So there you have it, one week down. No doubt you have probably already been to a party, or six, and got the phone numbers of people you probably have no intention of calling, except for the blonde in English class. You’ll definitely call her.

For many of you, it may have been your first taste of unadulterated freedom and responsibility from the safe haven of wherever you call home. For others, you may have passed out on someone’s couch after half a bottle of some mutant white wine that you only drank because it said “sweet.”

But I’m not here to judge. This is college, a four-year learning experience, and now you know. Take some Tylenol and blue Gatorade for any headaches and never underestimate the power of a good Bloody Mary. It’s time for Booze News.

Speaking of little fancy cupcakes with egg and cheese, known as quiche, Merry Cellars Winery had their release party over the weekend, pouring the new 2014 Malbec as well as the 2016 Rose.

The Malbec was quite the saucy glass, smelling of warm stewed blackberries, velvety blue fruit, and just the hint of mint and spice. The Rose was fantastic, with a soft freshness and dry acidity of strawberries and fresh rose water.

Ladies, get to Merry Cellars, grab a glass of Rose and mourn over what passes for pick-up lines these days. Guys, go there as well, just because I say so, and “drink pink.”

But enough of wine; let’s talk some about cocktails and spirits. Foundry Kitchen & Cocktails, a quaint little cocktail kitchen down on Main, has just released their brand new, updated cocktail menu, and it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Or drank from. Just to be sure, I ordered more.

What made the menu even more exclusive and spectacular were the select few cocktails invented in-house by some of the local mixing geniuses. Anna Lloid, a booze slinger reminiscent of Irish folklore and the Walter White of mixing drinks, has created the Spring Street Smash.

This British gem features a delicious musk of gin, strawberries, cranberries and balsamic, without all the heartburning nastiness of vinegar; just the good stuff (if you like that heartburning sensation, go chug some vinegar or something), all served up nicely in an old-fashioned glass with a single giant cube of ice. You barely get the gin, making this a very dangerous, albeit delicious, drink. You will want to keep ordering them. They are that good.

Enter Foundry’s Tre Robinson: while Lloid may be the “Master Chef” of cocktails, this handsome devil is definitely the voodoo doctor. He created witchcraft in a glass with his Liquid Sol.

Only those among the best can create a cocktail that is this bewildering, awesome and delicious. He managed to make a blend of the bright, rum-soaked Caribbean, and the ‘basic’ spice of fall. You all know what I mean.

The name suggests inspiration from a sunny day with rain, reminding one of perhaps a spritely soda commercial from the late ’80s. This chilled drink brings the brown sugary savory-ness of rum, bright lime and pineapple flavors and combines them with a grown-up spice of clove, all in one golden drink, served chilled in a coupe glass.

It goes great with perhaps some lime and cilantro street tacos in the fall. Either way, you can’t go wrong with either of these drinks. That said, stay safe my friends, and “Bottoms Up.”

Chris West is a sophomore viticulture and enology major from Plano, Texas. He can be contacted at [email protected].