During my first foray into drinking, I was pretty adamant about one thing. “I will never drink beer” I would state, proudly tucking my six-pack of Smirnoff under my arm. “Even in college, I’ll just bring my own drinks to the party.”
Fast forward a year when I’m home from my freshman year of college. As I’m pouring my dad a glass of beer into one of his frosted mugs, my younger brother tries to tease me: “Look at Nicole – she has no idea what she’s doing. She’s tipping the glass when pouring the beer!”
My dad – much wiser – looks at me and flatly states, “No, she knows exactly what she’s doing”.
That day officially marked me as a beer drinker.
Like they said, going to college did change my drinking preferences. While I started off just drinking mixers, if the party only had a keg on tap, I wouldn’t turn down a red Solo cup of cheap beer. And while at first I still hated it, I eventually learned to like it and one day even preferred it.
My dad & I enjoying a beer together.
Today, beer is my drink of choice. Whether it’s out for a cheeky drink with friends, with my meal at a fancy restaurant, at home after a hard day at work, or just chilling with my dad (who doesn’t mind me drinking beer anymore, as long as I don’t drink all of his good stuff) beer is my go-to alcoholic beverage.
However, there is still one small issue. Beer is stereotyped as a male drink – it seems the world believes women just don’t drink it.
This is particularly evident whenever I go out with my husband (who coincidentally is not a beer fan). We each will order our own separate drinks and 90% of the time the bartender will give him the beer and me the cocktail.
And that’s where the idea for this blog got started. Why does beer have to be only a male drink? Why shouldn’t women appreciate a good brew, which can be just as exciting and varying as “ladylike” drinks such as wine?
Don’t get me wrong, I am an equal-opportunist when it comes to alcohol…
but I’d just like to showcase that beer can (and should) be accessible to everyone, even women.
Now, I am in no way a beer expert (I’m not shy about my love for Fosters) and I’m not here to try to outdo the big dogs already dominating the beer scene. I’m just an enthusiastic beer consumer, who happens to be female, wanting to explore the ins-and-outs of the London beer scene (and beyond) while sharing those experiences here.
I hope you’ll follow along!
cheeky drinks 