tried to seed the jukebox with good stuff when I was in early enough, which also helped.
When I ever got a chance to goto a bar/club, I paid the DJ to NOT play fight music, or breakup music. Once guys saw what I drank, few ever tried to "pick up". Few could afford top dollar alcohol, let alone six to ten top dollar brands for a combo drink.
I ruined it for a friend, as his and his other half loves Mudslides. For his birthday, and again for his partner, I made top dollar 'slides. They say it is hard to goto a bar and order one anymore. I had to get them bottles of the top dollar alcohols as a later gift to make up for it(not that I am actually sorry for having them drink good booze).

I am in heaven, because Patron makes a coffee infused tequila that makes Kahlua bland, and it doesn't make my tequila hating worm feeling tastebuds run in fear. I made a Black Russian with Patron Cafe, and Grey Goose. I am tempted to get a mini of Belvedere and Stoli Vanil for comparison. It makes me feel like one classy lady, sipping on the best. Soundtrack was loads of classical, and classical infused pop.

Then again, the last couple of nights, I had Jameson and cane sugared Pepsi, and was definitely "one of the guys".

Just my 2cp.

COFFEE INFUSED PATRON?
Now I have a reason to cry this Valentines Day...for I cannot have this wonderful thing.

Jabberwonky wrote:COFFEE INFUSED PATRON?
Now I have a reason to cry this Valentines Day...for I cannot have this wonderful thing.

You didn't know? Now that's truly sad. We'll have to put together a fund raiser to send you some.

Julie wrote:

Jabberwonky wrote:COFFEE INFUSED PATRON?
Now I have a reason to cry this Valentines Day...for I cannot have this wonderful thing.

You didn't know? Now that's truly sad. We'll have to put together a fund raiser to send you some.

Coffee-infused Patron sounds like the perfect tequila to use with another exotic Mesoamerican ingredient... chocolate. Hershey's syrup would do, but using a high grade of grated bittersweet chocolate is classier. Milk is optional but recommended; you end up with something vaguely like a mocha Kahlua and cream.

The resulting drink is of course known as a Tequila Mockingbird.

Dave wrote:

Julie wrote:

Jabberwonky wrote:COFFEE INFUSED PATRON?
Now I have a reason to cry this Valentines Day...for I cannot have this wonderful thing.

You didn't know? Now that's truly sad. We'll have to put together a fund raiser to send you some.

Coffee-infused Patron sounds like the perfect tequila to use with another exotic Mesoamerican ingredient... chocolate. Hershey's syrup would do, but using a high grade of grated bittersweet chocolate is classier. Milk is optional but recommended; you end up with something vaguely like a mocha Kahlua and cream.

The resulting drink is of course known as a Tequila Mockingbird.

I think you owe the pun vault a copy of classic stories over that one... however that does sound quite good.

Julie wrote:

Jabberwonky wrote:COFFEE INFUSED PATRON?
Now I have a reason to cry this Valentines Day...for I cannot have this wonderful thing.

You didn't know? Now that's truly sad. We'll have to put together a fund raiser to send you some.

It's not a fundraising issue. It's the fact that my employers insist on remaining under General Order #1, a military rule set that disallows any alcohol consumption, among other things. (They disallow illegal drug use also, the party-poopers) We weren't even allowed the two beer exception for the Super Bowl that military, as well as the other contractors indulged in.

Dave wrote:The resulting drink is of course known as a Tequila Mockingbird.

There used to be a bar on San Antonio's Riverwalk named Tequila Mockingbird that specialized in many different flavors of tequila. I was there one night to listen to Catherine Denise, a great blues guitarist, and struck up a conversation with a waitress there. I asked her about the tequilas on the menu board that were listed at $150 dollars a shot. American dollars. She said that one night a high-roller was in and the crowd was small, it was a tiny joint, and he bought a round for the house. She said that she couldn't tell the difference between that and 'lesser' high-end stuff.

Dave wrote:

Julie wrote:

Jabberwonky wrote:COFFEE INFUSED PATRON?
Now I have a reason to cry this Valentines Day...for I cannot have this wonderful thing.

You didn't know? Now that's truly sad. We'll have to put together a fund raiser to send you some.

Coffee-infused Patron sounds like the perfect tequila to use with another exotic Mesoamerican ingredient... chocolate. Hershey's syrup would do, but using a high grade of grated bittersweet chocolate is classier. Milk is optional but recommended; you end up with something vaguely like a mocha Kahlua and cream.

The resulting drink is of course known as a Tequila Mockingbird.

Lindt makes a chili infused dark chocolate. There is also Ghiradelli's dark collections, which are wine snob awesome in the individual notes in them. You can also melt and whisk that into some sweetened heavy cream, then add the Patron Cafe. If you wanna go double the alcohol, Patron also does a Cacao infused delight, which is what I would have added to that Ghost beer we discussed in another thread, then topped with grated dark chocolate, for a "hot chocolate" beer. Or perhaps got a bit of Godiva's. The Patron is better though.

That beer seems to not be known by anyone that has not traveled. Most of my usual contacts have not heard of it, and are not willing to risk an order of it, even by someone that eats blazing peppery hot foods on a regular basis.

That said, milk unless it is the organic whole, or a high butterfat content rbgh free whole, tends to taste watery in drinks. I get heavy cream for my drinks...which reminds me, methinks tonight I will make that Jameson and sweet cream confection a certain someone suggested in another thread. Oh, and I plan on listening to some Ella and Satchmo while doing so.

I have to say, my son outdid himself the other day. As I've mentioned before, we like those minions in the "Despicable Me" series, and they did a catchy earworm version of DaVinci's Notebook song, "Another Irish Drinking Song", itself an earworm.

I was having a nice quiet drink(Jameson and a bit of honey) before bed, when he comes in with his minion plushes and queues it up to that scene in the movie.
My nice quiet drink ended up being put into a small bottle for later, as it tasted..."off". I instead made myself a light fruity drink, and for my son, I sprayed whipped cream into his mouth topped with a cherry for giggles, and consigned myself to the understanding I would in fact, not be able to sleep right after my nightcap.

He ended up falling asleep on the couch, holding a popcorn bucket in one hand, his plush friends in the other, leaned on me.

After carrying him to bed, I read for a while...

La vita e Bella.

(dinky, we need to start cloning you, as I suspect there isn't enough of you to go around....)

- sad, pouty emoticon of despair goes here... -
(counteracted by despair-me-not flower of profound acceptance and peace in a 'aint it a drag to strive for balance in the Universe sometimes' kind of way.)

ps- there are rums and then there are Rhums... (Mom's Pa was from Barbados.)

TazManiac wrote:ps- there are rums and then there are Rhums... (Mom's Pa was from Barbados.)

I don tink dat the world be ready for more than one o' me.

My son said to say he fixed that little bit up there for you...

Julie wrote:What do you all think? Is this just silliness? Or do you think that where you are and what you're listening to can affect what you want to drink or what you're willing to drink?

It makes plenty of sense to me.

Many of our senses are linked together to some degree or another. That's why food might taste “off” when you have a stuffed-up nose and can't smell, for example. Some rodents apparently have a link that somewhat merges their senses of smell and sound (called “smound”). And people often have mental conditions where their senses tend to overlap and they hear colours or feel tastes.

Also, sound is an extremely influential sense to us. That's why advertising and marketing companies have funded so many studies into sound and music. Music will influence what people buy and how people act, so why not also influence what you drink?

As for whether or not there might be any silliness about you. . .ummm. . .errrr. . .I'll plead the 21st Amendment on that one.

(I'm going to have to wait a bit until I get to where I can enjoy youtube worthy bandwidth, consider this a placeholder until later)

I don't drink alcohol, and I barely know anything about all of these weird drinks y'all're talking about (Dafuq is a Mudslide?), but I understand the concept.
...
I can't say I've experienced the phenomenon firsthand, however. But now that the idea is in my head, I'll keep an eye out for it.

Music is but ONE factor that puts us in the mood for a given drink- then again, the drink itself can adjust our taste in music. Country fans are more aware of this than rockers, I suspect- and that because C&W tells a story while rock provides a downbeat more than anything else.
Myself- I drink to get drunk. Often enough (but not always) when I am drunk, I get violent.
I don't drink these days- quit in 2002.
Pretty love songs make me want light beer or wine. Dance music and I want ale, hard cider or crafted beers. When I gamble, I drink brandy, neat. Whiskey, vodka, rum and ESPESIALLY tequila make me want to fight. Corn likker makes me fall down.

Vocabulary question: is corn likker just a phonetic spelling for "corn liquor"? And is corn liquor (likker?) another name for moonshine? Or even in the same category?

GlytchMeister wrote:Vocabulary question: is corn likker just a phonetic spelling for "corn liquor"? And is corn liquor (likker?) another name for moonshine? Or even in the same category?

"Corn Likker", "Moonshine", "White Mule", "White Lightning", "Corn Squeezin's" or sometimes just plain 'Corn"- they all mean the same thing- sour mash corn liquor. Semi-open fermentation allows a touch of vinegar to form, giving it the slight sour bite. Stuff will run a car if you mix in ether to cut the octane and pressurize the tank.

Sgt. Howard wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Vocabulary question: is corn likker just a phonetic spelling for "corn liquor"? And is corn liquor (likker?) another name for moonshine? Or even in the same category?

"Corn Likker", "Moonshine", "White Mule", "White Lightning", "Corn Squeezin's" or sometimes just plain 'Corn"- they all mean the same thing- sour mash corn liquor. Semi-open fermentation allows a touch of vinegar to form, giving it the slight sour bite. Stuff will run a car if you mix in ether to cut the octane and pressurize the tank.

Myth Confirmed: if you just get high enough proof moonshine, you can run a car on it straight. I think it works in older and modern cars.

GlytchMeister wrote:I don't drink alcohol, and I barely know anything about all of these weird drinks y'all're talking about (Dafuq is a Mudslide?), but I understand the concept.
...
I can't say I've experienced the phenomenon firsthand, however. But now that the idea is in my head, I'll keep an eye out for it.

General recipe, with my version below it:

1oz vodka
1oz Kahlua(coffee) liqueur
1oz Bailey's Irish Cream
1oz heavy cream, chilled
Chocolate syrup

Pour into tall mixer tumbler, and stir lightly, then pour into frozen rocks glass that has been drizzled with the chocolate syrup.

1oz Stolichnaya Vanil
1oz Patron Cafe XO
1oz Saint Brendan's Irish Cream(if I don't have it, I use 1oz Jameson, some simple syrup, and heavy cream instead.
1-2 scoops old fashioned vanilla ice cream(none of that light, sugar free, or fat free crap. Best is if you make it yourself, otherwise use local brands(like Texans using Brahms or blue Bell).
Shaved chocolate( I like Hageland dark Belgian), or Guylian pralines whole

Pour alcohols into blender with ice cream, blend until thick or thin enough. Pour into frozen parfait glass, then top with shaved chocolate, or place a slice in the praline and put on the rim of glass.

Do zdrowia! 건배!(Gunbae) Familial
Slainte! Sante! Friends and extended family

I will post pictures the next time I make them so you can see, including the bottles.