Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Proof.

Renee's Bar: Web Series
This is a fictional web series I created for my Multimedia Communications Performance course at the Academy of Art University in 2016. For our midterm, we had to create a two minute "How To..." video. The only thing I could think of was cocktails. This piece was shot in the spring, that's why I chose Henny and Ginger ale. It's a spring time drink and it can be devoured any time of day or evening.
By Renee Russell6 years ago in Proof
Mead Making
Over the last 9 months or so, something I have been experimenting with has been making Mead. I have done a couple of batches with varying success on quality and like with my chilli plants it's still very much a learning process.
By Duncan Ainsworth6 years ago in Proof
Three Spirit Review - No-alcohol drinking...is it any fun?
I confess, I enjoy a tipple every now and then. Okay, more like every now. I've never been an excessive drinker, but I like a glass of wine most evenings, and admittedly, this might be taking its toll on my liver.
By L.A Banks6 years ago in Proof
Bar etiquette for idiots
After 14 years in the hospitality industry (working in bars, venues and restaurants) I have held pretty much every role on those hallowed grounds from manager to lowly bitch boy. Now you may refer to these establishments as the local, the boozer, the hunting grounds and for some less than honest spouses the office. For me it was hell. Not because of my colleagues or working within a high pressure industry (and trust me 20 impatient drunk people makes for a pretty high pressure environment) no! The single solitary component that made working in a pub feels like purgatory is you, the general public! However do not threat. For I am here to amend your horrendous habits and wicked ways. And teach you the correct way to behave in a drinking establishment. In essence this is a guide on how not to be a dick.
By Troy Anderson6 years ago in Proof
Peruvian Pisco and the American Consumer
Peruvian Pisco. What is it? Pisco is Peru’s national alcoholic beverage. It is a type of brandy distilled from wine in a copper pot. It is then left to rest in metal or glass for three months, but it isn’t aged. The Peruvian Pisco Sour is the classic way to drink Pisco.
By Debra Lobel6 years ago in Proof
Treat Your BBQ Guests to Four of the Best Cocktails
The summer months will be rolling in soon and we all know what means. Backyards up and down the country will become the host to numerous BBQ’s on the weekends with hosts and guests all enjoying some great food and refreshing drinks. However, for the latter, it doesn’t always have to be cold beer. Why not try something a little different by adding some popular cocktails for your guests to drink?
By Steaaphen Davis6 years ago in Proof
Mixology 101
Many of us are stuck at home, eyeing our half-emptied bottle of rum and a can of Coke and wishing we could be out and about on a Friday night. Don't despair: It's not as difficult as you might think to make yourself a delicious drink! You just have to understand the basic science of crafting cocktails, which is called mixology.
By The Geeky Chica6 years ago in Proof
Alcoholic Beverages Taste Horrible
I remember being 8 years old and sneaking a sip of my uncle's can of Budweiser beer he usually kept in our refrigerator when he came to visit.
By Rod Faulkner6 years ago in Proof
5 Reasons My First Attempt at Quitting Drinking Failed. Top Story - March 2020.
5 Reasons My First Attempt at Quitting Drinking Failed On January 1st, 2016, I decided my New Year’s resolution was going to be to quit drinking. Nothing bad happened the night before. I just found myself drinking more than I normally did (being it was NYE) and noticing that it wasn’t really adding to the experience. If anything, actually, it took away from it. I wasn’t as present for my kids as I could have been and I feel asleep before it was even midnight because of all the wine and champagne I drank. I thought back to when I was in high school and overall did not drink much and was perfectly happy. I wanted to go back to feeling like that. If your track record with New Year’s resolutions is anything like mine has been, then I probably don’t have to tell you that this one didn’t last. I made it to mid-April, so about 3 and a half months. I eventually ended up stopping again in late 2017 and when I did, a book I read said that if you have not been successful with quitting drinking in the past, it is because you have not had the right tools. That, combined with all the buzz I was hearing about how failures and setbacks are lessons you can learn from, caused me to sit back and analyze why this earlier attempt was not successful. I have been able to narrow it down to 5 main reasons:
By Kate Crouthamel Nelson6 years ago in Proof
A Near Death Experience
While living my best life I attended Eden’s 30th birthday. The event was at Mosman Hotel in a small outside room upstairs. It was a hot Stormy day, the kind of weather that sets the mood, that promises drama and excitement. It’s the kind of weather that lacklustre cinematographers use to tell the story when they lack the artistic ability to convey a nuanced mood. But yeah, it was promising weather for a promising night. I was ready to get wrecked and the weather had my back. I generally have a pretty solid tolerance for alcohol. I would back myself in a drinking competition against anyone but the most hardened of alcoholic miners. Tonight, I was going to test the tensile strength of my liver and I was going to have a blast doing it. I was enjoying myself catching up with my old Uni crew. It had been three months since we were all together, the last time was Charles 30th. It was the year of 30th birthdays, the year of everyone saying goodbye to their twenties and most of them stepping up to the ‘I’m an adult for real and proper now’. Obviously, I didn’t do any stepping up, but the people around me were starting to make those life choices. I had polished off my 3 bottles of white wine and decided to switch to vodka, as you do in the second hour of drinking. I decided to be a reformed former smoker for the night as well because it seemed like a good idea at the time. By this stage I was visibly drunk, but there is never any stopping Dionysus. Dionysus doesn’t want your speed zones, Dionysus doesn’t see your stop signs, Dionysus wants to have fun, and fun happens at pedal to the metal. The thing that stopped me, my metaphorical wall if you will, was a cigarette. After smoke bombing myself for hours, it was a cigarette that tipped me over the edge. The room started to spin uncontrollably. It had been a while since I had drunk that much and smoke bombed myself that hard, and the consequences of my day hit me all at once. Like Sally Pearson, my system just gave up on me, lay down and cried, but unlike an Olympic rowing team there was no-one left to row row row my boat to shore. Like introverts everywhere I decided to do the dodgy bail, to sneak away and order an uber and hope no-one noticed. To my surprise as I exited the pub there was 4 taxis already lined up. I tried to order an uber through my phone app because it’s cheaper than a taxi but I was by this stage incapable of using my phone. It’s entirely possible I was trying to order my Uber on the back screen of my phone or maybe even on a shoe like a funky modern version of get smart. The point being it wasn’t working. I decided to take a taxi because, while expensive, it was within my current capabilities and I wanted to get home. We got about 2 kms in the taxi before I started to feel violently sick. As politely as possibly when incoherently intoxicated, I asked the driver to pull over so I could throw up. He pulled over, and I opened the door just in time to throw up. I threw up so violently that I briefly lost consciousness and came to, face down in a pile of vomit in the gutter. Half in and half out of the taxi, I languished there like an uncoordinated flamingo. I had hit my head on the gutter, torn my ear at some point, and was covered in a foul-smelling wash of blood, vomit and shame.
By Brendon6 years ago in Proof
I Hope They Serve Tequila in Prison.
Before we begin, I think it is important to mention that these stories are only true to the best of my knowledge. I was drunk, a lot, and I solemnly swear that these are depicted as I remember them. But memory is cousin to truth, not twin, and in this case mutated, undesired lusus naturae.
By Suzanne Betz6 years ago in Proof
Who Was The Real Captain Morgan?
Captain Morgan is a name known far and wide, but today the only fear it generates is in people who can't quite remember what they did after their eighth shot of rum on Saturday night. However, unlike some products that come up with catchy names and memorable mascots to go with them, Captain Morgan was a real person. Beyond simply existing though, Captain Henry Morgan wrote his name in gunpowder and blood all throughout the Caribbean in the 1600s.
By Neal Litherland6 years ago in Proof