Just like shares, consumption of various alcoholic drinks can go up as well as down. To appreciate this, you need to take a long view. Like, say, 150 years. Then you get a genuine historical perspective.
Funny you should mention 150 years. I happen to have figures for the years 1852 - 2002. Here's a little quiz. Promise not to peek at the tables first.
- In which of those years did the British slosh the greatest quantity of spirits?
- Was more cider drunk in 1975 or 2002?
- Was more wine drunk in 1940 or 1960?
Zi li gong shung, as I always say to the kids. (I don't think I've spelled the last bit of that right. I can't seem to find my copy of Elementary Chinese. . . . . Zi li geng sheng, that's the proper spelling.) Zi li geng sheng, as I always say to the kids. As an approach to the world and its vagaries, it can't be beat.
Have you made your guesses yet? I mean your answers to my questions. Have you? No? Then - hurry - bloody - well - up. And remember, no peaking.
Finished yet? About time. (Or get on with it, if you haven't yet.)
Finally . . .
Here are the answers. You have to hunt them down yourselves - zi li geng sheng, remember.
If you're wondering what "standard barrels" and "bulk barrels" are, there's an explanation here. Courtesy of The Brewers' Almanack, surely one of the greatest books of all time, sandwiched between "Three Men on the Bummel" and "An Ordinary Life" in the top three.
Tomorrow
The kids are trying to choose tomorrow's destination. I've never been to Leeuwaarden, so I'm rooting for that. I still have two 10 euro Blokker train tickets. With my 40% discount card, I need to go to the very edges of the Netherlands to get any real advantage out of them. Leeuwaarden, Maastricht, Groningen, Middelburg. Somewhere like that.
If I don't lose my notebook, expect a report on the trip.
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