Drinking the alphabet in shot form

January 12, 2006 12:59 PM

Chicagoland area - Need to drink the alphabet in shot form. A = Absinthe, B = Beam, C = Cuervo and so on. What bar would have the most different kinds of alcohol in the area?
posted by dabradfo to food & drink (22 comments total)

Are you drinking this all in one night? You'll have to report back and let us know how it turns out.
posted by voidcontext at 1:05 PM on January 12, 2006

A = Absinthe
B = Beam
C = Cuervo
D = Drambuie
E = Everclear
F= Frangelico
G = Goldschlager
H = Holy shit
I = I never want to drink again
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 1:26 PM on January 12, 2006

Yikes, man! You are going to be sick. I do not advocate this at all.

But...

If you are determined to do this you should consider that if you start with absinthe, you'll never make it to your second vowel. Try aiming for cocktails and cordials with lower alcohol contents. Regular spirits are generally bottled at 40% alcohol (80 proof).

Most of the following spirits are generally 15 to 30 % alcohol: Amaretto, Bailey's, Campari, DuBonnet, Eggnog, Frangelico, Grand Marnier, Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry, Irish Mist, ...Limoncello, Malibu, ...Pimm's, ...Rock and Rye, Sloe Gin, Triple Sec...do the homework.

Be sure to eat a big steak dinner before starting and have at least two hearty snacks during your adventure. You'll need the carbs, the protein and the minerals to keep from suffering alcoholic posioning and to ensure that your body dosn't go into some kind of shock due to depletion of sodium or some such.

Also, any bartender who will knowingly help you complete this task by serving ou this much alcholol should be in jail.
posted by mds35 at 1:39 PM on January 12, 2006

I'm also interested in hearing about whether this is something you plan on doing yourself all in one sitting. I used to take people up on drinking contests all the time. I won many of them, and even I would never have tried to drink 26 shots. That's basically 40 oz of liquor. Unless you plan on almost all of that being 30 proof liqueurs, I would suggest doing it close to a hospital.

Seriously, try drinking just 20 oz of tequila. Then, during the gut-wrenching sickness that follows, decide whether you want to double it.

But hey, if you can pull this off and live, it will certainly be one of those really stupid things you'll brag about the rest of your life. Others won't understand that, but among us serious alcoholics it will be some serious street cred. Like the time I had to have one of the VPs drive me home covered in my own vomit. At least I think it was vomit.

Good times.
posted by y6y6y6 at 1:41 PM on January 12, 2006

26 shots (750mL) in an evening can be done. I've done it often enough. dabradfo - if you're not normally a heavy drinker, take the other's advice and go for half shots or something.

You might not be able to find a single establishment. I'd suggest making up your A-Z list, and have as many alternatives for each letter as you can (A=absinth, amber bock, armagnac, &c). Perhaps call around to see if establishment A has A-G, establishment B has H-P, and establishment C has Q-Z (although it's suck finishing that list of with... Zima...).
posted by PurplePorpoise at 2:12 PM on January 12, 2006

How about doing this at home (or a friend's home), with tiny amounts of each drink? You really don't want to be doing 26 shots.

I remember one Thanksgiving in New Haven after I'd been up all night drinking at a friend's place—I walked the mile or so home, puking every couple of blocks. Fortunately it was a holiday and most people weren't out on the streets to observe me. My friend, though, once puked right in front of a restaurant's picture window in full view of a tableful of horrified diners. Good times.
posted by languagehat at 3:05 PM on January 12, 2006

To restate the question; does anyone know what bar would have the most different kinds of alcohol in the Chicagoland area?

To elaborate a little on the goal:
- Two people are splitting the shots
- Mixed drink shots are fair game (kamikaze, etc...)
- Drinks are imbibed over a twelve hour period
posted by dabradfo at 3:18 PM on January 12, 2006

26 shots (750mL) in an evening can be done.

750mL is doable. I've definitely done this several times. However, 26 shots is, according to google's conversions -- 26 shots x 1.5 oz/shot = 39 oz. 750 mL is more like 25 oz. That's like a bottle and a half of hard liquor in one evening, which is a hell of a lot.

sorry to add to the derail
posted by fishfucker at 4:27 PM on January 12, 2006

Have you tried looking at Metromix? The Roadhouse sounds like it might be fun: "A Tequila Club card entitles you to a T-shirt when you've thrown back 25 shots." And I hear oldtown is a good location for plenty of bars/clubs.

I've friends in Chicago I can ask as well. Do you have a specific area you'd prefer? Metromix also offers area specific searches.
posted by smbird at 4:35 PM on January 12, 2006

Oh and kudos on the creative shots idea! I'd love to hear the 26 you decide to go with. I'd enjoy trying this over a weekend... or five. My tolerance isn't what it used to be.
posted by smbird at 4:38 PM on January 12, 2006

meta
posted by Saucy Intruder at 5:19 PM on January 12, 2006

I think A is for Amaretto, which is tasty and legal. I also think that drinking 26 shots in one evening is suicidal. I seriously doubt there's a bar in the US which would serve that many drinks to one person in one evening.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:41 PM on January 12, 2006

I don't know what the bar keeps stocked now, but if ever there was a place that *should* be able to help you it's Tuman's Alcohol Abuse Center.

I'm thinking they probably cleaned up the men's room, which is really too bad.
posted by FlamingBore at 5:56 PM on January 12, 2006

Well... if your determined to start with Absinthe, I know that the L&L at Belmont and Clark serves Absente mixed with some kind of wormwood infusion. It doesn't sound like it would taste quite like real Absinthe and will set you back $20 or something, though.

And I have no idea about the rest of the alphabet. Delilah's has like 200 kinds of whiskey and bourbon, there's the Hopleaf or Quenchers for a million kinds of beer. I'm stumped on the "bar with a huge liquor selection," though. Probably because I'm poor and can barely afford PBR.
posted by ruby.aftermath at 6:20 PM on January 12, 2006

I'm not too familiar with Chicago, but chances are that if you hit up a college bar you will have a lot of luck finding a large variety of mixed-shots. At least, that is how it is at PSU.
posted by Loto at 6:20 PM on January 12, 2006

My former stepfather claimed he'd drink cooking oil (to coat his innards and slow the alcohol absorption) before going out and challenging people to drinking contests for significant amounts of cash. Just in case you might want to earn back a bit of your outlay....
posted by jalexei at 6:57 PM on January 12, 2006

Oh, and try to avoid the K for Kummel. It tastes just like rye bread and will make you very unhappy that far into the alphabet.
posted by NYCnosh at 7:35 PM on January 12, 2006

I'll put in a big for my favorite T=Tullamore Dew.

Don't forget the classics. Gimlet. Old Fashioned. Dark and Stormy. Collins. Wassail. Manhattan. Collins. Sour.

Or our friends in South America. Caparhina. Mojito.

Oh, I'll post more when I'm sober myself.
posted by desuetude at 9:02 PM on January 12, 2006

What volume are the shots? Wouldn't it be about a 'bottle' of spirits or so? (Curious)
posted by DrtyBlvd at 2:13 AM on January 13, 2006

Here's a resource that will allow you to assemble your own list based on your preferences of liquor (rum, whiskey, etc.) courtesy of Manitoba's Liquor Marts Online.

Geesh, just answer the question, people.
posted by MrZero at 7:53 AM on January 13, 2006

Also, Wikipedia has some great resources for this project as well.

Alcoholic Beverage
List of Vodkas
List of Rum Producers
Gin
List of Whisky Brands
List of Liqueurs
posted by MrZero at 8:24 AM on January 13, 2006

Also, for choosing bars, I highly recommend The Chicago Bar Project by Sean Parnell. He gives excellent "average patron" reviews of the bars. The bars are sorted by neighborhood, so you can start locally, and he even picks up a few in the suburbs.
posted by MrZero at 8:29 AM on January 13, 2006