haggholm | I appreciate the finer things in life (Reply)

Or, to restate the subject, I seem to be following in Sheepy’s footsteps and become a snob with respect to many things (starting with beer, which I owe to her).

I’m definitely a beer snob. I won’t drink the cheap macrobrews (Molson, Keith’s, Bud, Labatt, etc.). I just won’t touch them. The last time I had a glass of Heineken (free at an office party), I had a sip or two and poured the rest down the sink.

Give me rich, full-bodied ales, not insipid lagers; give me dark ales and porters and stouts. Give me microbrews, give me variety, give me beers with flavours to interest the palate rather than bland swill designed not to have any positive qualities, but only to avoid offending. And keep your rice out of my beer.

Current favourites include Traquair’s House Ale and Jacobite Ale, Lìa Fail, and (much to my surprise) Granville Island’s winter ale (their regular selection leaves me indifferent); but I change my mind rather frequently. I crave variety.
Whisky? Give me a single malt, a finger or so in my glass, neat if you please. Current favourite: Glenlivet (I believe mine’s a 10-year-old).
I don’t know much about wine, but I’m starting to very much enjoy them—red wines in particular. One would think I might enjoy Merlot, or perhaps Cabernet Sauvignon—varieties whereof you can find perfectly drinkable representatives at very reasonable prices. …But no, of course not. I enjoy some cabs, but I dislike Merlot, and my favourites are other wines altogether.

After long being a fan of Chianti, my new favourite type of wine is Meritage—in particular, left bank Bordeaux style wines. These are usually a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and some third variety such as Médoc; left bank ones tend to be predominantly Cabernet. I don’t insist at actually having wines from Bordeaux, and there are some very good Meritage wines from elsewhere. The Red Rooster winery in the Okanagan Valley here in BC makes an excellent Meritage. This is a lot cheaper than real French wines, but it still isn’t like picking up the cheapest drinkable Merlot at the liquor store.
Coffee—damn it, coffee, too. I was able for a long time to enjoy the free coffee at the office, but thanks to the Other Sarah, my morning coffee at work is now purchased every morning from Caffè Artigiano, who make seriously good espresso beverages. As for drip coffee, I no longer buy it except at Caffè Calabria on the Drive. I don’t know what they do with their beans, but it’s heavenly.

While this is, of course, chiefly an excuse to mention the stuff I like and covertly recommend that you all try them, I can’t help but feel that it’s a bit of a pain sometimes. If I didn’t appreciate the finer things in life, as I put it with intentional pretentiousness, I could buy wine at half the price I often pay, beer at a third the price, and get my coffee entirely for free.