An Ode to Forties

I am obviously not talking about the decade, but the beautiful, classic, satisfying beyond words party in a bottle.  That’s right.  The Forty.  Forty ounces of your favorite malt liquor or beer beverage all in one sexy package for less money than it takes to ride the bus (which you can do with your forty!).

I recently rediscovered the forty on one particularly broke night.  The neon convenience store sign seemed to beckon me whispering the words 'œfooooooooorty. fooooooorty.'  Since I am nowhere near the age of 40, the creepy number whispering did not make me cringe, but awakened in me a feeling of pure joy.  I waltzed right in, picked my favorite forty ounces of liquid (what’s yours?), slapped down my $2.50 and knew a magical night was about to commence.

Boy was I right.  Actually, nothing overly amazing happened that night, but everything ordinary became magnified through the green glass as I slowly grew toasty ounce by ounce.  Because I like learning in list form, here is a breakdown of my love, and why the Forty wins:

1. It is the perfect portion size.  Just enough to get you good and tipsy/drunk (depending on your level of light-weightedness) but not enough to get you sick and ruin your night.
2. The price simply cannot be beat.  The less-than-three dollar price tag will make anyone happy and the longevity of the drink will keep you with drink-in-hand for a good long while.
3. They bring people together.  From the frat boys playing Edward Forty Hands, to the cab driver who told me the only thing that was getting him through the night was the Mickey’s he had waiting for him at home, everyone can agree on the magic, whimsy and glory of the forty.

So, please, join with me and raise a forty to forties!

Photos by: images.picturesdepot.com, falstaffbrewing.com