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Ditto on the teenage gin spree. I'm 74 this month and haven't tasted a drop of it since then. God bless you.

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Got hammered too on the stuff as a teen mixing it with OJ; took me 2yrs before I could tolerate OJ again! As far as Gin, I can tolerate it now but as more of a mixed ingredient like in a Singapore Sling or Samoan Fog Cutter. The thought of drinking the stuff straight - like in a Martini - gives me the heebie jeebies!

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I grew up in a country club (Waccabuc) and formed a picture of imbibing that divided alcoholics into two parties: those who could handle it and those who couldn't. George was a member who handled drinking well. One story is that, as he readied for a trip to that night's Broadway performance, he talked the bartender into making the World's Biggest Martini. The obliging bartender provided him a brandy snifter replete with its martini, which George enjoyed as his driver drove him south. Then there was Bill, a frequent dishwasher, as I heard a former concert violinist who hadn't recovered from his wife's death. He was one who couldn't handle it. He was "frequent" because, like many dishwashers, his penchant was doing an excellent job, working hard all week, then taking his paycheck on Tuesday; then he would disappear for a week or two until he had drunk it all up, make his way to the employment office, and start again. Sometimes he did stay sober for weeks and months at a time, but the last we heard of him was when they fished his body out of the East River late one winter.

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I enjoy a dirty martini with vodka. I would need to save the brine. Guess I am a lightweight.

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As I say, perfection takes preparation! And the recipe does take some time for that preparation.

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Roger i enjoy your reading and am glad you [still] are a voice of truth.

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