First day of private liquor sales in Washington state

[MillCreek]

Today is the first day of private liquor sales in Washington.  To celebrate, my wife and I went to the local Costco, who was responsible for getting this initiative passed.  We can now personally testify that the Kirkland Signature golden margarita mix, at $ 11 for 1.5 liters, is both tasty and a great value.  I also picked up a bottle of Demitri's bloody mary seasoning, since the ingredients looked intriguing. 

[Northwoods]

Yay!  Course, I'm set for distilled spirits for the short term.  I'll wait a bit and then see what Single Malt selections are like.  If they're decent and the price is competitive, I can stop imposing on my Scotch Club buddy in LA.

[Azrael256]

Ohhhhhh...

THAT explains all the "happy buy liquor at the store day" comments today.  I was pretty baffled by it.

Congratulations, WA!

[Northwoods]

'Course there were a lot of "news" stories about how the prices were going to go WAAYY up compared to what the state stores charge because of the taxes levied to "reimburse" the state for their "lost" revenue.

Everything I've heard though suggests that prices are actually a touch lower.  And in a couple years when a 10% tax expires they'll be lower still.

[Monkeyleg]

I've never understood the states with government-run liquor stores. What's the purpose?

I also don't understand dry counties here in the south. If you want alcohol, you just drive a few miles to the next county.

[Regolith]

Oregon needs to be next.

[Nick1911]

And, the US is a little more free. 

[Chuck Dye]

Always nice to see things return to the free market, even if only in baby steps.  We in Oregon  can only hope that Oregon follows suit.  Myer's Rum in Oregon runs $38.50 per 1.75l jug.  Where I buy it in California, it is typically $24-$26.  I suspect that, over the long term, we will see a nearly zero sum game, both in Washington and, if we can vote in free market liquor in Oregon, where taxes (i.e. profits in state liquor stores) lost will be made up elsewhere.  *sigh*

[RaspberrySurprise]

I've never understood the states with government-run liquor stores. What's the purpose?

Revenue and control.

[RoadKingLarry]

Are the streets running red with blood wine yet?

[Northwoods]

Are the streets running red with blood wine whiskey yet?

FIFY.

Wine has been available outside of state-run stores for decades.  It's the hard liquor that was not.

[Monkeyleg]

Why is it that people seem to think you don't get drunk on wine? It has more than twenty times the alcohol content of beer. Back in the "pass the bottle" days in the very early 1970's, I got plenty drunk with wine.

[stevelyn]

Hmmmm............. I always thought state-run ABC stores were a back-east and bible belt phenomenon.

[Chuck Dye]

Why is it that people seem to think you don't get drunk on wine? It has more than twenty times the alcohol content of beer. Back in the "pass the bottle" days in the very early 1970's, I got plenty drunk with wine.

Must have been some wine!

The beers and ales I drink run 4.8% to 11%.  Not even the 151 proof rum I use for floaters is twenty time as strong as the weakest beer I buy.  Are you perhaps remembering the hangovers more than the wine?

[Monkeyleg]

No, I just put the decimal place in the wrong spot. Pabst, Bud, Miller MGD and all of those are 5% or so, while wine is about 11-12%. With a large wine glass (16 oz) it's really easy to for someone to put away a quart of wine and think that he hasn't drank much, when in fact he's had the equivalent of a six pack.

I find that a lot with women. "Oh, I don't really drink. I just have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner." Yeah, and I had a six-pack of Pabst. You're so much better than me.

As for government run stores being a Bible belt thing, I haven't seen that in any of the southern states I've been in (TN, KY, AL, MS, AR, NC, SC, VA, WV, LA). Maybe I somehow missed them, but I always bought beer every night wherever I stayed.

[RoadKingLarry]

Oklahoma has some seriously twisted liquor laws. We have the curse of 3.2 "beer" that can be sold in C stores and grocery stores everything else has to be bought at a liquor store and the high point beer can't be sold cold. Also the liquor stores can only sell alcohol containing beverages, no non-alcoholic mixers, not even so much as a swizzle stick.
Oklahoma also has a burgeoning wine industry but the laws over how the wine can be sold in state are also screwy. The wineries can sell direct from their site but can't sell in state except to a distributor.

[AJ Dual]

Dick, if it really was Pabst, then yeah... I think they probably are better than you.

My paternal grandfather was a brewmaster for Pabst to 30 years, got it for free by the caseload each month, and my family still wouldn't drink it. 

[erictank]

No, I just put the decimal place in the wrong spot. Pabst, Bud, Miller MGD and all of those are 5% or so, while wine is about 11-12%. With a large wine glass (16 oz) it's really easy to for someone to put away a quart of wine and think that he hasn't drank much, when in fact he's had the equivalent of a six pack.

I find that a lot with women. "Oh, I don't really drink. I just have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner." Yeah, and I had a six-pack of Pabst. You're so much better than me.

As for government run stores being a Bible belt thing, I haven't seen that in any of the southern states I've been in (TN, KY, AL, MS, AR, NC, SC, VA, WV, LA). Maybe I somehow missed them, but I always bought beer every night wherever I stayed.

Misplaced a decimal in a WORD for the number?    But taken as intended, glad to see I didn't have to go and look up numbers to confirm that you'd have to be talking about near-beer for your statement to be true.

VA, at least, has government-run stores, but they're just for the hard stuff. Beer and wine can be sold in grocery stores and 7-11s.