NOTE: This is archival information only since MASS disbanded (disintegrated?) in the early 2000s and tastings since then have been held under the PLOWED banner. Just preserving the early roots of extreme dramming in NE here...
The Malt Addict Sipping
Society began as an informal gathering of nerds and geeks in
southern Maine who meet periodically to share and sample a bit
of the Water of Life.
After spirited debate (around SPVI), we chose the name MASS to
express our philosophy as follows...
"No
dear, I'm not going out again to drink whisky with the boys,
I'm going to MASS!"
this particular group's approach to whisky... or maybe it's just the predominance of geeks and nerds... if there are any women in southern Maine who are interested in joining us, please send an email to DrE (at) SMWhisky.com and we'll set you up to attend the next tasting to see if you can prove the above saying completely wrong...
For our nationwide debut we propose the following amended definition in order to promote a more balanced (non-geek) membership:
"No
dear, I'm NOT going out again to drink whisky again...
I'm going to MASS!"
MASS RULES AND GUIDELINES
1: All participants
MUST make arrangements for transportation home - no dramming and
driving!
2: Tastings are very informal affairs held at MASS member's homes
3: We've found that limiting attendance to <14 folks keeps
the chaos under marginal control
4: We ALWAYS serve food to buffer the side effects and to enable
us to taste to our ultimate capacity
5: These are pot-luck affairs - we find it works best to make
an even split among whisky and food
6: Five to seven bottles of whisky are a good amount for a tasting,
but more is good too!
7: Whisky and food themes help focus these events quite nicely
(see Maine-MASS page for examples)
8: All our tastings have been held on Saturdays from 4pm - ????
to allow adequate recovery time
9: We also generally take a count of injuries (hangovers) and
casualties (hurling) after the tastings
(this is an important step in assuring humility and keeping
these affairs in order...)
That's about all there
is to it... no dues, no hierarchy, no oversight...
JUST SINGLE MALT WHISKY AND EXCELLENT PEOPLE!
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO
LIKEWISE ESTABLISH YOUR OWN LOCAL MASS CHAPTER...
You don't need our permission, just do it! If you'd like to advertise
your group here just email the
relevant information to me at DrE (at) SMWhisky.com
and I'll get back to you to confirm the details before posting
it on this website.
ESTABLISHED MASS CHAPTERS
Here is a listing of established MASS chapters as of January 2002
Mass-MASS
NY-MASS (upstate)
Wash-MASS