The Taste of Alcohol Changes Depending on Your Company

There is a certain number of people in the world who have a drink with dinner.

They pop open a can almost every day, or pop open a bottle, or twist off a screw cap, or perhaps pop off a bottle cap and hear the glug-glug-glug sound.
And then, they pour the alcohol down as they please.

As for me, I never have a drink with dinner.
It is not that I cannot handle alcohol; the main reason is simply that I have no attachment to alcohol itself (which is true for food and drink in general).

However, I do go out to drink. In fact, I am the type who enjoys drinking parties.

Although I live a life of moderation now, when I was a salaryman, I used to go out drinking all the time.
During my days as a civil servant, I would pass through the noren curtains of an izakaya as if it were part of my job.
When I lived in Sapporo, it was a 30-minute walk from my house to Susukino, so I frequented my favorite spots (thanks to that, the bill for my extravagance is coming due now).

Since returning to my hometown, I no longer go out drinking, but I generally respond enthusiastically to invitations from friends.

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I imagine there is also a certain number of people who say, "I don't drink that much, but I like going to drinking parties."

I think that is because they place more importance on spending time with someone than on the alcohol itself. I am one of those people.

So, in an extreme case, non-alcoholic drinks are perfectly fine. Personally, I become more cheerful and my conversation flows better when I am slightly tipsy. It is not that my articulation improves or my stories become more interesting, but there is no doubt that my usual social anxiety is somewhat alleviated.

In fact, there have been times when I wandered into a bar (a so-called concept cafe) alone, became friends with the person in the next seat, exchanged contact information, and went out to drink at another place together.
I am quite bad at talking to strangers while sober, but I might not dislike it so much at a drinking party. Apparently, I was not socially awkward when drinking.

However, there are inevitably customers and staff members I do not get along with, and if I happen to meet such people, my mood drops immediately.
It is rich coming from me, given my own drinking habits, but unfortunately, I have to decline any further appearances with people who talk too much about their own achievements, complaints, or sermons.

Conversely, people who are good listeners, share my hobbies, or can casually clear away empty dishes have high likability, so I would love to join them.

Besides, it is standard for drinking parties to involve vulgar topics (though there are plenty of others, of course).
I have heard and told countless vulgar stories about failed dates, getting dead drunk, and failures in the sex industry.
Only the feeling of having had a good time remains, and I do not really remember what the stories were about.

The taste of alcohol when drinking happily is far beyond memory, even more so than the content of the conversation, but since I was having fun, I think most things tasted delicious.

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I have so many stories from when I went out drinking. However, there are many things I do not remember, and many things that cannot be written in the sacred world of Note (I am thinking of releasing them as limited content in a paid article).

What these all have in common is that alcohol tastes good when you are having fun, and it tastes bad when you are bored. It really comes down to these two things.

Of course, the quality of the food and drink, the atmosphere, and the service are also largely thanks to the establishment. It goes without saying that drinking at home has its own merits as well.

If you want to enjoy your drinks, it is also important to choose who you drink with.

Writing about this has made me want to go out for a drink.
Not just within Hokkaido, but it would be nice to drink in Tokyo or Osaka again.
Yokohama would be nice too.
Nagoya would be nice too.
I also want to go to Kobe.
I want to go to Tohoku, Hokuriku, Shikoku, and Kyushu as well.

No, really, anywhere is fine; I just want to have a fun time drinking.