I Like The Drink Gets Ink'ed!

If you're in Atlantic Canada, keep an eye out for the next issue of East Coast Living magazine. My old friend Trevor Adams is managing editor there, and he recently interviewed me for an article he's writing about coffee. We had a really interesting chat about everything from the quality of your water to the best way to spike a good cup of joe. I even submitted some photos of one of my creations-they may use them with the article. I'll post a link to the article when it's online, and look for the issue on newsstands in late November.

Spiced Scot

Here is a twist on the more traditional Rye and Ginger (which is one of my all time favourites), the Spiced Scot.

2 oz Scotch

Ginger Beer

Mix with ice in a Highball glass.

A simple refreshing drink with a bit of a bite. And for the love of Pete, don't use your best single malt for this one.

Vancouver Updates Liquor Laws In TIme For Olympics

The Winter Olympics are coming in February 2010 to Vancouver. This means thousands and thousands of tourist from all over the world, coming from places with varied, but mostly modern liquor laws. Until a recent decision by Vancouver city council, many of the bars and restaurants in the city were required to close by midnight. The new law will allow establishments to remain open to 1 am and 2 am on weekends.

The bar and restaurant owners seem to be in favour of this and so are many citizens, however there are others who say that it will lead to more trouble with public drunkenness.

What do you think? Does extending the times that bars can serve alcohol lead to more trouble with over drinking? Or will it prove to better the city and the Olympic experience?

School Yard Fun: Is University Binge Drinking a Right of Passage?

Recent news stories out of Nova Scotia, Canada have brought into the light the issues surrounding young people and drinking. Over the past weekend emergency crews were called to Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia when a young female student passed out from drinking too much. When crews arrived they examined six people for drinking and four where hospitalized over night due to alcohol poisoning. The partying at Acadia University is not an unusual activity for university students, but it highlights what seems to be a growing problem of binge drinking by young, inexperienced people in some universities.

In contrast, in a recent article form the McGill Daily (http://www.mcgilldaily.com/accounts/13/articles/20162) discusses the introduction of the alcohol culture of Montreal, Quebec where McGill university is located and legal drinking age is 18, to first year students. The artical makes the arguement that this benfits the students by teaching them about a society that includes alcohol - national surveys seems to back this up.

I too was once a young lad, fresh to a new town and barely the legal drinkning age (I admit nothing of drinking underage...) and yes, I did indulge in the drink more then one should, but I never ended up in a hospital or jail. I do think that each of us has to discover what it means to be independent and an adult, and in most societies around the world alcohol is part of the culture, but is this being taken to far? Is peer pressure form Frosh activities and other students having too much influence on some young people?