Drinkalongathon 2025 - red wine and duck

 

18:11

 Time for a roast dinner. Duck, spuds and sprouts. Stuffing, too, of course. Very nice. And went very well with the wininess of the wine. Forgive the lack of adjectives. It's been a long day.And the whisky isn't done yet.

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - whisky and cooking

 

16:

 16:38

 Time to do some cooking. Which matches so well with cooking. The duck is coming along nicely. Smells dead good. The turkey is lagging a little behind. Time to put the veg on? I don't know. 

Dolores . . .

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - sherry and White Christmas

 15:42

 Between courses, time to watch some shit. Alexei has put White Christmas on. I'm impressed by the quality. Of the images. The plot , dialogue and acting are complete shit. The image quality, on the other hand, is outstanding. The saltiness of the sherry matches well with my cynicism.

Drinkalongathon 2025 - white wine and pastry

 15:08

 The birds are in the oven. Time for a pastry starter. The sort of pastry I like (not a Stout). What does the white wine do? Wet my throat for sucking down the food. It's full of, er, white winey goodness. Just need to beef it up with a fist or two of whisky. (No fingers for me.)

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - whisky and Wallace & Grommet

 

13:12

Nothing says Christmas like . . . whisky. And Wallace & Grommet. Obviously. The whisky adds an intoxicating element to the high drama and comedy. More whisky, please.

Drinkalongathon 2025 - whisky and stuffing

12:28

Time to get on the hard stuff now noon has passed. Consisting of the cheapest Islay whisky I could find - just over 30 euros. The iodine smokiness goes well with chopping stuff up for stuffing. 

Two lots today. One for the duck and one for the turkey. What flash bastards we are roasting two birds. Orange in the duck stuffing, apple in the turkey one. Complex cooking. For me.
 

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025 - crumpets and sherry

 11:01

 And so the day begins. Not with a bacon sarnie this year, as I have crumpets. The vintageness of the cheddar compliments the salty acidity of the sherry. And gets the day off to a very happy start.

It's almost time

 for Drinkalongathon 2025. I'm sure that, jst as it is for me, it's the highlight of your year.

But you need to be prepared. Imagine waking up on Christmas morning with only two eggs. Or discovering that none of your string has been sharpened. 

To avoid such crushing disappointment, check out the full list of required items.

To get you in the mood, here's a highlight from last year's event.

 

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2025

Yes, it's that most wonderful time of year again. Drinkalongathon time!

Am I really still doing this? Yes! I most certainly am. Why? No fucking idea. It's just something I do every year. Until I get bored. Or become infirm. Or lose my marbles. Or simply drop dead. All are possibilities. I'm hoping for the first option.

Time to let you know what you'll need to take part in this year's event. You'll have a week, which should be long enough to source all the string and eggs. After all, what's Christmas day without eggs and string?

1 crate of St. Bernardus Abt
4 pieces of string
1 bottle of fino sherry
250 gm smoked bacon (back or streaky)
3 more pieces of string
1 bottle of port
5 soft-boiled eggs
5 eggs who think they're hard . . . but are really barely cooked
1 bottle of starboard
6 mince pies
4 crumpets (oo-err)
1 bottle of ruffo sherry
1 litre of whisky (the cheapest possible, I'm a empoverished pensioner, no Lagavullin for me any more)
200 gm mature cheddar
1 reserve crate of St. Bernardus Abt
1 small, yellow plastic duck
100 gm really immature gorge
1 copy 2026 Good Beer Guide*
3 bottles of red wine
1 CD Reggae Christmas
No UB40 Red, red wine
1 emergency crate of St. Bernardus Abt
1 medium onion
5 raw eggs
5 experienced eggs
1 bottle fizzy wine (no champagne for pensioner me)
2 bottles of white wine (if you have children under 10)
1 emergency pint
1 duck, roasted to perfection (don't want to show off, but ...)
1 slab of smoked salmon
2 slabs of cheap Lager (if you have children over 10)
5 broken eggs
5 just holding it together eggs
1 bottle HP sauce
6 pieces of emergency string 

Be prepared! Have your string and eggs ready for Christmas Day! See you then! 

 

* CAMRA till I die. 

Drinkalongathon 2024 - whisky and cheese

A plate of cheese, pate, olives and a knife. And a glass of whisky.

 18:15

The Christmas spirit is flowing through me. Translation: I've had a few glasses of whisky. Just little ones.Honestly. I haven' even touched he Islay I bough myself.

I've got my second wind, food-wise. Cheese or the sausage rolls Dolores made earlier? Why not both? I is Christmas, after all.

Go your string to hand? Your eggs? You'll be needing them soon.

 

Drinkalongathon 2024 - red wine and duck

A  duck dinner with spuds, sprouts, gravy and red wine.

 16:40

The  fatty goodness of he duck dances on he redness of the wine. he protein/alcohol combination makes my head spin.This  is dinner as it should be. With me half-pissed and he cooking done by someone else. (I can't do the cooking his year due to my fucked arm.) Maybe the warmup whiskies helped.

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2024 - The Singleton 12 year and some crappy film

 

A  glass of he Singleton and  Rat Race on TV.

15:40

Just time for an aperiif before dinner. And what better than a small whisky?  The alcoholiness of he whisky undercuts the underlying shittiness of Ratt Race.

The ducks (two this year) are roasting nicely.

"Dad, you're missing he film." Alexei says.

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing."

"Hurry up. They've stolen Hitler's car."

Looks like being a Nazi Christmas again.

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2024 - Sicilian white wine and goats cheese things

Goat cheese thing with a glass of white wine and Christmas decorations.

14:32

Time for our starters which is goats cheese in pastry. As always. The wininess of the wine cuts through the goatiness of the cheese wonderfully.

"Do you have any more wine?" Alexei asks.

That's supposed to be me asking for more booze.

"No." What's left is for Dad.
 

Drinkalongathon 2024 - St. Bernardus Abt and ballet

St. Bernardus Abt in a  Chimay glass, ballet on TV in he background

14:05

Late start and slow going his year. It's afternoon and I'm only on my second drink. he deep, dark religiousity of the Abt contrasts nicely with he push poncing about on he screen. Which could turn anyone to drink.
 

 

 

Drinkalongathon 2024 - bacon sandwich and fino sherry

 

A bacon sandwich  and a glass of fino sherry.

12:18

It's a traditional start to the day, with a bacon sarnie and fino sherry. Though rather later than usual. Didn't have he bees of kips last night. I guess i was he anticipation of Santa coming.

The dryness of he sherry nicely cuts through the salty fattiness of he bacon. And what better way to start he day than with  fatty pork? I sets a man (or woman) up for the day.  And i's going to be a long day.

Buckle up and gett ready for he ride.

It's that time of year again

The time of boiled eggs and string. Some call it Christmastime. But for me it's Drinkalongathon time. When you get the chance to drink along with me as I plough through an ocean of booze.

You know the score. I  now rattle off a list of things that you'll need to join in. As I'm sure you all will want to.

You'll require:

1 crate of St. Bernardus Abt
4 rashers of bacon
5 pieces of string
1 bottle of the best Islay whisky you can afford
4 soft-boiled eggs
3 hard-boiled eggs
7 pieces of egg string
1 bottle of fino sherry
2 bottles of crappo sherry
1 Christmas jumper (left upstairs in a drawer, still wrapped)
4 crumpets
2 bottles of barrel-aged cachaca (amburana, if possible)
200 gm double Gloucester cheese
300 gm treble Gloucester cheese
1 packet cheesy biscuits
2 bottles of port
2 soft brown rolls
3 manly brown rolls
filo pastry to taste
1 small bottle of tonic water
3 large bottles of gin
2 ice cubes
1 day of shit Christmas TV programmes
2 bottles of Amstel Bok
1 step ladder
1 reserve sling

Quite a short list this year due to my continued incapacity.

The Drinkalongathon will start at 9 AM sharp. Be sure to have your eggs and string ready.

Drinkalongathon 2023 - duck and some red wine or other

18:02

Not sure about the time. I'm hitting the point of not really being arsed to continue.

The duck is very nice and works well with any alcohol I can pour into my mouth.

To keep Christmas dinner traditional, I bring up politics after guzzling down my second roast potato.

"Will you be voting for Trump, kids?"

"We live in Holland, Dad. And aren't US citizens. Why not have a lie down for a while?" 

Drinkalongathon 2023 - chardonnay and goats cheese pasties

 15:38

Starter time. A bit late as Andrew, who went to bed at 1 AM, only just got up.

It's the same starter as every year. As we have our traditions here.

The duck is burning quite nicely. Wouldn't want it to be undercooked. Five hours is about right for a 2.3 kilo bird, isn't it? Mum always started cooking the turkey at 4 AM. A duck does need the same time in the oven as a 12 kilo turkey, doesn't it?

Drinkalongathon 2023 - tawny port and James Martin

14:30

Relaxing a little from the cooking. By watching someone else cook. With the raisiny sweetness of the port combining well with fancy cooking on the TV.

The port is a Christmas present. From Alexei. Very thoughtful of him. And noted for future reference. Especially as I had nothing from Andrew.

Just gearing up the reactionary views so we can have a traditional Christmas "discussion". I've a kitchen knife ready in case things turn nasty.

Drinkalongathon 2023 - Glenfiddich 12 year and stuffing

 13:42

Just to make things clear, I'm making the stuffing not eating it. I wouldn't want to eat it raw, as there's chicken in it.

Most of the things you see are going into the stuffing. Plus some others. I'd say they were secret, but, in reality, I just can't be arsed to go through the whole list. I need to get me some more whisky down. Now the duck is happily roasting.

Two more hours until D-hour.