I agree - still, a hobby that leaves you with alcohol beats one that leaves you with toy cars.
I'd agree. However, I have a couple of reasons for making my own. One is that it is something to do at home, another is that I know exactly what I am drinking. Any of the modestly priced boxed stuff here you really cannot be sure. Foods need detailed labelling while alcoholic beverages get away with 'fruit wine product'. Really, WTF goes in there? Could be any fruit juice topped up with straight alcohol. I am not snobbish about Mont Clair, I have drunk more than my fair share of the stuff, but it is not wine.
Then there is price. Actual (grape) wine here is probably Baht 600+ for a bottle of something that is drinkable so long as you ignore the taste. I get some wine from a private supplier who sometimes has new world wines by the case at about Baht 800 to 900 per bottle. That is the nearest thing I can find to the kind of wine you can get in a UK supermarket for half that price, say under 10 quid a bottle. I don't want to be spending nearly Baht 1,000 a night on wine. My home made grog comes in at about Baht 40, much more resonable.
The splash of soda makes a better drink for this climate, to my taste. Nothing wrong with a wine spritzer and definitely better than those coloured bottles that I don't even remember the name of. Spry? Spy? The very best white I made tasted not too far off a cheap champagne, I just wish I knew why it turned out that way.
There is still a long way to go on the winemaking journey. I want something drier and with a higher alcohol content. I'd like to find white grape juice rather than the mixed apple/grape that Makro sells and I hope to find a way of fermenting red grape juice that doesn't turn into Quatermass. I might try that again in winter when the ambient temperature is lower, which should keep the rate of fermentation in check.
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