“You know what? F*ck it! I paid my 99 dollars. I’m just gonna get hammered!”
24/02/12 • 1 Comment

As planned in my last post, I spent Wednesday Evening at Whisky Live Perth 2012.   I’m by no means a whisky aficionado, precisely why I was there, to educate myself.   The entry price was $99 but along with the opportunity to sample over 100 international whiskies and bourbons plus some exotic rums, whisky-based cocktails and even whisky-infused beer there was also unlimited snacks, coffee and spring water included in the price.   Sensibly, I arrived in the CBD an hour and a half early for a relaxing but stodgey pre-whisky nosh-up. I was at the venue bang on opening time with a pen and programme in one hand, complimentary whisky glass in the other and a sampling strategy in mind but things didn’t quite roll the way I planned.    No, I didn’t get blind drunk. I got bored!    Spittoons were supplied so I wasn’t swallowing any of the samples. I drank a lot of [...]

Epic Fail!
19/02/12 • 3 Comments

  My last two posts have been about my drinking habits post-HSM. You can read about my New Years and Oz Day experiences here but in a nutshell, I’m now drinking once per month with a focus on quality and/or new, different or unusual alcoholic drinks in the context of an event. February’s drinking occasion was last Tuesday, Valentine’s Day at The Fawlty Towers Dining Experience and I failed. I failed because I didn’t drink. I didn’t drink because the drinks on offer were very ho-hum. It wasn’t VB, Jacob’s Creek and Vat 69 but it wasn’t far removed from that. So, even though this was going to be a night of some drinks and laughs with my wife, I opted to postpone my February drinking treat for something better that met my new criteria. Minus the alcohol it was still an hilarious evening and if The Fawlty Towers Dining Experience visits your city, I highly recommend [...]

What’s on the other side?
28/01/12 • 4 Comments

Everybody’s HSM journey is going to be different. We all arrived here for different reasons and we all have a different destination in mind.  I posted an update earlier in January describing my first drinking experience after 2 back-to-back 3 month HSM’s and my planned drinking strategy from here on in. A number of people commented on it and wanted progress reports. I’ll be honest though, I felt the underlying tone of the comments, however encouraging, was that moderation or infrequent drinking was not a sustainable strategy and that returning to old patterns of consumption was inevitable. I thank the respondents for that because it merely strengthened my resolve. So to Australia Day, my first drinking occasion since New years Eve. My drinking preferences are largely shaped by many years living in other countries and working in the wine industry in Australia, Europe and New Zealand. As with New Year’s [...]

6 Month Celebration & The Dawn Of A New Era
13/01/12 • 8 Comments

New Year’s Eve marked the end of back-to-back 3 month HSM’s. Since June 1st 2011 I’ve dropped 10 kilos and achieved my goal of earning my entire income independent of location from anywhere with a wi-fi connection and a phone signal. I celebrated with 17 hours of indulgence beginning at 10am on December 31st with a Luigi Francoli Grappa and an espresso, better known in Italy as a Caffè Corretto which loosely translates as “corrected coffee.” Around lunch time I enjoyed a Rodenbach which is a unique wild-ferment “sour beer” from West Flanders in Belgium where I worked for 2 years. After a little nap I refreshed my palate with an Aperol Spritz aperitif, a popular pre-dinner drink in Vienna. 8 courses of food followed over the next 9 hours, matched with wines and spirits including Larry Cherubino’s “Mix Master” Riesling Pinot Grigio Fiano, Vinaceous Divine Light Verdelho, Drift Sauvignon Blanc from [...]

And So It Begins… Again!
01/10/11 • 3 Comments

First 3 months rocked. Couldn’t help but take another 3 for a spin. Bring it!