The Best Liquor

[MatthewB]

Somehow, somewhere whilst in Chicago over the weekend, the following issue was posed . . . (Let's blame it on the bartender at the Talbott. )

OK, what's the best liquor to fulfill the liquid function in a water pipe?

Not only what but why, etc., please.

[hjshorter]

OK, what's the best liquor to fulfill the liquid function in a water pipe?

Not only what but why, etc., please.

Water pipe?

[zilla369]

Well, i gotta say, ice cold water is the very best liquid, but liquor? Hmmm. Seems i remember trying it in college with cold vodka (not bad), cheap red wine (not too good) and beer (yuck).

Heather, hee hee...

[MatthewB]

Any input on gins?

[MatthewB]

Obviously, no one here has had any personal experiences with water pipes.

So, what have you heard that others do, as far as the original query?

[Scott S]

Personally I'd go with something nutty and sweet, like Amaretto or Frangelico, mixed with a lot of water and a lot of ice (because I like the smoked cooled). I've found that it does not take much liquor to influence the tastes going through the water pipe, and I certainly wouldn't want to overpower those tastes with something like straight liquer.

[zilla369]

Obviously, no one here has had any personal experiences with water pipes.

I beg your pardon?

[KatieLoeb]

Personally I'd go with something nutty and sweet, like Amaretto or Frangelico, mixed with a lot of water and a lot of ice (because I like the smoked cooled). I've found that it does not take much liquor to influence the tastes going through the water pipe, and I certainly wouldn't want to overpower those tastes with something like straight liquer.

Yeah - but the cleanup after someone knocks it over and it soaks into the carpet is a nightmare...

Not that I'd know anything about that.

[MatthewB]

Obviously, no one here has had any personal experiences with water pipes.

I beg your pardon?

[Busboy]

Scotch and ice cubes. Adds a nice earthy taste, but a little sweet, too. So I hear. Warning that you've spent too much time with the water pipe is when you begin discussing straining the scotch and drinking it.

Yeah, a "water pipe."

[NeroW]

Jager.

EDIT: why bother with liquid? Never understood that.

Edited July 24, 2003 by NeroW (log)

[MatthewB]

why bother with liquid?  Never understood that. 

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble.

[slkinsey]

Obviously, no one here has had any personal experiences with water pipes.

Um... well, it's been about 20 years. And at that time, I was filling the thing with whatever I could get my hands on. Personally, I wouldn't want to ruin any decent liquor by turning it into bong water. Although maybe bong technology has progressed greatly since the mid 80s.

[NeroW]

why bother with liquid?  Never understood that.

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble.

Trouble? Where?

[Scott S]

why bother with liquid?  Never understood that.

First reason for me is cooling.

Second is variety. More and different tastes. If you're here on this board, I assume you drink things other than water...

[MatthewB]

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble.

Trouble? Where?

Wherever you go, there you are.