ASTROLIQUOR for Feb. 3-9—What the stars say you should drink!

My Fellow Inebriates,

Here’s your booze horoscope:

Everything you need is available, Aries. Strangers feel like friends, and friends feel like family. You’re constantly meeting new contacts, many of whom will soon prove valuable. Somebody might even lend you money if you’re lucky. How should you approach this new social phase? Why, liquor your friends up, and don’t hold back. Offer them equal parts rum, whiskey and vodka, plus orange juice to taste (I suggest “none”).

Taurus, you mustn’t go out in those skidmarked sweatpants. You’re going to meet someone this week—a Virgo or a Capricorn—who won’t appreciate that level of casualness. Consider washing your clothes or visiting the dry cleaner. Burn any items that are absolutely embarrassing. You have a chance to make a good impression. Consider upgrading from Canadian Club to Crown Royal.

You’ll be put to the test at work this week, Gemini, and if you don’t dig deep for your inner confidence, your colleagues will notice your insecurities. Alcohol is the obvious answer, but don’t just choose clear, odorless vodka—choose something flashy and own it. You might work in an environment where employees are allowed to drink Jagerbombs. Do it! But add some Bacardi 151 and cinnamon to make your drink stand out.

It’s difficult for you to forget the past, Cancer, but the next month will be much better if you try. If you can’t arrest your self-recriminating thoughts, drown them in alcohol. I think this will work wonders:

  • 2 oz lime-flavored rum
  • 1 oz Blue Curacao
  • 1/2 oz grenadine
  • 3 oz sweet-and-sour mix
  • Soda water (if you must)

Leo, you’re very irritable this week—so much so that your friends can’t even compliment you without getting their heads snapped off. Unless you can chill out you are destined for a bar fight. What you need is a project. Ignore any groundhogs’ predictions about spring coming early and fix yourself some wintry eggnog:

  • 4 egg yolks (separate them while sober)
  • 1/2 oz cream
  • 1 oz simple syrup
  • 1.5 oz tawny port
  • 3 oz bourbon
  • 7 oz milk

Shake ingredients together with ice, pour into a highball glass and sprinkle with nutmeg (but not too much—the nutmeg high isn’t worth it).

This is a good week for socializing, Virgo. You’ll be positively collecting new friends and acquaintances this week. Enjoy it while it lasts, because your popularity is riding a crescendo, and what goes up must come down. Alcohol will neither help nor hinder, but have some anyway. Why not try something weird, like lychee-flavored liqueur with grapefruit juice?

Libra, you will learn something unbelievable about yourself this week from a female friend or coworker. But you need to be careful; you tend to be tempted by ideas that might not be legal—marinating pot leaves in vodka, for example. If you are going to ignore my sincere advice not to do this, you need to follow instructions very carefully, watch the how-to video, and avoid getting busted.

You’re having some strange ruminations, Scorpio. You’re wondering what it’s all about, whether society can sustain itself in all its modern madness, and what will be left a thousand years from now. Will people still drive cars? Will there be colonies on Mars? How old will people be? Will everyone be naked because of global warming? These are great questions, but you’re having trouble turning them off when you try to sleep at night. So I have three words for you: Kahlua, Bailey’s, and creme de cacao (okay, five words).

Sagittarius, this is a great week to finish projects you’ve started and abandoned. You’ll find all sorts of historical leftovers: cases of Zima, weird liqueurs, discontinued beers. Sit down on your basement floor and start chugging. You can’t leave these items another moment; they might (gasp) expire. Oh…and about the other projects. They can wait until you run out of Zima. Friday brings fun and possibly romance, plus good news about a friend who’s been sick.

You’re not so steady this week, Capricorn. One minute you’re happy and confident, the next whimpering and emotional. The timing is bad! You have a jealous coworker who’s just waiting for you to show weakness so he/she can sabotage you at work. Quick! You need to pull yourself together by combining Red Bull with alcohol, exactly the way I discourage doing elsewhere. How about Red Bull with berry-flavored Bacardi and peach schnapps? Throw some cranberries in for vitamins and fiber—you need a boost.

Aquarius, you need a vacation, even if your coworkers think your brain is on a permanent one. You don’t have any money, though, so you might need to make your holiday less a physical trip than a mental one, and alcohol always helps with that. Still, you need to keep it on the cheap side. Think beer, rum, and coca cola. If it feels a little trailer-park, well, it is, so add some hot sauce and live it up.

Pisces, you’ve worked hard lately to regain your stability, and now your taste for luxury is asserting itself. Put the credit card away! Don’t even think of blowing all your money on a night out. Find another natural homebody and make a drunken evening for yourselves at home. You can do a lot with some vodka and bananas. Right? I mean, it makes a good drink.

ASTROLIQUOR for Jan. 23-29—What the stars say you should drink!

My Fellow Inebriates,

Here’s your booze horoscope:

People are trying to force you to be someone you’re not, Aries, but they are in for a fight. You’re not going to be cornered, nor are you going to be diplomatic. It’s not just because of all the alcohol in your system; it’s because you can be a real dick when your mind’s made up. If someone offers you a beer, you’ll insist on taking your own bizarre path. Might as well try this:

  • 3 oz banana schnapps
  • 5 oz strawberry schnapps
  • 3 oz half-and-half cream

Drink it all day just to make your point. Then barf on your tormentors.

Taurus, you have to pull yourself together! Go out and enjoy yourself—joke around, say hi to strangers, think about mating. You have tons of energy and imagination, and people are ready to listen to you. Since you’re in party mode, here’s a party drink:

  • 3 oz orange juice
  • 2 oz pineapple juice
  • 1 kiwi
  • 5 strawberries
  • 1/4 cup watermelon

Blend it all up with ice and pour it into a pina colada glass. Ahhh! Who says it’s too cold?

You’re feeling lonely, Gemini, and you’re worried about letting people down. Sometimes people with your star sign experience feelings of inferiority and hurt pride. But that’s what alcohol is for. You’ll find that if you make the effort to reach out, your friends will be ready to get loaded with you. How about setting some drinks on fire? Try igniting a mixture of Kahlua and sambuca, then throwing Bailey’s and Blue Curacao on top of it. That will make you feel special.

You need more sleep than you think, Cancer. Somehow passing out doesn’t count as proper rest, so you have to coordinate your drinking a bit better so you can sober up at work instead of wasting your nighttime sleep hours burning off alcohol. It’s tricky, but you’re smart enough. Drinking at work has another side benefit, too: you’ll be less inhibited with your coworkers, one of whom has a little crush on you. Needless to say, vodka is a nice odorless choice for the office, but I’d still add some Blue Curacao.

Leo, you’re in a romantic dreamland, unable to focus, drifting from art to music to drama. You can’t decide—to party or to be alone? To spend or to save? To hang inside or go streaking? All this vacillation stems from lack of energy. Grab a caffeinated energy drink and throw some raspberry vodka shots into it. Shake it up and pound it. That’ll get your head on straight.

This is a good week for gambling, Virgo, whether on the stock market or at the casino. You’re not bulletproof, though—you have a tendency to keep playing after your luck has run out. This is where alcohol comes in: As soon as you sense you’ve peaked, reallocate your wallet to the bar and buy yourself some vodka/grape juice martinis. But watch out for an obnoxious Sagittarius who doesn’t have an “indoor voice.” This person will be such a nuisance that others will offer to punch him/her out for you. Take them up on it.

Libra, you can’t change other people; you can only change yourself. But why change at all? You’re having a very social week and bumping into all sorts of new people who’ll dig you for you. Have you ever mixed bourbon with a whole bunch of fruit in the blender and tossed red currants into it? You should totally do that and share it with your new friends.

This is a time for regrouping, assessing, and committing to hard work, Scorpio. But it’s also a good time for downing a bottle of red wine. Sometimes you get very manic when you decide to revamp your life, and alcohol has a good tempering effect. You have plenty of time—nothing will change drastically until April (when you start putting away boxes of wine instead of bottles).

Sagittarius, the next few months promise spiritual discovery and profound intuition. You are more open-minded than you have been in weeks. But it’s not a good time to take on new projects at work. You are too messed up with vodka (the catalyst for your developing Third Eye). If the visions come on too strong, mix that vodka with something—how about some ice cream plus Kahlua and Bailey’s? As good as a meal.

This is a good week to boss people around, Capricorn. You’re a natural leader with so much charisma that people are chomping at the bit to follow you. When you’re this powerful, you can get away with anything, so fill up that flask. Not just with odorless vodka—add some apricot brandy, knowing that you are truly untouchable (at least for a while).

Wow, Aquarius, there are a whole bunch of constellations coinciding in your part of the sky, and that makes you feel superhuman. Don’t jump off the roof, though; keep at least a partial grip on reality. Try to calm down a bit with some nice boozy coffee:

  • 1 cup coffee
  • 1 oz vodka
  • 0.5 oz Kahlua
  • 0.5 oz amaretto
  • Whipped cream and sugar to taste

Practice making this drink because you’re going to meet someone in April who enjoys lovely, sensuous beverages.

Pisces, you’re back to work again—congratulations! But keep a low profile; nobody really knows you yet and it’s probably best to keep it that way. If you’re planning to embezzle money, for example, you certainly don’t want any higher-ups to know who you are. You’ll find you have access to many beautiful and expensive things. Be careful! When you’re staggering around on a blackberry schnapps bender it’s all too easy to break the crystal.

ASTROLIQUOR for Jan. 13-19—what the stars say you should drink

My Fellow Inebriates,

Here’s your booze horoscope:

You haven’t been following your instincts, Aries, and you’re stuck. Start making some discreet queries about moving upward or onward in your career. But don’t be distracted from your love life. Your partner is hitting the bottle hard, and if you don’t catch up there’ll be none left for you. Don’t smash that vodka bottle fighting; share it between you nicely, and stretch it out by adding some Frangelico, Bailey’s and creme de cacao.

Taurus, you’ve been a great team player lately and people are eager to reward you with bar drinks. Say yes, but don’t take excessive advantage—i.e., don’t make them clean up your vomit later. Throwing up is somewhat inevitable when you go overboard combining dark rum and triple sec, so at least aim for the toilet when it all comes back up.

This is going to be a drama-free week, Gemini. Find a good book and stock up on your favorite spirits—I’m thinking tequila and and vodka in equal parts. Ignore the chores, but not to the point where your house is uncomfortable. (If you barf on the floor you should clean it up.)

Go out for a feast on Saturday with somebody you care about, Cancer. You need people around to remind you that you are special, and to prevent you from going on a bender alone. Sure, you have the urge to drink a punch bowl full of vodka, but it’s so much more fun with a friend, isn’t it? No driving for you this week! You will be perma-drunk and accident-prone.

You have a social week ahead, Leo, with calls from new acquaintances who want to get to know you. Don’t ignore them. New friends represent an opportunity to reinvent yourself. New friends have never seen you with your underwear on your head. If you’re unsure what to pour for them, try cognac or some tawny port—or both; these drinks are elegant right up until the moment you lose control.

Such a slacker at work, Virgo! Your coworkers are starting to call you on tasks you slough off on them. Time to reach into your desk and share your apple brandy flask. This will temporarily endear you to them and buy you some more time to play Bejeweled or grope yourself or whatever you like to do at work.

Libra, your colleagues are talking behind your back. It won’t come to anything, so just ignore it and continue spiking your coffee with Bailey’s, Kahlua and butterscotch liqueur. Obviously they’re jealous of your nonchalance. This week isn’t especially lucky, but you might win something the next.

You can function again in groups, Scorpio. In fact, you’re pretty gregarious and may make some long-lasting friends this week. Not love material, mind you—it’s hard to find someone who really gets you and your thing for tequila with Galliano. I’d say control yourself on Thursday, but a bar fight is pretty much in the cards.

Sagittarius, you make your friends uncomfortable when you describe your intimacies in graphic detail. Some of them are so repelled that they will stage an intervention this week. What a perfect opportunity to serve alcohol. Try this mixture:

  • 2 cups gin
  • 1 cup creme de cassis
  • 4 cups vodka
  • Sprite, tonic and lime juice to taste

Pour it into a big bowl with ice. If your friends protest that you’ve hijacked their intervention, you get it all to yourself.

You know what your problem is and how to tackle it, Capricorn, but still you haven’t begun! It’s genuinely difficult to get started when you can’t even stand up, and Bacardi has had a lot to do with that lately. It goes well with triple sec and raspberry liqueur, doesn’t it? I like it that way for breakfast.

Aquarius, your life is about to change dramatically, and for the better. You will discover new strengths you didn’t know you had. Your tolerance for alcohol is unbelievable! You put it away day and night, starting with Grand Marnier in your morning coffee and moving on from there. Basically, you are my hero this week.

Pisces, people have it in for you this week. Oh no! The best thing is to pretend they are not there. If it’s hard to practice avoidance, dull your senses with a trippy beverage—maybe Guinness with Jagermeister in it. This will give you bad indigestion and remind you of the homemade booze you used to make in prison.