It’s the first day of school here in Seattle, the day I dropped off my son for the start of first grade and started looking ahead to the routine that is fall and winter. Back when I was part of the elementary school set, it was customary to start the school year by recapping all… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Brandy
La Fraise d’Amour
I’d been ogling this unusual concoction from Charles H. Baker, Jr’s The Gentleman’s Companion for quite some time. It’s obviously different from most any cocktail I can bring to mind, and the ingredient that makes it so different — fresh-pressed strawberry juice — is what made it so inviting. Sure, there are plenty of ways… Continue Reading
Concerning the Julep
The Virginian rises in the morning, about six o’Â’clock. He then drinks a julap, made of rum, water and sugar, but very strong. — anonymous traveler, 1787. Some unknown admirer of [Washington IrvingÂ’’s] books and mine sent to the hotel a most enormous mint julep, wreathed in flowers. We sat, one on either side of… Continue Reading
MxMo XIV: Tiny Bubbles
The thing that always surprises me about champagne cocktails is the underlying nefarious nature of many of these drinks. You look at a recipe, think, “oh, it’s just a glass of wine, same stuff you use to toast at weddings and on election night last November — look, there’s only a smidgen of booze in… Continue Reading
Holiday Spirit Practically One Hundred Per Cent
Excerpt from “Dancing Dan’s Christmas,†from Blue Plate Special, by Damon Runyon, 1931 Now one time it comes on Christmas, and in fact it is the evening before Christmas, and I am in Good Time Charley Bernstein’s little speakeasy in West Forth-seventh Street, wishing Charley a Merry Christmas and having a few hot Tom and… Continue Reading
