I've always been a drinker,
my parents were of the opinion that in order to teach responsibility then you need to allow people to make their own way, and find out on their own the problems.
at Christmas we'd always receive some beer as a present, which we'd drink with out Christmas meal, or if we had wine, or sherry with the meal we'd drink the beer whilst watching TV later.
As for buying alcohol, well, I've always looked a bit older than I am, so have been buying beer etc since I was 16 - even though it's not legal until you're 18 in the UK.
as for what my poison is now... (little bit of everything)
it really depends.
If I'm sat at home, or in a quiet pub then I like a nice real ale, (a decent ale is difficult to find outside of the UK). Occasionally a stout, (like Guinness)
If I'm on a night out then I'll probably drink a larger or a cider.
a summers day definitely calls for a nice lager or cider. maybe mixed with lemonade to make it a refreshing drink.
for lager I'd normally drink Stella Artois, (I used to drink Fosters all the time, but think it tastes like water now!)
I am a big fan of snake bite and black.
(1/2 a pint of cider, mixed with half a pint of lager, with a bit of black current cordial in it.) most places will not serve you this drink, aside from the fact that it turn a bit jelly in the glass making them difficult to clean, it's also got a strong association with violence.)
I don't generally drink wine, unless its Port, and then not in large amounts.
for spirits, I went off Vodka a long time ago, the occasional vodka and orange is still nice, but I'm much more into other spirits now.
but again it's situational, it'd depend on my mood, and what I felt like.
if I'm out for a night on the town it's going to be a whiskey, probably with coke.
if I'm drinking rum (which I may do either on a night out, or sat at home) then I'll either drink it straight or mixed with a coke. it's always a dark rum.
if I'm drinking whisky (as in scotch) it's either neat or cut with water.
and that's usually at home.
It's nice to get some friends around and crack open a decent whisky.
for cocktails, if I'm in a decent place then I'm partial for a mojito, or a long island iced tea. but generally you need to be in a cocktail bar for this to happen, not just in a regular pub.
I mentioned snakebite earlier, does anyone else have any weird and wonderful concoctions?
(top tips, try Jack Daniels (normal) with Mountain Dew. Or JD and apple juice...
for a really good flavour try Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey flavour mixed with apple juice.)
I realise that I sound like an alcoholic after that post.
but I'm actually quite a sensible drinker! I don't get drunk often, only really drink occasionally.
Not drinking often does enable me to buy nicer booze.
so if I was an alcoholic I'd be buying the cheapest scotch that there is and drinking it as fast as I could without it touching my mouth so I couldn't taste it.
Knowing that I'll be buying only one bottle of scotch in a year, only 1 bottle of rum etc means that I'm not spending as much, so don't feel so bad about reaching for a more expensive bottle.