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This article is about 2,092 characters and takes roughly 7 minutes to read to the end. Written by: Qian Yunwen, Director / PR, tentus inc.
I love a drink.
2012
After graduating from high school back home in Shanghai, I went on to university in Taiwan.
My very first drink in life was probably Taiwan Beer. And I remember it was the flavored kind — mango was my favorite.
The photo source is here.
Jiang mu ya (ginger duck) I had in Taichung around last winter.
2014
In my third year of university, I studied in Japan for a year.
Draft beer, of course — but what left the deepest impression was the izakaya staple, sour cocktails like lemon sour and cassis-orange sour.
I kept wondering what on earth was in them.
I was also amazed at how many kinds and flavors of canned chuhai there were at convenience stores. Back then, Kirin Hyoketsu and Horoyoi were the top picks among international students.
You can enjoy them deliciously even if you're not a strong drinker.
Even now, when I don't want to think and just want a quick drink, I'll go for a canned chuhai from the convenience store. When a new flavor comes out, I want to try it too.
The most recent one I drank was Hyoketsu's Tosa buntan (pomelo) flavor.
The photo source is here. https://www.trendsmap.com/twitter/tweet/1300704957193052163
I also had my very first cocktail in Japan.
It was a shochu-and-Yakult mix a Korean international student made right in front of me.
In a way, that counts as a cocktail, I suppose. 🤣
So yes — throughout my university days, I drank with a vague sense of "oh, I can drink, and it's not bad."
2016
Drinking with business clients at a club — you know how it goes: those dangerous club cocktails, "Red Bull vodka," "orange juice vodka"… Thanks to those, I learned I'm not exactly immune to getting drunk after all.
Even so, I keep on drinking!
Because Chinese people love their drink.
There are many odes to drinking in classical Chinese poetry, too.
醉後方知樂 (Zui hou fang zhi le) 彌勝未醉時 (Mi sheng wei zui shi) 【Zhang Yue, "Composed While Drunk"】 "Only after getting drunk did I understand the joy of drink. It's far better than being sober!" The title "Composed While Drunk" means "a poem written while drunk."
When drinking with Chinese people, the toasts and pledges never stop.
Sneaking a solo drink without a toast is a foul.
And so I became a fierce drinker.
Something fun happens? Call your friends and toast! A friend has something fun happen? Get called over and toast! Something unpleasant happens? Call your friends and toast! A friend has something unpleasant happen? Get called over and toast!
Intoxication was where I set down my feelings.
I racked up plenty of experiences of drinking too much and throwing up, too.
I felt exactly like the poet Zhang Yue.
"Only after getting drunk did I understand the joy of drink. It's far better than being sober!"
And in the middle of that loop, one day I met my true love, whisky. As I was gulping it down, I suddenly awoke to the flavor and aroma of drink!
Whisky is aged inside a cask.
I, together with my drink, am aged inside the cask that is society.
My true-love whisky, "Dunhill."
I've had many experiences of leaning too hard on the momentum of drink and failing, but drink is also what taught me what life is.
2020
Through drinking, my life became far more fun and interesting.
After coming to Japan, I was drawn to Japan's bar culture and started frequenting all sorts of bars, deepening my connections with people. During the state of emergency, when I couldn't go to bars, I made plenty of highballs — and the cocktail "Salty Dog," too.
Ingredients: 1. Vodka (a cheap one is fine) 1/3 2. Grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed recommended) 2/3 3. Salt, to taste 4. Lemon wedge. Method: 1. Wet the rim of the glass with a lemon wedge and coat it in salt for a snow-style rim. 2. Add ice to that glass, pour in the vodka and grapefruit juice, stir, and it's done.
It's a cocktail you can easily make at home even without bar tools!
A toast with family!
Let's Toast Again
I've been rambling on — that was my life's drinking time machine.
The older you get, the faster time seems to pass.
This year it feels even faster.
I've been toasting without much thought, but — let's toast again.
Let's toast with a whisky I've never tried before.
Let's make a cocktail I've never made and toast.
Let's travel to a country I've never been to, and toast together at a bar.
With my Taiwanese friends, let's toast — Taiwan Beer in summer, medicinal-herb hotpot with gaoliang liquor in winter.
With my friends back home, let's toast — Shaoxing wine over ice in summer, warmed Shaoxing wine in winter.