Favorite cruising beverages

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,918
- - Bainbridge Island
Like the Miller jingle used to say, When its time to relax... what do you drink?

Do you pop a beer, pour a wine, or go right to the hard stuff? Maybe a root beer is more your style or an ice cold bottle of Perrier?

Let us in on your best libations when afloat.

 
Feb 14, 2014
7,400
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
We make Sun tea ashore and then freeze it in plastic reusable personal containers. Put the frozen tea, pre-flavored as each likes it, in our boat frig as supplemental "ice".

When out on a very hot day, take out the partially melted tea, and sip it. Frozen bottles be used in a towel to cool you down too.
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Late day beer and Sunset adult beverages as desired.
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Full of various beverages for guests and crew.
Jim..
 
Dec 29, 2008
805
Treworgy 65' LOA Custom Steel Pilothouse Staysail Ketch St. Croix, Virgin Islands
We, and by that I mean me and the crew sailing with me, do not drink until the anchor is down, or secured to the dock or mooring, and the engine off. But then, our most popular drink, by far, is Cruzan Coconut Rum and Coke.

The Admiral, on the other hand, likes a Moscato wine.

Other variations are Coconut, Pineapple and Banana rum and Coke, or just on the rocks. Or, not on the rocks.
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Last edited:
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Where to start???

For beer while sailing, Michelob Golden Draft. Only available (mostly) in the upper midwest. Refreshing and pretty tasty for a lite beer, and you can drink it all day long.

For beer to savor, Bell's Two Hearted.

Cocktails underway? Vodka (diet) Tonic

Wine? Always a bladder of Black Box chard in the fridge, but also a good bottle as well. Jodi picks. We drink red as well but never underway.

Drink most of it out of RTIC lowball tumblers. Keeps stuff impressively cold.

rtic.jpg
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
@capta I like your thinking. Medicinal. But I always thought it was the gin (quinine and juniper berries flavoring ) that helped with malaria. The true Tonic.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
For a post sail relaxation moment, I enjoy several options. In no specific priority just not all together.
  1. On a hot day, A cold shanty (Light ale and lemonade) can help quench the thirst. Or a Pilsner. Or a medicinal Gin&Tonic if the ice is not melted.
  2. A sip of rum (Kirk & Sweeney 18yr), bourbon (Elijah Craig) or whiskey (Strong 10yr from Oregon) to celebrate arrival in port can hit the spot.
  3. A dark bitter i.e. Guinness or Deschutes Porter can enhance the flavor of a dock delivered pizza
  4. Or a glass of good red in the cockpit at sunset while we decide on what to eat for dinner.
All have their moments and bring a bit of liquid joy to the end of a Good Sail.
 
Last edited:
Oct 30, 2017
183
Catalina c 27 Lake Pueblo
I also have a couple go to's
my first choice is a good Bourbon... admittedly that does not work to well on hot days. So on hot days I will save the bourbon for after the heat goes down.
On HoT days I like a nice Moscow Mule... preferably with a cucumber infused Vodka.

I also find that sometimes nothing beats an ice cold coke.
 

pateco

.
Aug 12, 2014
2,207
Hunter 31 (1983) Pompano Beach FL
@capta I like your thinking. Medicinal. But I always thought it was the gin (quinine and juniper berries flavoring ) that helped with malaria. The true Tonic.
The Quinine is in the Tonic not in the Gin.

Gin is flavored vodka
The most usual production method for gin is to distill botanicals, such as juniper, coriander, citrus peel, cinnamon, almond or liquorice, with neutral grain alcohol. Making gin is like flavoring vodka, except that botanicals are always natural. A skilled gin distiller knows how to balance the botanical flavors to make a quality product.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Quinine is in the Tonic not in the Gin.
While I understand, it is confusing that all the brits I knew always ordered a “splash of tonic” yet would state with authority that they only drink gin and tonic for the medicinal properties. Was I lead astray for all these years?;)
 

pateco

.
Aug 12, 2014
2,207
Hunter 31 (1983) Pompano Beach FL
My favorites aboard

Cocktails
Dark and Stormy ( Dark or Spiced Rum with Ginger Beer)
Pepsi MAX with spiced rum.

Beers

  • Amber ales (Fat Tire, Dead Guy, etc)
  • Kalicks (Bahamian)
  • Cervezas ( Coronal, SOL, etc) with lime
 
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pateco

.
Aug 12, 2014
2,207
Hunter 31 (1983) Pompano Beach FL
While I understand, it is confusing that all the brits I knew always ordered a “splash of tonic” yet would state with authority that they only drink gin and tonic for the medicinal properties. Was I lead astray for all these years?;)
Tonic water (or Indian tonic water) is a carbonated soft drink in which quinine is dissolved. Originally used as a prophylactic against malaria, tonic water usually now has a significantly lower quinine content and is consumed for its distinctive bitter flavor. It is often used in mixed drinks, particularly in gin and tonic.
 
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Jan 2, 2017
765
O'Day & Islander 322 & 37 Scottsdale, AZ & Owls Head, ME
While sailing on a hot day (yes, we get a few of those):
Arnold Palmer. Mix Simply Lemonade, half and half with brewed tea, chill and bring onboard in thermos.
Post-sail, extra dry Skyy martini, shaken not stirred.
 
Oct 3, 2014
261
Marlow-Hunter MH37 Lake City, MN
Always coffee to start the day, usually Bustelo brewed in my Aeropress. Cheap coffee, but I love it, especially brewed strong.

After that it varies.

For beer, I'll alternate between a low alcohol/low calorie beer and water. I just finished up a case of Miller 64. Going to try Budweiser Select 55 next. I much prefer craft beer, but the caloric cost of pounding those down is too much. I do have craft beer aboard but the selection always varies. I try for beers in the 5% ABV range. Right now it's Bent Paddle Brewing's Kanu session pale ale.

For spirits, it's hard to beat my wife's G&T's. Call us low-brow but my favorite gin is Kirkland gin from Costco. And always fresh limes. One of the best things we bought for the boat was a lime squeezer. Last year I frequently made Dark & Stormy's, but grew tired of them by the end of the season. My wife likes making Bootlegs and beer margaritas. I love her Bootlegs but find margaritas too sweet for my taste.

Oh and wine. We sail on Lake Pepin and last year we found a line of wines called "Le Pepin" at Trader Joes. It's not great, but it's pretty good for the price and it's kind of neat to serve it to guests. We bought a case of chardonnay and a case of pinot noir and we're just about out. We usually have a boxed chard or pinot grigio in the fridge and special bottles come with us from time to time.

After the sail is when I break out the bourbon. Lately it's been Buffalo Trace because it's the only reasonably priced bourbon at the liquor store by the marina (and I quite like it), but I'll bring special bottles from time to time if I think our guests would appreciate it, such as Stagg Jr., Maker's Cask Strength or EH Taylor Single Barrel.