At midnight on April 1, 2015, I strolled into my local Harris Teeter to buy my first legal alcohol. I bought a 6-pack of Guinness, a 12-pack of Newcastle, a 6-pack of Peroni, and a 6-pack of Strongbow. The cashier who attended me laughed audibly at the date on my ID and said I wasted no time making my first purchase. Thus began my first year as a legal drinker, full of new discoveries and bad decisions.
When I turned 21 years old, I wasn't without a little bit of experience in the world of booze. Multiple trips to England, where the drinking age was just 18, had afforded me a bit of leeway in discovering my likes and dislikes. My first ever drink there was a half-pint of a pubs local brew. I had 4 sips and left the rest to my companion that evening. The beer was followed by cider, which instantly became my favorite drink. There was one, in particular, an elderflower and lime cider from a company called Kopparberg, that really blew me away. I haven't been able to find a cider quite as refreshing or tasty since.
After England, I waited patiently for my 21st birthday to roll around. I had found a small taste for beer in Guinness and Newcastle, two dark beers that are full of flavor and body. I made these part of my first purchase because they were the names I recognized and had tried before. Peroni was a different animal. I had only heard people on Twitter talk of it before, but it was highly praised, and cheap enough. I cracked open a bottle on night one and regretted ever spending money on the beer. It was not what the hype made it to be.
My first liquor purchase was a bottle of Chopin vodka, a Polish potato vodka, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and a bottle of Elderflower liquor, which had been recommended to me by a customer at the restaurant I worked at. I had spent the night before making a massive list of liquors and their prices, narrowing it down to the three I bought the next day. I found a fantastic drink was the elderflower liquor, Chopin, and Sprite, with a lime wedge for garnish. But my favorite mixed drink is a mojito. Made with fresh mint, lime juice, and Bacardi, there isn't anything that could top it.
I didn't develop a real taste for wine until March 2016. Up until then, I only drank wine if there was nothing else, and reluctantly at that. I couldn't stomach white wines, and red ones were just as bad. It wasn't until I tried my first cabernet that I found my wine niche. The wine was called Stonewall, and it was a cabernet sauvignon from South Africa. It blew me away. For the first time I could actually taste the ingredients the wine said it contained. I began to buy a bottle of some cabernet every week, having a glass every other night.
This first year of legal drinking, which ended on April 1st, 2016, was very interesting. I finally got to explore the wide world of alcohol and its endless possibilities. I was introduced to new ways to brew beer, mix liquor, and serve wine, all while finding my personal tastes amongst the thousands of different drinks that one can find in the adult beverage aisle.
