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I am not much into alcohol. I only drink occasionally. My family members were too cool to allow me to drink on family occasions ever since I was sixteen years old. Before I had turned eighteen, I had already tasted beer, whisky, scotch, vodka, rum, red & white wine, gin, champagne etc. The first time that I actually bought alcohol from a wine shop for myself was when I had just turned eighteen years old. I had bought a can of Kalyani Black Label Beer from the wine shop in our locality. Most probably the price was around 40 rupees at that time. I do not remember correctly. It was in the year 2000.
The first time I went to a pub was also in the year 2000. It was Olypub in Park Street. I went there with a friend. We had beef steak and beer. After that day we started going to Olypub regularly. Another favourite dish at Olypub was Chicken-a-la-Kiev. It was and still is yummilicious! Since then I have been to almost all the famous and infamous bars and pubs in Calcutta. But Park Street still remains a favourite place. Even today if I have to booze outside with my friends then my first choice is always Park Street. Some-Place-Else at Park Hotel is another favourite hang out spot in Park Street. The alcohol is not that expensive there and they have live musical bands every night. Its a perfect combo! I have been to each and every bar and restaurant in Park Street. But somehow Olypub still feels special. Even today I get so nostalgic whenever I visit Olypub. I still remember the first day when I had visited this place. The memories are still very fresh in my mind.
Another favourite place to booze is at Shaw Bar which is also fondly called Chhota Bristol. The reason for this alternative name is that during the British period there was a hotel called Bristol nearby. Thus the patrons started referring to this place as Chhota Bristol. Shaw Bar is the oldest bar in Calcutta. The prices of alcohol are really pocket friendly here. There is a huge variety of food available. The various choices and their rates will just blow your mind. The ambience is very warm here and the camaraderie among the customers is really contagious. Women are not allowed here and therefore there is peace and no tension in the air! The only problem is to find an empty seat here especially on weekends. I once wrote a blogpost on Shaw Bar a few years back. Here is the link :
The first time I tasted country liquor was when I was in St. Xavier's College. I guess it was around 2005. In those days the most famous country liquor brand was Farinni. Nowadays it is Dada. Anyways back then I had Farinni with Sprite at the famous Khalasitola. I went there with a friend of mine. It was initially a shocking experience to visit Khalasitola. I had heard and read about this place many times in many magazines and newspapers. The main reason to visit Khalasitola was that at one point of time this place was the favourite hang out spot for stalwarts like Kamal Kumar Majumdar, Sunil Ganguly, Shakti Chatterjee, Ritwik Ghatak, the hungryalists, and many such famous and not so famous poets, writers, painters, dramatists, intellectuals etc. Anyways coming back to my story, Farinni with Sprite did not taste that bad. Also we had some potato snacks and fish fries from the food stall which was inside Khalasitola. Many other food items and combos were available. In those days the owners of Khalasitola used to open up the terrace in the evenings. It was really nice to booze on the terrace on a beautiful evening and look down at the adjacent busy road. In those days me and my friends used to have long adda sessions on the roof of Khalasitola. We used to discuss everything from politics to poetry. I guess after a few years for some unknown reason the owners of Khalasitola stopped letting people go to the terrace and it remained closed. Maybe some drunkard had thrown some empty alcohol bottles on the road below or something like that must have happened. I do not know the exact reason why the terrace was suddenly closed for people.
Apart from Khalasitola, I have also been to Baroduari at Rani Rashmoni Road and Ganja Park at Bhowanipore for country liquor. Baroduari is a slightly better place than Khalasitola but Khalasitola somehow has an x-factor. And I hated the ambience of Ganja Park. I only went there a couple of times and then never went back there. Another unique place was Tripty's Bar at Bhowanipore. Some people also jokingly call this place Striptease!
My most favourite alcohol is Old Monk rum. I usually have it with Thums Up, neither Coca Cola nor Pepsi, only Thums Up! Sometimes I also add mango or litchi juice into it, just to make a cocktail. It really tastes very nice. I also love collecting miniature alcohol bottles. I really find them very cute. Sadly they are not sold in Calcutta. I went to Goa in 2019 and from there I bought many miniature alcohol bottles. I wish to buy more such bottles in the future...
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