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I was 20 & living with a host family in France.

18. To this day, I still cannot drink a bloody mary.

The first time I remember drinking I was probably 12. My sister was 15 and I always hung out with her and her friends and we'd drink.

My parents gave me alcohol at ~14/15 but not on a "here, get drunk" thing, more of a celebration have a 1/2 glass of wine or something. They always thought it was a big deal to us but we had been drinking for years. oops.

My parents adopted a more European philosophy of letting us have sips of drinks very early, and small glasses of wine with special dinners around age 12. I remember my grandfather making me a 'cocktail' when he would have his. He'd make whatever drink he was making and just a drop of liquor. So maybe this began at like, 6? Sounds kind of crazy now, but my brother and I both have very healthy relationships with alcohol.

Had a sip at 15 and my first drink at 18!

14 or 15...zima!!! Lol

I was 18...and it was a beer.

In my family, when you turn 10 you are allowed a few sips of champagne on New Year's Eve.

I had my first full drink at 16. Legal age is 18 in the UK. I never binge drank a day in my life so I guess my parents were on to something.

I had my first sip of a wine cooler at 12ish, my first "real drink was whisky and berry flavored rock star at the age of 13. To this day I've never been drunk!

10 or 11? We got a little tiny glass of wine at Christmas dinner.

My parents were very liberal about alcohol consumption (in our state, it's legal for parents to serve their kids). I was allowed to drink pretty regularly from 13-16 (I became DD at 16 and I never drive if I've had even one drink, I'm really paranoid about it). I haven't drank much since. It's just not appealing.

I had sips of wine at religious occasions before, like at synagogue and during Passover or Shabbat meals, but my parents gave me my first (full but small) glass of wine at my dad's 50th birthday party when I was 14, and from then on they let me drink wine with them occasionally.

my first beer was when I was 16 at my brother's best friend's house--I thought I was sooo cool hanging out with my bro's college friends but I promptly fell asleep after drinking it, lol!

20, and that was the legal drinking age in the place I was at the time. I'm a rule-oriented person.

As to kids and alcohol, I suspect that modeling the behavior you want is a bigger factor in getting the right outcome than actually letting them have an alcoholic drink. If a child sees a parent/role model having a glass of wine or a beer once and a while with dinner, that sets the norm for that behavior, just like having a salad with dinner regularly would broadcast to the child that eating leafy greens on a regular basis is just how it's done. I'm not sure that you have to invite them to participate, although I imagine that they'll want to at some point, and at that point, I'll probably just explain the law. That said, I know that when LO makes his first Communion, he'll get a sip of wine!

I think 15 or 16? My parents had a liquor cabinet that was never touched, so I swiped the peppermint schnapps and mixed it with coke. So gross!!!

18 and it was shots of whiskey.

Does eating booze soaked cherries out of my dad's drink count? If so, 5?

My parents would let us have sips when we were young (as far back as I can remember) at celebrations etc. In HS they also told us we could drink at the house (instead of wanting us to go party without supervision) but my brother and I never took advantage of it. Alcohol was no big deal to us because it was never made taboo. We both drink socially now (well I do when I'm not KU).

I went to canada a couple of time in college with friends to drink so 19 or 20 was probably my first real drinking experience.

18-- Beer.
ETA- Actually I think I had half a wine cooler at 16 or 17 at a party.

Um... like 12 and it was a shot of SKYY vodka.

I was a pretty scandalous child. On the plus side, I didnt really drink again until I was like 17. That shot lasted me a few years. hahaha

I don't remember my parents drinking wine with dinner until recently, I would say post high school, but we had a liquor cabinet. I was too much of a rule follower to even think of drinking while I was living at home...once I went to college, however, another story.

I don't really remember. Besides like a sip here or there or the small glass from my grandma at thanksgiving... I think probably in college at 17. I didn't drink in HS.

Oh, maybe 12 or 13. There was a ethnic festival that my family went to every year and they had this delicious alcoholic pineapple punch. Yum. It was free, so we only got the chance for one glass because everyone drank it. No danger of drunken pre-teens. And before that, if i asked for a sip of my parent's drinks, they would let me. Didn't like it though, so I didn't ask very often.