Inspiration is apt to strike many of us after a pint or six, until the witty, insightful observations are flowing more freely than the spilled beer. At some point someone will muse, “I oughta write a book,” which usually prompts someone else to cry rapturously, “I wanna write a book about drinking!”
Nicholas Pashley, of the U of T Bookstore Review, has done just that with Notes on a Beermat, except Pashley actually is witty and insightful. And he has clearly done a staggering amount of first-hand research for this book (no pun intended). Pashley has, after all, been drinking in pubs longer than any three frat boys combined. The man ought to know whereof he speaks.
Note I use the word “pub,” not bar. This will likely be terra incognita for those of us who think “beer and skittles” is a euphemism for colourful vomit. But if you’ve ever thought of broadening your drinking tastes, perhaps even—dare I say it—maturing them a little, Pashley’s book would be an excellent place to start. With selfless dedication, he has delved into the best and worst of Toronto’s pub scene over the past thirty-odd years, bringing to you his picks for the best beers in Canada (or anywhere else) and the best places to drink them. And in time-honoured barfly tradition, he has managed to fit in thoughts on just about everything else under the sun as well.
Apparently Torontonians drink like hicks, not to put too fine a point on it.
The book is rife with random factoids on the history of drinking in the GTA, the better for you to amuse your companions with of an evening—assuming, of course, you can summon them from your drink-addled brain. It’s fantastic stuff, if for no other reason than that it will allow you to sniff disdainfully at our city’s pretensions to world-class status. To help us cope with this state of affairs, Pashley has included the outline of a novella in which all the characters are named after U of T drinking establishments (among them luscious Venezuelan circus performer Isabella El Mocambo) and an excellent drinking game you can play with a TTC pass.
If that still doesn’t do it for you, you can forgo Toronto entirely and read about drinking practices in far-off lands. Ever thought about how much better that Heineken would taste if you could drink it from a big glass boot? Well, why not?
The distillation (sorry, can’t resist) of all this experience is well worth looking at.
It certainly can’t hurt to learn a little something about one of mankind’s most ancient and beloved beverages. When combined with Pashley’s acerbic wit, the result is a chronicle of all the absurd and just plain odd shit you can sometimes only see clearly from behind a tall, frosted glass.
