The Earliest You’ve Ever Started Drinking?
by Adam Bonislawski
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It is with a certain fondness that we recall an early winter morning in an unheated Parisian apartment when, from within the warm cocoon of a borrowed sleeping bag, we reached out with one tentative hand to grasp a cup of thick, resinous wine that we gulped in two long draughts. We were younger then.
Michael
Where he presides: Rogue, Chelsea
Favorite drink: Macallan 12
I’d say 9am. It might be a football game, it might be a wedding, it might be a weekend with buddies. Maybe it could be for something else. It’s not a common occurrence, but I’ve certainly done it more than once.
Tom
Where he presides: Bushwick Country Club, Bushwick
Favorite drink: Maker’s Mark on the rocks
Well, I used to be a commercial fisherman. I used to work pretty much around the clock. And I remember coming into the docks one morning around 9am and getting pretty drunk.
Chuck
Where he presides: ArtLand Bar, Williamsburg
Favorite drink: Jameson on the rocks
I used to get drunk on Sunday mornings like around 9am. It was back when I was like 18. I was alone — my parents were away on vacation or something. I don’t do that anymore, but I grew up in Wyoming, so... I’d just lie when I bought it and say I was 21.
Diane
Where she presides: Mark Bar, Greenpoint
Favorite drink: Doesn’t drink
Actually, I’m not really a good person to ask that one. I don’t drink. Although, there is a bartender downstairs who drinks — want me to go get her? [Our intrepid correspondent assents heartily and Diane heads downstairs to summon bartender #2. Alas, bartender #2 wants nothing to do with our intrepid correspondent nor his feeble attempts at “journalism” and so he is sent on his way. Not, however, before the lovely, if teetotalling, Diane notes that people always find it strange that she’s a bartender who doesn’t drink. “They always act like they think I’m putting something in their beer,” she says. Which strikes our intrepid correspondent as an interesting point. So, Diane... are you putting stuff in our beer?]
Robert
Where he presides: Flannery’s, Greenwich Village
Favorite drink: Duvel
Drinking is best done under the cover of darkness: Take it from me, my friend. I’d say the earliest I ever started boozing was 10:30 in the morning. It was for a wedding, and I pretty much needed to do it. Yes, drinking made the whole event a lot better.
Tiffany
Where she presides: The Abbey, Williamsburg
Favorite drink: Vodka soda
Does it count as drinking early if you go around the clock? If you drink for 24 hours, isn’t everything early?
Michael
Where he presides: Rogue, Chelsea
Favorite drink: Macallan 12
I’d say 9am. It might be a football game, it might be a wedding, it might be a weekend with buddies. Maybe it could be for something else. It’s not a common occurrence, but I’ve certainly done it more than once.
Tom
Where he presides: Bushwick Country Club, Bushwick
Favorite drink: Maker’s Mark on the rocks
Well, I used to be a commercial fisherman. I used to work pretty much around the clock. And I remember coming into the docks one morning around 9am and getting pretty drunk.
Chuck
Where he presides: ArtLand Bar, Williamsburg
Favorite drink: Jameson on the rocks
I used to get drunk on Sunday mornings like around 9am. It was back when I was like 18. I was alone — my parents were away on vacation or something. I don’t do that anymore, but I grew up in Wyoming, so... I’d just lie when I bought it and say I was 21.
Diane
Where she presides: Mark Bar, Greenpoint
Favorite drink: Doesn’t drink
Actually, I’m not really a good person to ask that one. I don’t drink. Although, there is a bartender downstairs who drinks — want me to go get her? [Our intrepid correspondent assents heartily and Diane heads downstairs to summon bartender #2. Alas, bartender #2 wants nothing to do with our intrepid correspondent nor his feeble attempts at “journalism” and so he is sent on his way. Not, however, before the lovely, if teetotalling, Diane notes that people always find it strange that she’s a bartender who doesn’t drink. “They always act like they think I’m putting something in their beer,” she says. Which strikes our intrepid correspondent as an interesting point. So, Diane... are you putting stuff in our beer?]
Robert
Where he presides: Flannery’s, Greenwich Village
Favorite drink: Duvel
Drinking is best done under the cover of darkness: Take it from me, my friend. I’d say the earliest I ever started boozing was 10:30 in the morning. It was for a wedding, and I pretty much needed to do it. Yes, drinking made the whole event a lot better.
Tiffany
Where she presides: The Abbey, Williamsburg
Favorite drink: Vodka soda
Does it count as drinking early if you go around the clock? If you drink for 24 hours, isn’t everything early?
