I believe my taste in buzz-inducing substances is good enough to be shared with humanity. Still, I welcome expressions of descent and suggestions of good Russian beers.

Beer classification:

Physiologically sickening. It will cause harm that will manifest itself as discomfort of one sort or another.

Harmless. Whether it is good or bad is a matter of taste and choice.

Good beer in an objective sort of way. If you don't like it you missed the point.

Klinskoye Redkoye ("Klin Rare"). Presently one of my favourites. Solid, filling, and inexpensive (16-18 roubles). Brewed in Klin, and Klin is where the Tchaikovky museum is, speaking of which, do check out my Moscow to St. Petersburg trip.

Zolotaya Bochka (Golden Barrel). The Vyderzannoye ("Seasoned") variety and a small bag of dry bread sticks replaces a meal.

All Baltica beers, others, with possible exception of No. 5, No. 7, and No. 8 (which is good but not for everyone) are plain bad, and Nos. 5 and 7 are way too watery to my taste. Remember that information that makes it to travel guides is a few years old. Baltica was good in the early 90s. Now it seems travel guides just copy one anohter.

Western brand names manufactured in Russia. Stay away from these. Bad alcohol, water from questionable source, a food colour to make it yellow, and come carbon dioxide is pumped in at the end. Buy either proper imported brands, or local beers. Examples: Kozel "brewed" in Kaluga or Warsteiner by the Effes Brewery in Moscow.

Mixing beer and vodka Russian style.

Yes, that's doable and the effect can be pleasant but:

• Use quality light beer and plain clean vodka
• Only in the fall and winter
• Do not smoke!! Cigarettes and alcohol are a bad combination unless you are a a connoisseur of the headache experience 
• Plenty of walking around after consuming this stuff. Some controlled debauchery will be appropriate.
• A cup of hot tea, with lemon and sugar, and perhaps even a couple of aspirins before going to bed

Parliament. Excellent clean vodka, and a bit cheaper than Rusian Standard, selling at 180 roubles ($7) per bottle.

Better vodkas from Crystal Distillery. Anything made out of class "Lux" ethanol and costing over 160 roubles should be OK. Still, avoid "Gzhelka". Too much mixed in.

Cheaper vodkas from Crystal. 60 rouble stuff ($2) will not poison you. It will not, however, give you the clear-headed feelings good vodkas taken with proper food produce.

Vodkas and liquors from Kashin. The Kashin distillery supplied most of the Tver region, and that's where I have my "dacha". Materials on Kashin products will be added here soon. Make a note of the Old Kashin sweet cream.

Crystal vodka bottling operation, best known in the west and locally. Located in Lefortovo by the Yauza river on Ul. Samokatnaya that translates as "Push-cycle street". Insider sources reveal that..

A monument to Alcoholism in the Bolotnaya Ploshad ("Swamp Square") in Moscow. To me the statue looks more like an appropriate symbol of gluttony, but the label below excludes any ambiguity..

Avoid flavoured vodkas. I have an impression that lower grade material is used to make them. If you insist on flavour, make your own. Pepper, lemon or ashberry-flavoured vodka can be prepared for our accommodation guests on a 4-weeks' notice.

Beware of forged stuff. Cheap vodkas are more likely than expensive ones to be made out of technical ethanol and tap water in a basement factory . Try to get your booze in respectable stores in a big properly run city.

Vodka poisoning is one of the leading causes of death among Russian men. Mostly it is vodkas with high methanol content.

Do not let your vodka drinking uncontrollably slide into an unplanned Misery Tourism episode.

The logo of the Oracle of the Divine Bottle, one of Moscow's most respected jazz clubs. Ovchinnikovskaya Nab., M. Novokuznetskaya.

Where Russians get drunk. Slum and back alley drinking. Examples of typical low-life drinking establishments.

Vtoroye Dykhaniye (Second Wind) behind Novokuznetskaya Metro Station. I'll describe the character of the place by relating an episode from three years ago. I brought the Skulik dog from my Tver boonies cottage to Moscow for the pooch to expand his horizons. When I return to Moscow I do a round of my favourite establishments, drinking and otherwise. So I tied him to a metal bar outside of the Second Wind window. That was end of winter, about minus 10, very mild for a mutt based on the Caucasian shepherd breed. It was notices that I left the poor doggy out, I was accused of cruelty to animals, and insistently invited to bring him, where he was generously fed.

An unnamed place by the Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard) bookstore on Polyanka. On several occasions I witnessed drunken fights and at one time was attacked myself. On another occasion the famous Vovchik of Ryazan was publicly and repeatedly called "behemoth", and then we got arrested for peeing in an empty parking lot at 2 in the morning. That's the place to go if you are looking for thrills. Originally it was intended for factory workers and assorted hoodlums (back in the days when Polyanka was the dumps) but now establishments of this sort seem to be successfully drawing the young the the stylish.

A diminishing list of basement drinking establishments left from the Soviet era will be compiled and posted soon. Sign up for the pub crawl poor Russian style before they all get closed or upgraded.

Museum of Russian Eating and Drinking, Noginsk (Moscow Region) run by the Chernogolovka division of Ost-Alco. Ost-Alco makes everything, from decent middle-of-the-road vodkas to windshield washer fluids. More info at www.ost-group.ru

www.vodkaphiles.com is an example of what happens when you put together a site not because the spirit moves you but as a way to attract traffic to your pointless and boring resource

Yerofeev, V. Moscow - Petushki. A Poem. English translation is available from ... A discussion of this work can be found at ...... In our view the book contains the best discussion to be found anywhere on the existential foundation of drinking. Or perhaps "ontological" is a better term?

Check out www.russianfoods.com for an active vodka forum.

Photo gallery of Russians drinking

Hangover prevention strategies and cures. Personal favourites by the site's owner.