I’m kind of opposite from you, I have a fairly low-resolution sense of taste. I sometimes genuinely can’t tell the difference between two foods that everyone else assures me are of very different quality. I don’t mind the taste of alcohol at all. I’ve actually drunk a bit of 99% pure alcohol once or twice, and while it certainly wasn’t a pleasant taste, it was my brain, and the instant numbness in my throat, that told me this was a really stupid idea, not the taste.
I do drink small amounts on occasion, and for me types of alcoholic beverages are hugely different, in ways that are obviously cultural not physiological. Sparkling wine, for example, is for celebration, the sensation of drinking it reminds me of a hundred different other happy occasions and makes me happy even if this particular occasion isn’t really one I particularly care about. Beer, wine, cocktails all have their roles as signifiers of particular situations.
The main benefit of alcohol, it seems to me, is a particular kind of closeness between people at similar levels of alcoholic intoxication. People call it reduced inhibitions, but I don’t think that’s very accurate. I suspect it is more about imagining each other less complexly, which builds trust somehow. (Maybe intoxication makes you vulnerable and shared vulnerability builds intimacy. Or maybe you just know on a visceral level, that insincerity is just too hard for the both of you right now. I don’t know, I don’t claim to understand the mechanism, but the resulting effect seems solid.)
I’m kind of opposite from you, I have a fairly low-resolution sense of taste. I sometimes genuinely can’t tell the difference between two foods that everyone else assures me are of very different quality. I don’t mind the taste of alcohol at all. I’ve actually drunk a bit of 99% pure alcohol once or twice, and while it certainly wasn’t a pleasant taste, it was my brain, and the instant numbness in my throat, that told me this was a really stupid idea, not the taste.
I do drink small amounts on occasion, and for me types of alcoholic beverages are hugely different, in ways that are obviously cultural not physiological. Sparkling wine, for example, is for celebration, the sensation of drinking it reminds me of a hundred different other happy occasions and makes me happy even if this particular occasion isn’t really one I particularly care about. Beer, wine, cocktails all have their roles as signifiers of particular situations.
The main benefit of alcohol, it seems to me, is a particular kind of closeness between people at similar levels of alcoholic intoxication. People call it reduced inhibitions, but I don’t think that’s very accurate. I suspect it is more about imagining each other less complexly, which builds trust somehow. (Maybe intoxication makes you vulnerable and shared vulnerability builds intimacy. Or maybe you just know on a visceral level, that insincerity is just too hard for the both of you right now. I don’t know, I don’t claim to understand the mechanism, but the resulting effect seems solid.)