![]() ![]() For garnishing: 1 lemon, a few sprigs of fresh mint leaves.1 ounce lemon-parsley infused simple syrup (see ingredients below).Oscar Wilde enjoyed the finer things in life and always thought that they were worth paying for: “when I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.” So not only would he partake of the next few beverages, he’d probably drink more of them than you. After the second you see them as they are not. Roger Ratcliffe has worked as an investigative journalist with theSunday Times Insight team andis the author of guidebooks to Leeds and Bradford.Wilde notoriously touted both love and hate for the green fairy: “After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were. Oscar Wilde, also a carnivore, didn’t mince his words. I am too fond of animal products, and find the substitutes even less convincing than zero alcohol beers. Such self-denial in the month that is said to be made gloomier by seasonal affective disorder (SAD) surely merits some kind of award. That was a failure, and if it wasn’t cold at this time of year I would take my hat off to those people who managed to complete Veganuary and Dry January together. Almost is the key word here, because on responding to a friend’s text “Fancy a pint” I discovered that while they may have managed to achieve something approaching the taste of the original drink, what is absent isthe conviviality induced by a modest amount of alcohol andgood company. Since the last time time I went dry brewers have managed to produce almost passable imitations of their big brand beers containing zero alcohol. What Ireally missed was the social sideof imbibing. In fact, I surprised myself by how quicklyI got used to my glass containing diet cola or fruit juice. The problem was notso much that I longed for the moderate amounts of beer, cider and wine I normally drink. Like me, most Dry January participants just do it to give their bodies a break.īefore this year I managed to succeed only once, and although I have never considered myself to be anything like a heavy drinkerI freely admit that I struggled to stay dry. That’s surely the tip of iceberg (or should that be ice cube?). Just 4,000 UK drinkers took part in the first year but by 2022 the figure was 130,000. The cash raised supports a charity that campaigns for greater awareness of the effects of alcohol abuse. To do it properly you’re supposed sign up online for a 31-day pledge to stay off the bottle and have friends and family sponsor you for each day you are on the wagon. This year is the tenth anniversary of the annual month of abstemiousness. A friend tells me he gave up after a fortnight, blaming the bottle of his favourite single malt he received at Christmas. My own cracks at it faltered twice until temperance triumphed over temptation. I’m sure they would also strike a chord with other partakers of Dry January. I remembered those words while also trying to resist temptation and get 2023 off to an arid start. So if such a thing had existed back then he would have been unlikely to effortlessly participate in Dry January judging by another of his famous quotes: “I can resist everything except temptation.” While suffering severe writer’s block, Wilde was in the process of blowing what little money he had left on booze when he died of meningitis on the last day of November 1900 at the age of 46. “The wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death,” he is reported to have said. ![]() The poet and playwright Oscar Wilde famously effervesced with witticisms and managed to utter one of the best shortly before he was about to draw his final breath in a dingy Paris hotel. ![]()
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