What's more popular in Poland beer or vodka?

Correct.... but that doesn't stop a very dedicated friend of mine from making hops infused vodka. Take a load of hops, pour loads of vodka on it, leave for four or five days shaking gently each day and strain out for a differnet tasting vodka. Vodka for the beer lover lol.

Beer is much more popular nowadays here in Poland

Poles drink over 100 liters of beer per person, that's almost as much as Germans, who drink between 103-105 liters. rmf24.pl/ekonomia/news-polacy-zalewaja-piwem-europe-i-pija- prawie-tyle-co-niemcy,nId,601490

Does it taste alot like beer, or do the lack of carbonation and the higher alcohol content overwhelm the beery taste?

Exactly.
While any alcohol does reduce testosterone level a little, it is negligible amount, if compared to the side effects of hops in your typical beer. Contrary to the alcohol in Vodka, hops are not just recucing the testosterone level, they actually convert it into estrogen(!), and that is much harder (if not impossible) to counteract - that is the cause of the man-tits, and many more serious troubles.

On the other hand, the loss of testosterone caused by vodka can be easily reversed by eating moderaly fat meats plus the lots of cabbage. Just remember to have bigos for diner, at least once a week, and you are going to be fine.

If you have a few beers once a week, I do not see anything that would be that much detrimental. But if you drink 3 to 5 times a week, I don't care what it is, you WILL see all types of negative results.

Do you know... alcoholics brain actually shrinks! This is not a joke. in emergency medicine, we have noticed that in alcoholics the smaller brain causes internal bruising more often from the slushing around in a bigger space. One again... NOT a joke! NOT something that is made up! This is being taught in school here as a proven fact.

I was referring to the upcoming Polish festivals in Southern California, including Yorba Linda, Los Angeles and San Diego.


My sis attended our cousin's Polish wedding a few weeks ago. Plenty of vodka was flowing. They had red vodka too. I didn't know such a type exists.

Said effect is much more prominent with women. For a man, he would have to live several hundred years, to notice any effect.
The fact is, one needs to get drunk at least twice a week, in order to deal with day to day stresses. Stress can damage your brain more then any alcohol.

Once, I did consider the switch to Marihuana, but it appears tha marijuana is in fact "testosterone killer" that will turn you into a eunuch in no time.

That is how I found out about the need to keep your testosterone levels high.
The Vodka seems to be the most healthy solution. I guess the Whisky, or Sake, would be a valid alternative, but the good brands, the ones that taste any good, are way too expensive in Poland, to be drunk on day-to-day basis.

there are better way: weighlifting is a much better stress killer, so is mixed martial arts. Personally, I like to do one round sparring (boxing in a ring with gloves, mouth piece, head gear), keep me mellow for about a week. Also get a hot girlfriend, and ride her like you stole her! ;o)

I do like a really cold beer in a glass mug on a warm day with some good bbq.

yes.


And what do you do with that high testosterone level:):)

Beer is better than vodka

Though before I begin I will say this

As long as you don't overdo it a vodka hangover is less abrasive than a beer hangover.
Beer hangovers have the worst headaches.

Anyways recently I tried getting into vodka because someone told me the hangover wasn't as bad.
The thing I dislike about liquor and which is why I have always stuck with beer is because with beer you can sip for hours and by the time you're half way with the second can you can already feel a buzz, with vodka it takes way more for me to start to feel it and then by that time I become drunk.

I dislike taking shots, it's boring.
I want to sit back in my gravity chair for hours and slowly grip and sip while listening to music.

Poles, Austrians, and especially Czechs like their beer. A little surprising that Germans are not in top 5; perhaps because the Eastern migrants / nationals in Germany avoid drinking alcohol in general.

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  Beer drinking stats
  

I'd guess it's more that they have a lot of wine in the south and west, some of it very good.

It's always worth being wary about alcohol consumption stats.

@Tlum
alcohol is haram

Yes, Boko Haram, verily.


Their consumption is astounding, really

I drink beer mostly during hot summers.

This is not consumption but sales. Beer in the Czech Republic is good and cheap, which is why it is bought en masse by Germans, Austrians and others in the Czech Republic and taken abroad.

But Tlum`s graph says consumption.

Well, yes, they count beers sold in stores and restaurants. That is, sales

Not necessarily. It depends on your own interpretation and which "fiqh" you follow.

And of course there are many things that are haram for Polish Catholics however millions of them still do those things.

I can only think of abstaining from meats on certain days - what more are there according to you?

According to me?????

Looks like you forgot about adultery, theft, bearing false witness and a few other things that are haram like not attending Mass on ob days.

Did you think that the word "haram" only relates to food items? Perhaps you also think that the word "hijab" is only about female outerwear.

ok, you win - I forgot all about them, indeed

and hijab is also for males? never would have thought

Hijab just means a soft cover. It can be a chair cover or over a milk jug or a tarpaulin the back of a lorry.

About Muslims and alcohol, it really does depend on who you listen to. Many drink (all the Quran says about alcohol (and drugs) is that you shouldn't pray while intoxicated) and although alcohol is often seen as slightly less respectable than hashish, plenty of people in the Arab world do like a drink.

It's my understanding the word (and the garment) are modern creations of political islam (one of the worst ideas of the last 100 years).

Headscarves were usually called tarha.... men also wore/wear head coverings of various types in some places or on some occasions. The idea that women shouldn't show their hair in public (and that this should be enforced by law) is a product of globalization.

It seems frankly stupid to me as do a lot of political religious symbols...


A Middle-Eastern colleague once told me that some muslims interpret the koran as specifically banning wine.... 'they don't say anything about vodka!'

I can understand why people in hot dessert climates would have cultural restrictions on alcohol (which dehydrates the drinker) but again... some carry it to ridiculously weird lengths.

Qutbism and Deoband? No. A bit but not entirely. It isn't a modern word; in fact it's very general and means any sort of soft covering.

The discussions about modest clothing have been around since the days of the Prophet. Cultural conservatives from Pakistan etc can say and do what they like. A certain amount of basic modesty (not that much) is recommended for both men and women however the Hadithi vary and leave a lot to choice. Unfortunately inadequate and reactionary men across the world are always paranoid that someone better will steal 'their' women.


Unfortunately, people in societies where alcohol is uncommon (regardless of that society's religion) aren't used to holding their booze and often behave like teenagers in an Amsterdam coffee shop, going for the strongest stuff they can find which they can't handle.