Favorite Collinwood Libations

[Philippe Cordier]

Originally posted by Vlad on the Dark Shadows: General Discussion on February 18, 2002 at 18:06:52:

Has anyone catalogued what alcoholic beverage every character drinks in every time period on the show?

I think this would be an interesting exercise in trivia -- and just think what it might reveal about each character!

I've noticed in several posts recently that people have made references to brandy. Not having paid too much attention to this sort of thing during my previous viewings, I'm guessing that brandy is Roger Collins' drink of choice. I'm trying to remember what Naomi Collins liked to nip back in 1795. A complete list should expand beyond the dark-paneled walls of Collinwood, of course - The Blue Whale would open up a whole new vista into the characters' lives - What do Vicki and Carolyn order when they're kicking back or dancing to the one-tune jukebox? Better add the Evans cottage to the list  - Can't remember, did Matthew Morgan like to put back a few, too?

Last Friday, Barnabas hospitably offered Julia a glass of port when she dropped by for a chat about why he was terrorizing her. (Ahh, port and claret - I seem to remember those being mentioned in Jane Austen novels, Gone With the Wind -) A few days previously, I think, Elizabeth offered someone a sherry.

I have to blame Castlebee for getting me going on this - a while back she gave me directions for making a hot toddy - I finally got around to experimenting this past weekend (confidential to Castlebee: It happened again - getting carded, I mean - and is it really necessary to even add water??

And while I got around to buying the necessary ingredients for my hot toddy (now that the cold cold winter - not! - is finally about over [crossed fingers] - though I was happy with my hot mulled wine in the meantime), a memory flashed into my mind about Barnabas and Amontillado. So I checked for that while at the liquor store. I've never especially cared for sherry (though I've sipped it at the source, so to speak, in Jerez de la Frontera, and at countless English department functions in years past), I decided it might add a note of authenticity to my late-night viewings of DS. Needing to economize, I substituted a "dry" sherry for imported Amontillado, and found that - surprise of surprises, I actually liked it now!

Enough of my ramblings - (NOT the effects of imbibing, I hasten to add -- that was last weekend),

-Vlad

[Luciaphile]

Posted by Luciaphil on February 18, 2002 at 19:54:14:
In Reply to: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Vlad on February 18, 2002 at 18:06:52:

Minor spoilers for 1795 and 1897

Has anyone catalogued what alcoholic beverage every character drinks in every time period on the show?

No, but let's!

I think this would be an interesting exercise in trivia -- and just think what it might reveal about each character!

Well, let's see:

Roger: 99.9% of the time: brandy--upperclass sort of sounding drink. You'll note that he doesn't have it with anything, e.g. brandy and soda. That and the sheer amount he knocks back would seem to indicate that this is one serious drinker.

Liz: rarely anything. Occasionally a sherry (which has a connotation of being a being "a ladies' drink").

Vicki: on one notable occasion, she ordered a scotch (again without anything to dilute it, which kind of gave a whole new prospective to the character, lol), but that didn't seem to be typical for her.

Sam: I got the impression that if it came in a bottle and couldn't be sold to minors, he drank it.

Maggie: not a serious drinker. I recall once she had a brandy (Joe made her have one because she was shaky and pale) and I also recall seeing her drinking something that looked quasi-tropical, i.e. with a little umbrella in it, in a scene with Nicholas.

Jason: He was shown drinking what looked like boilermakers at the Blue Whale. At Collinwood, he had a marked preference for Roger's brandy, although certainly not with the same dedication that Roger had for it.

Carolyn: Well, she started out going heavy on the ginger ale, but I don't recall what her drink of choice was later on . . .

Julia: Not much, but when she did she headed straight for the brandy.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? I mean brandy is not for the novice drinker. It's not easy to just kick one back--not like having cosmopolitans--not saying it doesn't have its pleasures, but it's like scotch--an acquired taste.

As far as other time periods went . . .

Naomi: sherry, lots and lots of sherry; it fits the time period. A ladies' drink, again.

Quentin: brandy--I'm guessing because it was strong and again that whole class thing.

Judith: sherry: see Naomi above

Edith (1840): They weren't worrying much about being historically accurate by then, but I seem to recall her once making for the brandy in the middle of the day, which would kind of speak to her being, um, not tied to the conventional, brandy was definitely not an acceptable beverage for a lady.

Willie (1970 PT): Can't recall what he drank, but wasn't it rather a lot of whatever it was?

Fun idea!
Luciaphil

[Julia99]

Posted by Julia99 on February 18, 2002 at 20:02:52:
In Reply to: Re: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Luciaphil on February 18, 2002 at 19:54:14:

Vicki: on one notable occasion, she ordered a scotch (again without anything to dilute it, which kind of gave a whole new prospective to the character, lol), but that didn't seem to be typical for her.

Wow Vicki drank scotch! What kinda orphanage was she in??

Julia: Not much, but when she did she headed straight for the brandy.

I recall Julia being a regular drinking pal with Roger and Quentin. . .but her one appearance at the Blue Whale with the Q-man, it was brandy that she ordered, as did he.

Naomi: sherry, lots and lots of sherry; it fits the time period. A ladies' drink, again.

I was gonna suggest laudnum for Naomi ...

This was a fun idea Vlad. .now who's gonna dream up WHAT they should've had to drink. . .my bar skills aren't broad enough beyond suggest A Bloody Mary for Barney. .. and maybe a Screaming Orgasm for Julia, Elizabeth, Maggie, Vicki. . .and Sex on the Beach for Carolyn.

J99

[Birdie]

Posted by Birdie on February 19, 2002 at 09:21:00:
In Reply to: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Vlad on February 18, 2002 at 18:06:52:

Your post reminded me of being ,yes, I admitt an underage drinker,. I think I had someone pick me up a bottle of port. Somehow DS might have been the reason behind that. I do remember not thinking much of it at the time finally I decided Port Wine Cheese was better. I never tried Brandy. By that time I am sure I had discovered much more tasty drinks. It make you think Vicki ordered scotch, todays woman would have done white wine. Back in the 60th hard liq. was more popular.

Birdie--who now can maybe handle one possibly two drinks, but talks a good game.

[Gerard]

Posted by Gerard on February 19, 2002 at 10:54:16:
In Reply to: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Vlad on February 18, 2002 at 18:06:52:

Mrs. Johnson probably nipped at the cooking sherry every once in awhile. Two for the duck, one for her. And seeing as David and I are the same age-wise, I'm sure that when he was 16, he was sneaking the Mad Dog and Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill, the two drinks of choice for sophisticated, under-age appreciators of the spirits (and not the Collinwood corridor kind).

Gerard
"Thurston - have you been eating Brandy Peaches without the peaches again?" Lovey Howell, Gilligan's Island

[scott]

Posted by scott on February 19, 2002 at 10:56:32:
In Reply to: Re: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Luciaphil on February 18, 2002 at 19:54:14:

And don't forget that Barnabas drinks in these early eps--or at least one time he did. He had a glass of amontillado with Roger, I recall. This really surprised me--I started watching as a kid around the 1897 plot and have never seen these early ones before!

[Birdie]

Posted by Birdie on February 20, 2002 at 07:21:54:
In Reply to: Re: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Gerard on February 19, 2002 at 10:54:16:

Don't forget Tango.

Birdie

[Philippe Cordier]

Posted by Vlad on February 21, 2002 at 19:28:18:
In Reply to: Re: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Julia99 on February 18, 2002 at 20:02:52:

Everyone's input here was inspiring (I won't say in what way)!

Yes, I do remember now that brandy was Quentin's drink (was it also the first Quentin's drink? ...), and I do remember being somewhat surprised at that. Why? Because I always thought of whiskey being a more "masculine" drink -- and would have guessed Quentin to be more of a Scotch man (Chivas Regal, Cutty Sark ...).

Reminds me that my dad always ordered Scotch and soda or a Manhattan, and my mom a vodka gimlet or old fashioned when we dined out ... And I've always preferred such drinks myself rather than the Kool-Aid variety the other kids (COLLEGE kids, mind you) seemed to prefer ... And those luscious frozen daiquiris my mom used to keep in the freezer all summer ... we kids were sometimes given a teaspoonful as a sample ...

I guess I never had a problem swallowing brandy (I always found it rather mellow), or even whiskey "neat"!

-Vlad

[Gerard]

Posted by Gerard on February 22, 2002 at 12:52:03:
In Reply to: Re: Favorite Collinwood Libations posted by Vlad on February 21, 2002 at 19:28:18:

Reminds me that my dad always ordered Scotch and soda or a Manhattan, and my mom a vodka gimlet or old fashioned when we dined out ...

What is it about mom' and those old-fashioneds? It seems that's all they ever drank. Does pregnancy, like, kick in some sorta gene or something?

Gerard