My First Time: Tales of Drunken Misguidance by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

Articles-First-Time-Drinking-Drunk-Beer-Pong-Stories-Punch

Photo by Lorena Cupcake

Do you remember your first time? I do. Or at least some of it. I was 16, on a park bench with a guy named Hogan and a handle of Jim Beam.

In fairness, I’m sure alcohol had touched my lips before then—a kegger at a party, perhaps some Smirnoff Ice or a little Strawberry Hill, a nip from that super-old bottle of vodka in my parents’ liquor cabinet. But I had never been bold enough to go all in—to see what the booze could really do. Until I did, and then there was no turning back. Lessons were learned. Or were they?

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No More Personal Margarita Pitchers, and Other Drinking Resolutions by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

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Illustration by Maddie Edgar

Put down that fifth tiki drink and step away from that Negroni you always order- the New Year stands before us, and it’s time to review the state of our drinking lives.

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7 Bottles of Sparkling Wine to Drink Year Round by Whitney Adams, Bon Appetit

IMG_0004Photo by Whitney A.

Sparkling wine usually means there’s a special occasion to be toasted: anniversaries, holidays, yet another one of your friends getting hitched…But it’s time for that to change. Ordering takeout for a long night in with your glowing TV screen? I’ve got an extra brut for you. Thinking about whipping up some dinner nachos? I’ve got a great gamay. Tuesday? There’s a bubbly rosé with your name on it.

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Death to the Pickleback and Other Drinking Resolutions by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

new-yearIllustration by Jen Kruch

Here we are again. Somehow, another calendar year is nearly behind us and a fresh one twinkles on the horizon. And while January 1st isn’t all that different from December 31st—except for an 89 percent chance of hangover—there is a little bit of magic and hope to be found in a perceived clean slate.

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Peek Inside London’s Most Whimsical Drinkware Factory by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

Bespoke_BarwarePhotos by Izy Hossack

Down a side street and behind a lime green door in Hackney, Northeast London, lurks the workshop of Bespoke Barware, a quirky drinkware company handcrafting everything from cocktail mugs with the likeness of luchador masks to punchbowls fashioned from custom-made cuckoo clocks.

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Saturday Night in Downtown LA by Whitney Adams,  PUNCH

Photo by Dylan + JeniPhotos by Dylan + Jeni

Eight years ago, I made the move from New York to Los Angeles. I surprised myself by settling in so brilliantly. I soaked up every drop of sunshine and admired every impressive palm tree-lined street. I hit up every slick new restaurant in West Hollywood and every dive in Koreatown. I also completely avoided Downtown. Why would I want to hang out in a seemingly empty and abandoned quasi-metropolis, one that could never compare to my former Manhattan home? I realize now this was an ignorant assumption. But, I stand before you in 2014 a changed woman. And so does Downtown Los Angeles. It is a changed neighborhood, or perhaps—more accurately—a changed city within a city. Downtown is a complicated creature.

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The Valentine’s Day Guide to Romance by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

Photo by Whitney AdamsPhoto by Whitney A.

Wine pairing needn’t only pertain to, say, a multi-course chef’s tasting or your weeknight roast chicken. It can be applied to any number of situations wherein food is scarce. After all, wine tends to be part of life’s best and worst moments—anniversaries, break-ups, birthdays, deaths and even…make outs.

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No More Shots in 2014: Resolutions of the Drinking Kind by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

resolutions | daniel kriegerPhoto by Daniel Krieger 

It’s that time of year again. The time when I ask myself, “Where the hell did the year go? And why am I getting older at a continually faster rate? And why am I still single? And why did I do that extra shot of tequila at 2 a.m.?” As yet another year approaches, many of us will take a moment to reflect on the year behind us and all its amazing adventures and accomplishments. And all of the stupid shit we did. Regret is our universal bond. But also, hope.

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How to Taste Wine and Win Friends by Whitney Adams, PUNCH

punch | win friendsPhoto by Whitney A.

Wine tasting group. These three words together elicit an inner eye roll from deep within me. I imagine Orange County housewives with top-shelf supermarket finds and bejeweled goblets, Master Somm candidates in a circle-jerk tornado of blind tasting vocabulary or gaggles of industry professionals showing off with grand tales of their most recent trip abroad and whatever 1946 something-or-other they got to taste.

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