Welcome to the 2nd week of this blog. I am following my book entries in order, so for this week the cocktail is the incredibly complciated Vodka Tonic. Just kidding of course. This week reminded me that some of these cocktail recipes are incredibly simple. Glass + ice + alcohol + garnish. . . . So, it was a bit more challenging to engage all my senses with what I had to work with this week.

Observations

(Last week I called this section “tasting notes,” but I think I like “observations” better as a sub-heading.)

Sight. My ice cubes are pretty opaque, which suggests I might benefit from a better icemaker if I want more clarity in my ice. But, then again, whether the ice is opaque or clear it still gives me something to observe. Also, the bottle of vodka is conspicuously tall and slender compared to every other bottle I have.

Sound. I could hear the clinks of ice falling into the glass and the gurgle of the vodka when I poured it. There is further clinging and chiming when I stirred the ice, followed by the hiss of the tonic water as I opened the screw cap bottle (after the crack of the cap coming loose), and then fizzing and splashing when I added the 5 ounces of tonic to the glass. It brought up memories of a soda commercial I saw as a kid. I won’t mention the brand because I don’t do free product promotion.

Touch. The previously mentioned tall vodka bottle is smooth and cool to the touch. The lime has a very subtle rough texture to it, and there is slight resistance when I open the tonic water bottle. After a good 20 or 30 seconds of stirring the glass became quite cold to the touch.

Taste. I was very surprised to discover how much it tasted like a citrus soda. It was citrus forward and very easily drinkable.

Smell. The fresh cut lime has a distinctive lime scent, not surprisingly. I don’t pick up much of anything else. My vodka is a decent brand, so it doesn’t really have an “alcohol” smell to it. Once the cocktail was mixed, quinine became the most dominant smell—or at least I think that smell is quinine.

A Few Philosophical Reflections

This week’s reflections brought up skills. Skills of mine that come to mind include being a reasonably talented philosopher, writer, gamer, do-it-yourself amateur repairman, teacher, martial artist, amateur counselor, amateur bartender, and amateur painter.

Each of those skills developed in the same way: gradually, and over time. A friend of mine shared something on social media a few years ago that I really liked and that is relevant this week. The meme was about learning a new skill and that, at first, you suck at it. A lot. And then you keep practicing while still sucking at it. But, you suck less over time, and, eventually, you don’t suck at it at all anymore and people look at you and wonder how you are so “naturally” skilled at that thing.

In my own case, I have been studying and practicing philosophy since 1994, and teaching it since 2001. I’ve been a RPG gamer since 1988 or so, and have practiced one martial art or another since around 1992. Like the other skills I mentioned, I sucked at each of them at first, but now suck less than I used to. Along the way, I got lots of help from people like my dad, teachers and trainers, and other mentors.

Moving from skills to virtues, virtues that are important to me include courage, honesty, loyalty, reliability, kindness, fairness, generosity, compassion, and love. If I had to grade myself on each, I suppose I would assign them like this: courage C, honesty B, loyalty A-, reliability A, kindness B, fairness A-, generosity C, compassion A-, and love A-.

This might seem like cheating as far as challenging myself, but, for me, “putting myself out there” by publishing this blog is a way to practice courage. I will up the ante by sending a copy of my book to a podcast that I enjoy to see if they would be interested in having me on as a guest to discuss it.

Join the Conversation

If you’re following along, how was your experience with the vodka tonic? Did your reflection on skills you already have provide encouragement when it comes to getting better at other things?

Cheers!

Ted