Milo, which is like Nesquik but as Australian as Vegemite, was my favourite drink as a child. You put a tablespoon of it in your cup of cold milk and it tastes like Maltesers.
Tim Minchin, 49, musician and comedian
I was 15 when I first tried alcohol and that was my friend’s dad’s mid-strength Tooheys 2.2% beer. My folks were pretty laid back about alcohol, but I didn’t feel the need to drink properly until uni.
I’m a bit depressed until I have my first coffee of the day, which is ridiculous. We live on Coogee Beach, Sydney, and my wife Sarah and I will walk half a kilometre up the headland over the hill to get a coffee.
Sarah was my first girlfriend. We’ve been together for 32 years, and before that we were mates who clearly fancied each other, so we never went on a first date. I do remember being at the uni tavern playing pool together and drinking midis, or half pints, of Swan lager, and that being the first time she said ‘I love you’ to me.
I pretty much exclusively drink red wine now. It doesn’t get better than a good red in a big glass at the end of the day.
There’s a place in Sydney called The Theatre Bar At The End Of The Wharf. I remember being there in 2015 looking at the Opera House, knowing Matilda The Musical [for which Minchin wrote the music and which won a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards in 2012] was about to open in Australia. My kids were curled up on the sofas of the outdoor deck and I ordered an Aperol spritz, which is what I get when it’s not dark yet and I want something sweet, silly and celebratory.
Home is Coogee Beach, Sydney
For the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, in Stratford-upon-Avon, I did a sketch riffing on ‘to be or not to be’ with David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Kinnear, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Harriet Walter, Sir Ian McKellen and Paapa Essiedu. Afterwards I was looking across the Avon at the moon, a glass of wine in my hand, while the luvvies were having a smoke. Ian, who I’ve met lots of times, was talking about how sexy Judi was when she was young, and I was reflecting on how she is the one octogenarian who I really, properly fancied. ‘Oh, you must tell Judi that, she’ll die’, he said.
I am not particularly interested in famous people, but I am interested in intelligent people. I’ve had a fantastic dinner with Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry in Los Angeles, the physicist Brian Cox and I have got together in many places in the world and had wine, and I’ve had an amazing bottle of wine at Ian McEwan’s house over dinner with Zadie Smith. I’ve also had a beer with Bono, a fantastic wine with Tom Stoppard and a limoncello at Steve Sondheim’s house. It’s a huge privilege, but it’s really the authors and the scientists who get my balls tight – or whatever the phrase is.
Milo was a childhood staple
I like an espresso martini if I want to stay awake, but it’s not classy. I’m not someone who seeks to be classy. I wouldn’t have this haircut if I was going for class.
A cheap pinot noir is an offence. There’s something about a bad pinot that makes me think that it is deeply wrong to have it in my mouth.
The song I’m most likely to sing after a few drinks is One by U2. It’s a beauty.
I’d have loved to share a glass with Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams. Quirky, nerdy science guys.
White wine is my wife’s drink. Mine is red. And if I dropped dead I’d probably expect my wife to insist on red wine being the toast at my funeral. She would sensibly think that would be my wish.
Tim’s new album Tim Minchin Time Machine is out now
