Toast yourself, Charlotte - Zane is buying

Does Charlotte have a thriving bar scene? Of course it does. And the world will get to see that at 8 p.m. Jan. 25 on HDNet's "Drinking Made Easy." Consider it a warmup for all those DNC delegates next fall.

"Drinking" host Zane Lamprey (above), also known for an earlier travel-and-drinking show called "Three Sheets, crawled through our bars with his heavily bearded sidekick Steve and a costumed sock monkey mascot. Silliness ensues. Also much drinking.

Venues that get star time: Loft 1523 (many cocktails made with bacon-flavored things, including a Wakin' Bacon breakfast cocktail and something involving chocolate, cherries, bacon and bourbon), VBGB (beer and a beer cheese dip made with bacon fat), Dixie's Tavern (no bacon, just Hurricanes), Prohibition (moonshine but no bacon), Crave (hookahs and fondue), Philosopher's Stone (all beer, I think, but watching all of this in the middle of the afternoon was making me woozy) and the U.S. Whitewater Center, where rolling a raft looks like more fun after you get fried on bacon.

Bearded sidekick Silent Steve got his sticker likeness added to the refrigerator at Philosopher's Stone. Drop by and let me know if it's still there. If you need details on the show, where they went and the recipes they collected, find them on drinkingmadeeasy.com. Check listings for the show channel. It's available on DirecTV, Dish and AT&T U-Verse.