Make Mine a Double

Heading out on the town has become more expensive than ever, and alcohol and budgeting don’t exactly go hand in hand. This means you may up spending a bundle on everything from drinks and club admission to taxis and takeaways without really keeping track of your cash.

This is why, if you’re planning a really big night out or even a party, you need to be prepared with some extra cash. It doesn’t make sense to blow your wages or your student loan on just one night, but then you want it to be really special. This is where online bingo can help.

By joining a bingo site like Cheeky Bingo and playing a few of its great games, you could win enough cash to have a really memorable night. There’ll be no need to skimp when getting the drinks in – you could even order Champagne for all your friends if you have a particularly lucky time online.

Cheeky Bingo is packed with games, as well as promotions and prizes, and there are also loads of like-minded new people to meet. You never know – you might have so much fun that you take up online bingo as a hobby, rather than just a way to raise some beer money!

If you want to know more about online bingo, get clued up at ohmybingo.com.

Drinking takes a quite a prominent role in quite a lot of really good fiction, but literature rarely shows the good side of alcohol. Take Ernest Hemingway’s fiction for an example. A lot of Hemingway’s stories centre on drink-fuelled travels in Europe where alcohol seems to play the part of an extra character.

Patrick Hamilton’s novels set in London are also heavy with drink and they are particularly worth reading to get a glimpse of the alcoholic underbelly of some of the fashionable districts of the capital during and after the Second World War.

These are novels that show alcohol in quite an important light. The drinking adds to the stories and is never gratuitous or indicative of lazy writing. Unfortunately, alcohol is all too often portrayed in fiction as being completely one-dimensional and in cheap, shallow, modern novels it’s invariably a vehicle for abusive parenting.

When you are gearing up for the festival season, it has no doubt played on your mind what alcohol to take with you to drink at your campsite.

You need to get this sort of thing in order because you’d be surprised just how quickly supermarkets sell out of certain things because of the festivals.

Cider is an obvious choice because it is cheap and easy to transport. Large two litre bottles of cider are common festival fare.

You can also pick up boxes of wine which are very reasonably-priced and are also very portable. You can take the bag out of the box to make it even easier to carry your wine around.

Finally, it makes sense to take some spirits with you for the bigger nights you expect to join in with. This is purely a matter of taste, but you might have to think about decanting into plastic bottles.

The following are some of the nicest mass produced rums you are likely to find at your local supermarket. Although these rums won’t necessarily compete with pricier, more obscure bottles, they will satisfy if you love rum and want to try a few new varieties.

Myers

This dark rum is rich and sweet and works perfectly when mixed with Diet Coke. Regular Coke tends to make it over-sweet.

Mount Gay

Mount Gay is a golden rum that can be a little deceptive. This spirit is relatively strong so take it easy.

OVD

OVD is another dark, sweet rum. Again this goes well with Diet Coke. It’s also very reasonably-priced.

Brugal

Brugal is a really tasty rum that is just moving into the European market.

If you fancy adding a little bit of spice to a party then you could introduce a few drinking games. However, there are a couple of spirits that bring a sense of mystique that you don’t even need a game to have fun with.

Absinthe is one such spirit. Absinthe has long a reputation for being a particularly hard drink, something that probably owes to its poetic heritage and its widely-prohibited past.

However, absinthe is perfectly safe if consumed in sensible quantities. A great way of having fun with absinthe is to fill a number of shot glasses with it and pass them round your group. You then distribute teaspoons full of sugar to each drinker.

The idea is to let a little bit of absinthe soak into the sugar before setting the spoon alight. Then the drinker dunks the spoon into the shot glass, blows out the absinthe (carefully – don’t spray your drink everywhere!) and downs the shot. This is just a fun way of introducing the ‘Green Fairy’ to your party.

Lent has just begun and lots of people are using the next month and a half to try and lose a bit of weight. People traditionally give up things like cakes, crisps, sweets and chocolate, but cutting down on booze will also help you shed pounds.

It’s all a matter of cutting out the more calorific drinks. I drink rum and coke which is probably one of the worst drinks out there for calories. Beer and wine are also pretty bad and will do nothing for your figure.

You can go for purer concoctions like vodka or gin mixed with tonic or soda to lose a bit of weight, but remember that these hard spirits will get you drunk faster so try and hold back. A slice of lemon or lime is enough to jazz them up a little.

Despite mounting concerns from MP’s regarding the so-called binge drinking culture in the Country it actually appears that we’re no that bad.
A Report from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) indicates that alcohol consumption in 2009 saw the sharpest year-on-year decline since 1948, when the BBPA started collecting figures. Key reasons for this are possibly the recession and increased health concerns.

The figures suggest that the average person drank 89 bottles of wine in a year, down from more than 94 bottles. This represents a 6% fall in 2009 - the fourth annual drop in five years.
Licensed retailers such as pubs, bars, off-licences, restaurants and supermarkets all saw their alcohol sales fall.

So maybe the Treasury should consider these figures before implementing minimum pricing for alcohol.

Council officials in Greater Manchester are drawing up plans to ban the sale of cheap alcohol as they try to cut down on excessive drinking, improve health and cut hospital admissions across the region by up to 5,000.
The plan would outlaw the sale alcohol for less than 50p per unit as well as ending pub loyalty-card schemes, with anyone who breaks the rules being hit with a £500 fine.
Under the scheme a bottle of wine would cost a minimum of £4.50 whilst a six pack of lager will cost at least £6.

The Association of Greater Manchester (Agma) and representatives from the councils of Cheshire, Merseyside, Warrington will meet on Friday to discuss the first draft of the by-law.

If you have a friend or family member who enjoys a glass of Jack Daniels why not make their Christmas an even happier one by giving them a JD gift set.
I’m sure you’ll see plenty of the sets in the shops during the lead up to Christmas but here are a few ideas to consider:

Leather wallet with Key ring in a gift tin:
A genuine leather wallet embossed with logo which comes with a miniature bottle key ring.

Fridge magnets:
Set of three, miniature bottle, cask and logo, magnets.

Poker set:
A gift set containing 50 poker chips, a green baize mat, dealer and blind buttons, playing cards, a Texas Holdem rule book and a 5cl whisky bottle.

Wood box flask set:
This is a favourite amongst enthusiasts as it contains a highly polished hip flask, a liquor funnel and a polished steel shot cup presented in a beautiful wooden box.

As Christmas quickly approaches it’s now time for the supermarkets to introduce their festive drinks offers. So here’s a quick round up of some of the best deals you might find at your local store:

Tesco are offering 3 crates of beer for £20 or 2 crates for £16. The crates included in this offer are Stella Artois, Strongbow, Fosters, Carlsberg, Budweiser and John Smiths.

Asda are offering a similar promotion to Tesco but 2 crates will set you back £15, whilst 3 will cost you £18. However, they have a larger selection of beers to choose from. Asda have also included packs of Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Breezer and WKD.

Morrisons are apparently limiting their offer to 3 for £20 and you can only choose from John Smiths, Carling, Becks and Strongbow.

Drink responsibly and make sure you can remember the night before without a massive hangover! Remember not to drink and drive, if you do, you’re a muppet and deserve everything you get. drinkaware.co.uk