Around Aberdeen: The Tippling House

I tend to become a regular at places where I go. It's sort of a double-edged sword, because I'll end up going places in order to be around people, but not to be social, and I'll wind up becoming good friends with the staff, and sometimes some of the regulars. (Don't get me started on a particular Aberdeen Starbucks location.) One of the places where I wound up being a regular while living in Aberdeen was a relatively new pub called The Tippling House. Aberdeen has a lot of great pubs, but when all was said and done, The Tippling House wound up being my favorite.

I first discovered The Tippling House on the day of one of my favorite Aberdeen experiences: Batman @ The Belmont. I posted a couple of status updates on Facebook, and my good buddy CN Constable sent me a message (or a text?) informing me that he worked at a pub down the street from the theater, and that I ought to come down there at intermission for a drink. What I discovered was a classy basement pub, with Constable working behind the bar. Constable explained that the bar was designed to look like a sort of New England setting, with a vaguely nautical theme. Nice.

The Tippling House ended up being a great spot for me. As I got to know the fetching floor staff, I was able to get in to have a dram at the bar, even when the place was pretty well packed. CN GBU-16 and I went in there several times - including right after her fight with the Finn! - and also, while we were slogging through the composition of our respective dissertations. I could walk in, and Constable or any of his compatriots knew that I wanted to drink whisky, and the smokier, the better. On any given late Summer evening, I'd go to Lionel's for a kebab, followed by The Tippling House for a dram. Awesome.

And, as I ended my tenure in Aberdeen, The Tippling House was (almost) my last stop. Because of the Offshore Europe 2013 convention, I was unceremoniously abducted on my way back for one last night in my digs and forced to continue my pub crawl; but even then, I still ran into one of the fetching young floor staff from The Tippling House. Ironically, and to bring things full circle, I regularly ran across that same young lady as she'd walk past "my" Starbucks on her way to work on any given afternoon. (And, truth be told, one of my good buddies has a giant crush on her, but I'm not going to say who!) The Tippling House absolutely improved an already great year in Aberdeen.