Drinking: My Latest Concoction

So I am going to visit two of my great aunts tomorrow; they live in Quebec (like most of my family) and are coming out to visit their sister, my Nana. One of my favourite memories of my great-Aunt Corrine dates back to when I was nineteen years old and she came out to visit. I was so proud that I could drink back then, I offered to mix her favourite drink: the Caesar. I mixed it up exactly the way I had learned, and delivered it with panache. She took one sip, then turned and said, "Oh no. Let me show you how to make this." And then poured the vodka RIGHT INTO THE GLASS. Eyeballing it to about 1/4 full. Then adding about five times as much Worcestershire sauce as I had, then gently floating a little Clamato on top. "THAT," she said, "is how you make a Caesar." I have never forgotten.

When the duties were being given out for dinner tomorrow - who was bringing what - I was told to make up some kind of delicious beverage for everyone to try. I am, for those of you who don't know, enamoured with the art of the cocktail. Not in a "let's get everyone drunk before dinner" way, but in a nostalgic kind of way. I like the idea of having a party where I as the host can say, "What would everyone like to drink?" and being bombarded with a half-dozen different suggestions: a Rob Roy, a Gibsons, two Martinis, an Americano, and so on. My Nana sometimes tells me about the parties she would host, and the alcohol seemed to flow like water, and sure, some people would get sauced, but others just had their favourite drinks. I like the idea of any guest of mine being able to have "the regular," whether that be iced tea, a gin & tonic, or a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, and am trying to do my best to keep that weird tradition alive.

So my mother suggested I come up with something interesting, involving rum, as it is one of my great-Aunts' favourites. And after about five minutes, I came up with the following:

1/2 oz. Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey
1/2 oz. vodka (Absolut is what I have on hand)
1/2 oz. spiced rum
1/2 oz. lime juice
2 drops Angostura bitters
Coca-Cola
Shake whiskey, rum, vodka, lime juice, and bitters together with ice. Pour into an old-fashioned glass with ice, and top with the cola.

I call it the Cuban Missile Crisis. I tried a couple of versions tonight before settling on this version, and I rather enjoy it. Hopefully a couple of people like it, too.

What's Up Wednesday - April 23, 2008

Non-mandatory post tomorrow or Friday I hope. But for now, let's check in with what's been on my plate for the past week.

The Movie: I saw Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law yesterday, and I am surprised I haven't seen it sooner. I'm not a huge Jarmusch fan or anything, but I really liked Dead Man and told myself I should search out more of his work...and then I never did. But really: the adventures of John Lurie, Tom Waits, and Roberto Begnini in and out of prison in New Orleans? That's something I really should have checked out. It's not a prison movie or escape movie in the traditional sense - nothing is terribly traditional with Jarmusch, I've been noticing - but it's a great character piece, with some great acting. I liked it so much I immediately went to the library and took out another Jarmusch movie, Broken Flowers; haven't seen it yet but it's my plan for tonight.

The Album: I downloaded Let's Stay Together on a complete whim a couple weeks ago. I'd never heard of Jimmy McGriff, but I thought an album full of jazz versions of R&B songs done on the Hammond organ was just quirky enough to be listenable, at least once. And it's exceeded my expectations. Each song works individually and as part of an album, and I've listened to it three times in the past week alone. I'm sure I'll get it out of my system soon and relegate it to single entries on playlists, but for now this is a hell of a find.

The Real-Life: Went to the Edmonton Toy & Comic Fair on Sunday with Morgoid and The Dorklord, and it was pretty fun. I got me a lot of comics AND a Dalek figure (I know, I know, but it's a DALEK!), and I got to see Ernie Hudson. He looks good for a guy his age, or as Morgoid said: "He looks good for his age. Wow. I mean, really good." I left before there was awkwardness or drooling, but yeah, it was interesting.

The Food: The Peach and I made Rosemary Cookies on Saturday, and they are REALLY good. Basically, a modified shortbread cookie with fresh rosemary in them, and topped with an egg wash and sugar on top. Sweet and savoury is always a good combination, and this one has impressed.

The Job: Today I had a girl do a tiger impression for me. She also did an entire language subtest in a Scottish accent. Sometimes, my job is AWESOME.

Two great tastes!

On Sunday, The Peach and I were cleaning out the fridge and we came across a pickle jar that had about 1 pickle in it and about 1/3 full of juice. She was going to dump it out, but then I said, "You know, I bet you can make all kinds of things with pickles. Leave it for me and I'll see what I can make with it." She looked at me with that look she gets when I say something weird but she wants to see what the results will be, so she agreed. On Monday night I typed "pickle juice recipes" into the search engine and came up with a number of hits, including the excellently-named www.ilovepickles.org. That site has a page that had recipes involving pickle and sauerkraut brine. I looked through them, and I saw a few things that I would like to try but didn't have all the ingredients for. And then I saw the final entry:

You've heard of squeezing a wedge of lime into your beer. Now, adding some dill pickle juice to your brew could be the next craze. Stir 1/8 cup dill pickle liquid into 12 ounces of your favorite beer and garnish with a pickle spear or baby dill.

At first, I will admit, I was shocked. But then I thought: hold on. There's a history of adding things to beer. You can add limes to beer. There are boilermakers; in fact, there are all kinds of beer cocktails. Why not try it? What's the worst that could happen? So I did. And it was good. But it was lacking something. And then I realized what that thing was: Louisiana Hot Sauce. So let me present to you, my friends, a drink recipe that you will think is awful, but is actually surprisingly good.

The Dillinger
1 can beer (I used good ol' Pil, but I'm sure any pale beer would do)
2-3 tbsp dill pickle brine
hot sauce to taste
dill pickle slice for garnish

And no, this is not an April Fool's Day joke. I am drinking it right now and it is dill-icious. Oh, the things I get up to when my wife's away...

A nice G 'n' T

I discovered my favourite drink rather late in life, oddly enough on a whim. I ordered a Gin and Tonic at a wedding, the first wedding I'd ever been to where I was eighteen and could actually order drinks. It sounded like something a pretentious adult would order at a bar, and since I was kind of pretentious and pretending to be grown up, I ordered it. It was served in a little plastic cup with a little wedge of lime in it, and I was hooked after my first sip. My Peach doesn't like gin or tonic water, as she finds them too bitter.

This weekend she had mentioned her dislike of tonic water again, after bemoaning our lack of soda water, something she drinks quite a lot mixed with a little juice. So I looked it up on the internet, and I came up with a few interesting things that I wanted to share. First of all, tonic water was initially created by the British East India Company; it was just soda water mixed with quite a bit of quinine, which was very good at preventing malaria. Since malaria isn't usually an issue we don't need nearly that much quinine any more, but there's still a little in there for flavour - and since quinine fluoresces under ultraviolet light, your cocktail will glow if you're at a particularly good party with black lights.

Anyhow. Initially, the British soldiers found tonic water far too bitter, so they added gin to it to make it more palatable, a strategy I think more people should use in their daily life. Are you dealing with something that's particularly hard to swallow? Just add alcohol and you're saved!

And finally, if you find tonic water a little too bitter but that's all you have in the house, you can apparently cut the taste by adding a pinch of salt, which should mask the bitterness. I haven't tried it myself, of course, but I'm thinking it's something I might spring on The Peach when she asks for a cocktail. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? She'd dislike tonic water even MORE?

(Personally, I recommend you make your G'n'T with an ounce of good gin, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of tonic water, ice, and a wedge of lime. Good any time, but especially good to cut the heat of a summer day, whether you're in India or not.)

Drinks Not To Try #1

Barbary Coast
2 parts light rum
1 part gin
1 part scotch
1 part creme de cacao
1 part half-and-half


From the New York Bartender's Guide, a cheap little reference book I keep on hand when I want to try an alcoholic experiment. Last night's was NOT a success. It tastes like chocolatey wood alcohol. A public service announcement from The Doc to you.