Alcohol in the writing life

"Alcohol is often a strong current in the writing life"...

"Why do writers drink? The answer might be “for the same reasons as everyone else”. The evidence from Alcoholics Anonymous is that writers do drink, but then so do cobblers, surgeons and street sweepers. Alcoholics are not all creative, sensitive and intelligent, though there is often a self-pitying grandiosity which persuades the boozer that he is uniquely blessed, or cursed, by thin skin. 

"But if writers are no more likely to be alcoholics, they will more commonly write about it. And the justifications, evasions and fabulations of the serious drinker find a parallel in the creative act of the writer, whose livelihood depends on the creative reshaping of reality, the juggling of dreams and the generation of alternative realities. 

"The challenge for the writer who tries to write while drunk, rather than simply rewarding himself with a drink when the day’s work is done, is that the same chemical relaxation afforded by alcohol quickly destroys any sense of the rhythm of a sentence."

From: http://m.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/scotland/alcohol-the-source-and-scourge-of-literary-talent-1-3000742



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Home made walnut liquor

Today we opened the first bottle of walnut liquor we made in July last year.

Wow! This is easily one of the best alcohols I've tasted in a long time.

It is said that walnut liquor is a miracle cure for heartburn and stomach pains caused by heavy meals. It was used for such medicinal purposes in ancient Poland.

Here's how we made it:

1. 5 walnuts (must be still soft - before they ripen and turn hard)


2. 1L of good quality vodka (45%)


3. 1 tsp of sugar (optional)

• Add finely sliced walnuts to vodka. Cork and place aside in a dark place for about 5 weeks.


• You will notice that alcohol changed color to brown or dark brown.


• Pour alcohol through cheesecloth (or a paper coffee filter) to a separate bottle and cork it, leaving behind just enough to keep walnuts covered.


• Sprinkle walnuts with sugar and set aside for about 3 weeks. The result will be sweet syrup. Pour it through cheesecloth (or a paper coffee filter) to previously placed aside alcohol and stir.


• If color is very dark, add more alcohol until it turns nice amber (tastes better.)


• Cork and place in a dark place for 6 months or more. They say 1 year walnut liquor is best - I'll let you know when my second bottle is opened.

Enjoy!

Amber liquor - cure for everything?

Made a bottle of amber liqueur.

Used 98% Alc/vol Spirit (spirytus) over grains of natural Baltic amber.

It tastes wicked, sort of like PineSol, but man-oh-man is it ever potent. One shot glass of this stuff does what a bottle of wine used to.

Had one shot and wrote a whole chapter of my novel.

By the way, the liquor is for medicinal purposes. Amber vodka in Polish folk medicine is said to be a remedy for: flu, asthma, rheumatism, pneumonia, and heart ailments (?), and as I found out it aids creativity too.

Here's how to make it.

Ingredients, per 250ml:

1. 98% spirit (had to import it from Europe - not available here)


2. 20 - 40 grains of amber

Place amber in the bottle, add the spirit. Cap. Wait five days.

How to use:

1: Add a few drops to tea, or whatever you are going to drink. 2: Rub into sore joints.

You can use the same amber twice.

One shot glass cured my sore throat and, I swear, I felt rejuvenated - could not stop jumping, it was so potent ;)