Defining Drinks

I have received the “what’s your favourite food?” question countless times, but unless I am about to order one, I have never been asked about my favourite drink. I feel that someone’s favourite drink gives insight into who they are, even what they value. For example, if someone drinks coffee non-stop, you can assume that they want to be energized, awake, and prepared. If someone drinks straight-up cow’s milk, well, I have the ick.  If someone loves orange juice, they miss being a child. Yet there is also an emptiness in being described by what your beverage of choice; after all, you are not just made up of what you eat and drink, but rather what you do, say and feel. What we eat and drink can express this, and can trigger memories for us. Part of ourselves can be held in drinks, in memory. As much as I never thought too hard about drinks, upon reflection, this is my history of drinks. 

 They say you are what you eat - but I am what I drink.

I had never paid much attention to what I liked to drink until I was in middle school. Everyone would post pictures of Starbucks Frappuccinos and I succumbed to the pressure of “cool” Ontario middle schoolers. But truth be told, I hated Frappuccinos. They were disgusting to me. I remember begging my mom to bring me to Starbucks to get the Zombie Frappuccino around Halloween 2017. After years of pretending to like them, that was the final straw. That was my end, the worst Frappuccino I’d ever had.

After the Zombie Frappuccino, I firmly stuck to Chai Tea. I occassionally dabble in the  the mystical Starbucks menu, but alas, it costs money, money I am unwilling to surrender.

A few years ago, I visited Glasgow, Scotland, where I went to T.G.I. Fridays for the first time. Why did I go while in Glasgow? I don’t know. I ordered my favourite drink at the time, a Piña Colada. It was horrible, so bad in fact that it was the first, and only time I have ever sent a drink back. The server was baffled, but I insisted on sending it back.

Greek Gods have nectar, and I have espresso martinis. On the same trip to Scotland as the Piña Colada fiasco, I had my first espresso martini. I felt so grown up, so empowered. So, confused… coffee and alcohol together? This is Scotland, not Ireland. I had heard of putting Baileys in coffee but didn’t know about Espresso Martinis. Around this time I had also started watching Sex and the City, so I was excited to try anything with martini in the name. 

Cut to today, two years later, and espresso martinis are my drink of choice. I’ll accept a rum and coke while at a club, a pint of Guiness at a pub, but anywhere else I get an espresso martini. I now make them for myself, it’s the drink I bring to parties. Apart from my own recipe, I have found that Union makes them best (well, second best). I have become an espresso martini snob, and I’m not ashamed.

I’m honestly not that big of a fan of the taste of coffee, but I love to have it. The boost that it gives my day and how it helps me stay organized, by including a barista moment in my daily routine.  Some say I’m crazy for drinking coffee black, but I drink it black because I’m lactose intolerant and because I would rather have sugar in other foods or drinks.

Apart from espresso martinis, I love guava juice, diet coke (I know it’s probably bad for me, I’ll quit when I’m ready). Chai tea, tea with honey, of course, water.

There are so many people in my family who don’t like drinking water. “Fish pee in it!” my grandfather says. Yet for me, water is the only drink that I find fully satisfies my thirst, I need to drink water with other drinks. If this is a medical condition… someone please let me know. I love water, I love the taste, I find it so refreshing. It is a life force. Water is the drink I will always choose to drink, the drink I will drink at any time of day and anywhere I can. It should be criminal to charge for water, in my opinion.

Water will always be at the top of my pyramid, with espresso martinis following closely in second place.

 The things that we drink can be very passive - to quench a thirst, to pass the time. Or they can become our personality. It’s crazy that something we consume can consume us. I find it ridiculous that drinks can be given distinctions such as ‘girly drinks’ or being ‘for the boys’- we should all be able to like what we like. It’s really not that deep, its simply hydration and we should enjoy what hydrates us.

Illustration: Sydney Hanson