Liquor? I barely know her!

So now that the weather is getting warmer and sunnier, it can only mean one thing: outdoor happy hour. Happy hours are great- they provide you the opportunity to try new places, build office camaraderie and well let's face it...talk to the newbie you've been eyeing. But before you start a tab at the bar, here are a few basics of the hard stuff. After all, it's embarrassing to admit you don't know what you're drinking.

Vodka- Women drink vodka. Why? Because it has no smell, and women in the olden days could get away with drinking it undetected (I guess until they stumbled off of their horse or something). Also, it's not lady-like to reek of booze. So we've been told. Good vodka shouldn't have any taste to it, just some bite. This stuff used to be made out of potatoes, but now it's usually made out of grains. Commonly used in martinis, "girly" drinks (cosmos, with juices like cranberry, oj, grapefruit) and shooters (lemon drops, kamikazes).

Whiskey- Men drink whiskey. Why? Because unlike vodka, it has taste. Tastes like fire. That doesn't mean that as a woman, you shouldn't drink it. Whiskey is made from grains (malt grains, rye or corn) and is aged in a cask, which gives it the golden color. Common mixers are sour mix, Coke, ginger ale, water or "neat" which means by itself.

Scotch- Gentlemen drink scotch. This is just whiskey that follows some rules. It actually has to come from Scotland and be aged for over 3 years in the oak cask. Sometimes you'll see "single malt scotch" which means it only uses one type of barley and comes from one distillery. "Blended" means multiple grains and the liquid is made from different scotches from different distilleries. Sort of like a "whiskey jungle juice". There's not much you mix in with scotch- maybe water or soda, but that's about it. Otherwise you drink it neat.

Gin- There are no guidelines on who's suppossed to drink gin. Gin is made from the juniper berry which is why it smells kind of flowery. Gin is usually the basis of a martini (but vodka has surpassed it in popularity). Common drinks with gin are gin and tonics, a gimlet (gin and lime juice/syrup) and a Tom Collins (gin, sour mix and soda). Personally, we hate gin. Blech.

Rum- One of the most popular liquors. Rum is made from sugar cane or molasses. Accordingly, it's used in a lot of tropical cocktails. You'll find it in mojitos, rum runners and mai tais. Mix it with Coke, and if you add a lime wedge, it becomes a Cuba libre.

So now that you've got the basics, tomorrow we explore the different glassware that go with different beverages. After all, you don't want to look silly drinking whiskey out of a martini glass...