Deady Drinks

In May of 2011, I was at a bar attending my room mate's going away party. Her cousin bought a round of "chocolate cake shots" for everyone. So what's in this tasty shot??

Chocolate Cake Shot Ingredients:

• 1 fluid ounce hazelnut liqueur (frangelico)
• 1/2 fluid ounce vodka
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• white sugar

Who would have thought there were nuts in this CLEAR colored shot! I immediately swelled up from 1 oz of hazelnut liqueur, so this stuff is potent. Below is a list of alcohol that contains nuts. I have bolded the most common ones!

• Creme d'amande, de noix, & de noyaux are nut based liqueurs
• Amadeus from Austria is a nut based alcohol
• There is an almond version of Galliano, but usually you just encounter the regular one (vanilla flavored)
• Amaretto (almonds)
• Bellota (acorns)
• Dumante (pistachio)
• Frangelico (hazelnut)
• Kahana Royale (macadamia nut)
• Nocello (walnut and hazelnut)
• Nocino (unripe green walnuts)
• Castries Peanut Rum Creme (peanut)
• Peanut Lolita (peanut)
• Ratafia (brandy flavored with almonds, fruit, or fruit kernels - also a flavored biscuit)
• Bombay Sapphire Gin (Almonds)
• Gin: Some gins use almond extract in processing
• Southern Comfort (contain derivatives from tree nuts)
• Kahlua Hazelnut
• Kahlúa Ready-to-Drink products contain dairy, soy beans, and tree nuts.  This includes Banana Mudslide, Chocolate Latte, Kappuccino, Original Mudslide, and White Russian
• Amadeus (walnut)
• Charbay Nostalgie (black walnut) )
• Lazzaroni Ameretto (almond)
• Ratafua (brandy flavored with almond)
• Eblana - Irish Whisky (almond, peanut)
• Kazkar (Cashew)
• Dirty Squirrel (Hazelnut beer)
• Goober Oatmeal Stout (peanuts)

This is living list and I will update on a regular basis if I hear of anything new. Please let me know if you know of any other liquors that contain nuts, specifically beers and wines!

-Sarah-

We've All Been There

We've all been there.... I say that sarcastically because I don't think most of us have.

Have you ever gone to some one's house for the first time for a social gathering and then had to leave early because it turns out you were severely allergic to something there? Maybe the house pet? Maybe the dust? Who knows when you are living daily with severe allergies!

It's hard on family and friends to really understand what it's like to feel like an outcast when all you're trying to do is fit in. I wanted to be at that party. I wanted to have fun. I wanted to drink margaritas! Instead I popped an antihistamine, took a few puffs of my inhaler and then sat outside in the 16 degree Chicago winter weather so I could breathe free of allergens while everyone else was inside having fun.

After trying to "stick it out" for another hour my eye swelled up (most likely due to a dog hair getting in there) and my arm broke out in hives. This is when I grabbed my boyfriend in a vain attempt to keep some of my self dignity (and looks). Definitely didn't want the other eye puffing out!

I got a few hugs and well wishes. While most people just stared at me most likely thinking I was making it all up. Come on they don't have allergies! Certainly I could handle a little dog hair?  No one seems to understand that little things like dog hair and dust can threaten something as important as a life. Most people think guns, knives, cancer, heart disease kill people. Scary things and people that lurk around at night threaten your life, not dust!

Until allergies are better understood and more widely talked about, people will continue giving me that half sympathetic-half "she's making it up" eye. If only I were making it up...