My Story: An Introduction to The Drinking Sensei

Hi! I’m Eleanor, otherwise known as The Drinking Sensei. I was born in Portland, Oregon the land of hops and weed. I grew up in a household of Franzia boxed wine drinkers who enjoyed being bougie with the occasional glass of Black Velvet Whisky. Family get togethers on my mother’s side never included alcohol due to a few family members being in recovery. Though that didn’t stop anyone from having fun. On the other hand, neighborhood parties always included something boozey. 

When I went to high school I never really hung out with the kids who drank. So my first experience with alcohol was when my cousin got my underage booty into a bar. It was a night of kamikaze shots and my cousin’s guy friends making sure no one got near me. That was the summer after I graduated high school and before I left for college. Even in college I wasn’t much of a drinker. At some point my freshman year I chose teaching as a career, which worked well for me for thirteen years. Looking back, I think that if I’d gone to university later in life I would have wanted to study to become a brew master. 

Summer Vacation Can Be All Year

As a teacher, the first week of June is always an exciting one. I had been counting down to the end of the school year from the very first day. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE being a teacher. Seeing students get excited about what they’re learning, watching them grow and getting to know them was always a blast. But it’s HARD work. I was often tired and grumpy from basically being on stage for six hours a day with kids who didn’t always want to be there. So on the first day of school I already had the countdown to the last day written in my planner. As soon as that last day rolled around, I’d say goodbye to my students, have one last happy hour with my colleagues, and get at least eighteen hours of sleep that night.

Summer break was AMAZING, exactly what I had been looking forward to all year. Living in Hawaii means it was filled with traveling to visit friends and family around the world or spending days at the beach with all of the tourists. As I slowly eased my way into summer I would be getting more and more excited to travel and spend time doing the things I love.

Traveling to Learn

Traveling introduced me to new friends and new things to try. This included Taylor Fladgate tawny port in Portugal, wine tasting in Vosne- Romanee, Scotch whiskey, gin and beer tastings in Edinburgh. Although I often did these trips on my own, I always loved sharing my new found knowledge with my friends when I returned home. They might not have been as excited to learn as I was to teach. But I enjoy spreading my love of all things booze. 

As my career as an elementary school teacher came to an end I started this website. I asked myself what the focus of it should be. Would I be traveling and drinking along the way? Would I be blogging about my drinking adventures? Would I simply be listing my top five favorite beers to drink while hiking through Scotland in freezing temperatures and monsoon-like rains? Why not have it be all of those things! I will admit I am no expert in everything alcohol or drinking related. But I love learning and figure I can continue to learn. Then I can continue to teach others my new found knowledge! 

The Drinking Sensei is Born

Thus The Drinking Sensei was born. I’ll be posting videos and pictures to Instagram that have to do with each post. The weekly content will be ever changing. I promise to present you with information that is valuable and engaging. I’m looking to have as much fun as possible so please don’t hesitate to engage here or on Instagram! I’m always looking for new ideas. Includong questions I can answer, information I might not be aware of, and recommendations for places to go or things to try. I might be The Drinking Sensei, but I have a lot to learn. I’m sure there are quite a few of you out there who have things to share.