A Christmas Spirit

Earlier this year, I threw my second annual Christmas party. Two makes it annual right? We made a punch, again, because how else do you throw a proper cocktail party? Personally, I’m a big fan of a punch, and I long to return to the glorious days of the 18th century, full of disease, scurvy, and punches.

Now if you review recipes for Christmas cocktails, those recipes range from the mundane (Sangria is really popular for Christmas), the classic (beautiful, but as someone who is lactose intolerant, not my drink of choice), the unbatchably complicated (sounds beautiful, but I don’t have staff to serve), and the truly awful (I won’t link to it, but I saw a recipe for a cocktail of white chocolate syrup and champagne).

I’ve said it before, I’ve never been sure how holiday cocktails have gotten such a bum rap. It’s like people just give up on cocktails for the holiday season. You want something, beautiful and drinkable, tasty and batchable. No host I know wants to spend a holiday party making cocktails all night, and certainly not this host. Those days are long behind me, as I’ve found people who are worth hearing over the sound of the cocktail shaker. So, what is a host to do?

So I dug and dug and dug. Until I found a theme for Christmas cocktails. Mint tea and cranberry simple syrup. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while (or from beginning to end), then you’ll know that I’m a big fan of tea in cocktails, which is a classic punch ingredient. I’m also pretty pro-tea, as you can generally find almost as many flavors of tea as you can vodka. It’s also pretty versatile, as you can make it strong or weak, turn it into a simple syrup, or make your own tea flavor with different bags or leaves depending on your taste. Finally, I’m a librarian. We’re required to like tea. It comes with the degree.

From there, I was bound and determined to do something with a cranberry simple syrup. If for no other reason, I love the description of how you make cranberry simple syrup. You place your water and sugar and cranberries in a pot, and you keep it all the way up on high until the cranberries start to pop, which you then turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Popping cranberries?! What Christmas isn’t complete unless you have popping cranberries?

So, a-creating I went.

Cranberry Simple Syrup

For a 12 ounce bag of cranberries, you want 4 cups of sugar and 4 cups of water, which makes a ton of simple syrup. As stated above, place the pot on high until you hear the cranberries pop. Lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer for another 15 minutes. Strain out of the cranberries. This should leave you with about 32 ounces of liquid. Let cool.

Peppermint tea

This is pretty easy. Boil water and pour 32 ounces of hot water into a heatproof container. Again, because I’m a librarian, I just use my teapot. Steep for about 5 minutes. Take out the tea bags and let cool.

A Christmas Spirit Punch

• 32 ounces Cranberry simple syrup
• 32 ounces peppermint Tea
• 32 ounces of quality bourbon
• Orange Bitters
• 2 L Club Soda
• Orange slices

Pour all of the ingredients together. I used about 30 dashes of orange bitters (1 per drink). Slice an orange, freeze, and let the orange slices “cool” the punch.

Evaluation

I was pretty pleased with the drink, but I made it, so hopefully, I would be. I will say that people were polite enough to finish the punch and tell me it was good, but when you’re throwing the party, you can never be quite sure if they like it or if they are merely being polite.

The goal was to capture the taste of Christmas without being cloying or overpowering. The drink seemed to capture that quite nicely. I didn’t get a picture, so you’re going to have to take my word for this, but the cranberry simple syrup with the whiskey and other ingredients makes for a lovely red color, which is perfect for the holidays. The tea and club soda really helped round out the drink, otherwise, it just would have been too much. The orange slides really help give it the citrus flavor that every good punch needs. A friend of mine had the drink both before and after the orange slices and said that the orange slices changed the drink for the better. All that being said, I’m still not sure whether to add it to my regular punch repertoire, but all in all, it seemed to be a nice crowd pleaser.

Cost

Bourbon: For this drink recipe I used Knob Creek, in part because they were having a gift set sale, so I got 4 new tumblers out of the deal. (Full disclosure, every tumbler I have in my apartment came from a liquor set.)

2 bottles Knob Creek: $60

1 12 ounce bag of cranberries: $3

1 4 lb bag of sugar: $1

Water: Free

Regan’s Orange Bitters: $6

Peppermint Tea (20 bags per box): $3

1 orange: $.50

1 2 L bottle of club soda: $1

Total cost: $73.50

Since I made this as a punch, I’m not going to a per drink price.

This is the annual time, where I promise to commit to writing more, but since I’ve been doing that since 2009, I’m not going to. For those of you who have been along for the ride, thank you for your continued readership and for those of you new to the blog, thanks for reading for the first time. I hope you had a great holiday and the best wishes for 2018. As always, happy, and safe, drinking.

 

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Boulevardier

So, I can’t believe it’s been three years since I last touched this blog. I kept meaning to, and life got in the way.

Since my most recent post, I’ve been married, graduated from law school and library school, taken my first professional job and moved to a new state, and took my second professional job and moved to another state. I’ve landed in the great city of Kansas City, MO. I’m sure at some point those stories will unfold themselves, but today is not that day.

For those of you gentle readers who have followed the blog off and on for years, thanks for your continued readership. For those of you who are new to the blog, let me start by saying this: a Manhattan is my favorite cocktail. I’ve written about the Boulevardier before, but I don’t care, and I’m going to do it again from a perspective of 5 years, unintentionally, almost to the day.

At the time, I was days away from 27, but as yet still 26, and my liquor palate reflected my age. My review at the time said: “Personally, I can think of a better way to spend $2.62.” With 5 years perspective, I find myself disagreeing with myself.

For those of you who won’t know, the Boulevardier is the love child of a Negroni and a Manhattan. We’ll over the proportions, below, although it’s the same as the proportions in the previous blog post. Part of the reason that I wanted to meditate on the Boulevardier is that much like this version of the Manhattan, I have grown up. Or at least pretended to. One of the challenges that I keep finding is when do I be the fun staid Manhattan of yore, and when, do I instead, become aspire to the aloofness of the Boulevardier. When do you have more depth and more complexity and when do you instead remain lovely but comparatively uncomplex like the Manhattan. And how do you alternate between the two?

Manhattans have found their way onto every bar menu, and frankly, any bartender or cocktail bar worth its salt knows their way around at least one version of this drink. Frankly, I generally judge bars on their Manhattan. At this point, they are for nights with friends in bars who don’t drink cocktails much and follow your lead on the drink order. I’m frequently out with friends, and when I order a Manhattan, first, usually the table follows suit. Manhattans are both fancy but no longer pretentious since they have become so commonplace. Slight caveat: this is specific to cocktail culture. I promise you, if you order a Manhattan when everyone else is drinking a beer, even a craft beer, you’re going to look pretentious. It’s like ordering a steak, ordering it in a French restaurant is fine, but maybe skip the steak at the IHOP.

Boulevardiers, on the other hand, are for different kinds of nights. It’s a drink that causes you to go deeper and look more critically. It adds depth to a world you thought you knew. It’s looking seeing skyscrapers for the first time in the city or the stars for the first time in the country. Of course, you knew that they were there, but you just didn’t know there could be quite so muchness. You had seen stars but not so many, or buildings but not quite so high. Or perhaps I’m merely waxing poetic.

To the drink:

Recipe

1 1/2 oz. Rye

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. sweet vermouth

3 drops orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker over ice. Pour into a rocks glass over ice.

Evaluation

The drink caused me to wax poetic, so I’m sure you know how I feel about it by now.

A couple of small differences that I think make a few important differences.

First, add bitters. Bitters make everything better. I prefer orange bitters in this cocktail, but Angostura Bitters and Peychaud’s Bitters. Don’t leave this cocktail bitterless.

Second, on the rocks over a martini glass. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it, but, for me, it’s just a preference.

Third, I know drink better bourbon than I used to. While I still default to a good Jim Bean Manhattan, I think that

The cost to purchase:

Bourbon (I’m currently drinking Bulleit Bourbon): $26 for a 750 mL bottle

Campari: $25 for a 750 mL bottle (According to Total Wine, Campari has gone down in price)

Sweet Vermouth: $10 for a 750 mL bottle

Orange Bitters: $6 for the bottle

Total Cost: $65 if you have no ingredients.

Cost per drink:

Bulleit Rye Bourbon: $1.56

Campari: $1.00

Sweet Vermouth: $0.40

Orange Bitters: $0 (as you know from previous blog posts, I consider bitters an investment but negligible in the cost per drink.)

Total Cost per Drink: $2.90

As always, happy, and safe, drinking.

Whiskey you’re the devil . . .

Hey, whiskey you’re the devil You’re leading me astray
O’er hills and mountains into Amerikay
Your sweeter, stronger, decenter, You’re spunkier than tea,
Ah, whiskey you’re me darlin’, drunk or so-ber

I found this link while perusing NPR’s Facebook page a few years ago. One of the singers of the Clancy brothers passed away in 2009. I know that Liam Clancy’s death was overshadowed by Michael Jackson‘s. I had never heard of The Clancy Brothers and still haven’t listened to any of their other music.

My family is a bunch of whiskey drinkers, at least on my dad’s side. My dad rarely drinks, but my siblings and I have all turned out to enjoy a cocktail or two. Anything more than that is a dirty rumor and a lie if I’ve ever heard one. Being a whiskey drinker and coming from the small city of Manhattan, KS, I fell it love with Manhattan at an early age. I don’t remember trying it, but I do remember making them in my apartment that I shared with Becca and Ally. I’ve been drinking Manhattans for at least 6 years. When it comes to alcohol, I’m a bad influence on people, and I goaded people into trying this drink that I had “discovered” at 21. Casey H. and I would suck the liquor out of the shaker making sure we got every last drop out.

Anyway, today was my first of 3 finals, and begins week 1 of 2. I needed a good laugh, and if last semester is any sign, I’ll be drinking Manhattans again to get me through. Probably with my classmate Giles.

As always, happy and safe drinking.

The Boulevardier

Tags

Boulevardier, Campari, Cocktail, Drink, Manhattan, Vermouth

Welcome to finals countdown. I can’t believe I’m almost a fourth of the way done with graduate and law school. It seems like only yesterday I was writing my application, frantically freaking, and praying for an acceptance letter. Two semesters (almost) down, only six to go. Recently I’ve been feeling more and more like this is the profession that I was destined for. I feel supported by my classmates and professors. My intellectual curiosity remains unsatiated. Legal librarianship is not for everyone, but the profession is certainly for me.

On that note, I drink more often during finals that I do any other time of the year. It is not uncommon for me to have a single drink every night during finals, which is not what I do during the rest of the year. It’s a weird thing about finals. I think it’s because my brain turns to mush while I’m studying. So, I thought I would try a Boulevardier. It’s a variation on a Manhattan, and if you’ve followed my blog since the beginning, you know how I love my Manhattans in all incarnations.

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth

Add all ingredients to a shaker over ice. Pour into a martini glass.

Evaluation

So, unsurprisingly, I am addicted to Imbibe‘s website. Imbibe is Vogue for cocktails. It’s a Bible for the liquor world. Imbibe’s website often challenges me to extend my tastes. When I found the recipe for the Boulevardier on Imbibe’s website I was super excited.

As I have mentioned before, Campari is an incredibly difficult liqueur for me to use to make drinks. I feel the same way about Campari that straight men feel about women. It’s frustrating, complicated, and obnoxious. When you strike out, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. However, when it works, like in a Campari Cosmopolitan, it is a beautiful thing to behold. The Boulevardier is a strike out drink.

It’s too bad, too, because it held so much promise. It was a variation on a Manhattan. It was herbal and had bourbon and vermouth. It was not afraid of a strong flavor profile. The drink looks beautiful, as well. Ultimately, the drink fell flat.

Imbibe has a good history of the drink. It’s very clearly a 1920s drink. It’s very clearly European. It’s just too much. There’s too much going on in the drink. The drink with all of its promise is like buying tickets to a heavyweight championship boxing match and watching a brawl of all competitors to the title. It can be fun, but you miss the beauty of the punches and the simplicity of a stand-up fight. It’s just too much. I won’t drink it again, and, as sometimes I am wont to do, I wanted to warn you away. However, if you want to try it, here’s how much it costs:

Cost:

The cost to purchase:

Campari: $35 for a 750 mL bottle

Sweet Vermouth: $8 for a 750 mL bottle

Bourbon (I’m currently drinking Jim Bean): $15 for a 750 mL bottle

Total Cost: $58 if you have no ingredients.

Cost per drink:

Campari: $1.40

Sweet Vermouth: $0.32

Jim Bean Bourbon: $0.90

Total Cost per Drink: $2.62

Personally, I can think of a better way to spend $2.62. There’s a $2.00 movie theater around the corner from my current apartment, or a $1.00 sushi restaurant around the corner from my new apartment. But, that’s the cost and the recipe if you want to see how our tastes match up.

Until next time, happy and safe drinking.

Raleigh Iced Tea

Tags

Beverages, Raleigh North Carolina, Tea

So, Kansas City has the Kansas City Ice Water. New York has the Manhattan, The Long Island Iced Tea, The Staten Island Iced Tea,  the Bronx. New Orleans has the Sazerac. I was hoping Raleigh would have something. At the time I thought it was unfortunate that we didn’t. Then I came up with this gem.

1.5 oz. Honey Whiskey
0.75 oz Lemon (Squeeze half a lemon)
Top with Sun Brewed Peach Iced Tea

Combine in a tall glass over ice.

Evaluation

I think it’s great. The drink captures the spirit of Raleigh really well. There’s the sun brewed tea with lemon. It’s sweetened with honey whiskey.  Whiskey is big Southern drink. However, the drink looks forward by using a recent liquor. The drink is really easy to make, but you have to think about doing it in advance. The drink requires you to sun brew peach tea which takes a minimum of  four hours.

I love the Raleigh Iced Tea. However, I made it up, so I might be biased. Try it yourself and leave comments below.

Cost

$4 for a 20 teabag box of peach tea.

$25 for 750 mL bottle of Honey Whiskey

$0.50 for the lemon.

Total Cost: $29.50.

As always, happy and safe drinking.

Cocktail Calories

Tags

Beverage, Calorie, Carbonated water, Cocktail

I have Mrscummings to thank for this blog post. She invited me to do a guest blog post

As I wrote a while back, I’m not a fan of skinny cocktails. Mostly, because I feel like many people don’t respect the ingredients. Why should we change a great drink and sacrifice flavor, if we can start with a new list of ingredients and come up with a new list of great cocktails? Or realize that our current drinks are just fine.

Liquor

Liquor is liquor is liquor. If you have 80 proof vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, or brandy, 1 ounce is 64 calories (according to Webmd’s calorie counter.) So the difference between these liquors in terms of calories is nothing. So for those of you who have been drinking Vodka-Diet Soda, please stop, unless you love it. It’s no fewer calories than rum and diet, or vodka and club soda, to name a few. American Honey Whiskey is the only liquor that I have seen that has fewer calories. According to Daily Burn, American Honey has 60 calories in 50 mL (or approximately 1.7 oz.) The proof is slightly lower. Instead of 80 proof, it’s 71 proof.

Liqueurs

Now, this is where the calories happen. This is really sad for me because I love liqueurs.

Most Fruit Liqueurs: Triple Sec, Apple Liqueurs, Limoncello, etc, according to Drinkmixer.com have 103 calories per ounce. Now I have seen some differing information on the liqueurs on the web, but let’s err with the higher calorie count. So for those of you who want to say Good-bye pounds and you’re looking to cut calories when drinking, you might want to say good-bye Liqueurs! At least for a while.

Beer vs. Wine vs. Liquor

I know I got a depressed and started to feel like a fat ass after reading the stats on liqueurs.

Now it is time to feel better:

According to Beer100.com, almost all beers range between 150 and 250 calories for 12 ounces of beer. So a 12 oz can of beer is usually 54 or more calories consumed for the same alcohol content. A 5 oz glass of wine generally ranges between 120 to 140 calories for a 5-ounce glass of wine which is the alcohol equivalent of 12 ounces of beer or 1.5 ounces of liquor. Wine is slightly more calories per glass than liquor when looking at alcohol by volume.

Just FYI: These are all standard servings of beer, wine, and liquor.

So Now What?

So, now we know that it doesn’t matter what liquors we use. We need to watch our mixers.

Great mixers to look for: Club Soda and Diet Soda. These both have 0 calories. Tonic Water has calories (who knew?,) but Diet Tonic Exists as well.

Freshly Squeezed Juices (which you should have been using anyway.) 1 ounce of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice: 8 calories. 1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon  Juice: 8 oz.

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice: 13 Calories.

Herbs are great as well: Basil o calories. Mint 1 tsp: 5 calories.

If you need to sweeten things up: Simple Syrup: 48 calories for a 1 oz Serving (and it’s rare that you’ll use more than 1/2 oz of simple syrup for a drink.)

This is some general advice for those of you who are calorie counting. I will be doing a guest blog for the post for Mrscummings soon (I’ll post here letting you know) with specific drink recipes under 200 calories (although I’m trying to get them under 150.)

Comment below or email me if you have any questions. I always love to know what you think.

As always, happy and safe drinking.

Metropolitan Doubts

Hello, Gentle readers. I’m hoping this will be way less of a sabbatical than my last one, which was more unintentional than intentional.

I can’t believe it’s been six months since I’ve last updated. It doesn’t feel that long, but I suppose a lot has happened since then.

I got promoted in May. I got downsized on Wednesday. I’m currently back in Kansas. This is my second trip this year, which is weird. I’m planning my wedding for sometime next summer in Raleigh. I’m applying to grad school and law school. Right now, I’m licking my wounds in the great state of Kansas in the incredibly confusing city of Manhattan. Whenever I say I’m from Manhattan in Raleigh, people always assume I mean New York, and I have to correct them. I need to just start saying I’m from Kansas, but that’s not how I think about myself.

But today, I’m here. In Manhattan, KS. It’s the first day that I’ve really felt like I should be at work, since Wednesday. It’s weird.

It’s the little things that are slowly hitting me. My key chain being half the weight. Feeling like I should be in my office in Chapel Hill instead of in a coffee shop in Manhattan, KS. I’m still checking my work email. I’m not responding, but I’m glancing at it, which seems weird. I just probably stop doing that. Like when I tell my friends they need to stop checking their ex’s Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace. A clean break. Amputation as a theory for break-ups, and apparently for jobs.

I’ve been working 50 to 60 hours a week since January between the call center and the test prep company, and then just the test prep company. To go from that, to nothing, terrifies me.

I’m just so uncertain now. I needed to recenter, so I ran away. At least, that’s what it felt like. But I was so scared I was just going to stop functioning in Raleigh. That I would be 19 again and start sleeping the day away. Pretend like grad school and personal statements didn’t exist and just watch Netflix or play video games. Otherwise known as things that don’t allow me to be a functioning adult. Which are all things I’ve done before.

I just don’t know where to start. I’ve just wrapped myself up so completely in work. Friends that I saw every week, I started seeing once a month or less. Acquaintances I saw once a month, I started seeing every six. As you know, I stopped writing my blog. In fact, I stopped all cocktail creation, and just went with what I know when I made drinks. I lost myself in work. It swallowed me up. The hunter has opened the wolf’s belly, and I’ve escaped.

But, now what? I don’t know how to fill this hole that is appearing inside of me. Or the time. I also know that I need to spend this time working on my grad school applications, law school applications, and studying for the LSAT. It’s about moving forward. But finding the energy or motivation for that is just difficult right now. How do you write a personal statement and convince people to let you into their program and give you money, when you’re not convinced of it yourself.

I’m finding myself with a lot of doubts. I know it will get better. However, it’s the time from now until then that I’m having trouble with. For now, there are Metropolitans.

Metropolitan:

2 oz Brandy

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

• Add ice to a martini shaker.
• Add all ingredients.
• Shake dramatically.
• Pour and enjoy!

Evaluation:

I really like this drink. But I like Brandy, and for my martinis to be vermouth-y as I’m sure you’re all aware by now. Much like a good Manhattan, this drink is smooth. By adding the simple syrup, you reduce a lot of the bitterness that one would find. A lot of my friends don’t drink Metros or Manhattans, so be weary if you don’t like liquor on liquor. If you already know you like Brandy, or you just want to give it a try, definitely give this a try, especially since it’s so inexpensive.

Cost:

750 mL bottle of Brandy:       $10

750 mL bottle of Vermouth: $5

Box of Sugar:                                 $3

Water:                                               $0 (unless you pay for water)

Total cost: $18 (assuming you don’t have sugar in your cabinet.)

Alright, I’ve written for you, I need you guys to do me a favor, gentle readers. I’ve been uninspired recently when it comes to drinks. What drinks do you like? What flavors? Every thought of a good drink, but never got it just right? Leave your comments below.

And, as always, happy, and safe, drinking.

The Return

Hello WordPress Blog.

Also, Hello to you, Gentle Reader.

It’s been a while. I make my humble apologies. I have no (good) excuses, but I’ll try them out anyway.

I’ve been really struggling with trying to find my voice for my blog. Do I write about cocktails I’ve found in books? In restaurants? Just drinks I’ve made up? I’ve been going through this existential crisis about my blog. And I’m aware it’s ridiculous to have a crisis about your blog.

It’s just that every time I go to write I want it to be perfect. I imagine all the stars aligning, me with something brilliant to say that means something about the existence of us, me, all of us together in the universe. I imagine this blog with perfect photos taken every time, of drinks that are so fantastic you would be amazed you’ve never heard of them before. You would wonder how fate would conspire in your favor to lead you to my blog about this meaningful cocktail that you must have.

Instead I would start writing. I have five blog posts started, here, and ten more in my head. February was going to be the month of Valentine’s Day cocktails. Followed by March with cocktails relating to Women’s History Month followed by a rousing essay about feminism and cocktails. Instead in lives in limbo where it was birthed — holding onto dear life, waiting to either die or entire the world into a full existence. But, now, it’s living a half life. Somewhere between creativity and failure. Between extraordinary and ordinary.

Unfortunately, I am not so luck to have the stars align into such brilliant perfection. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had a slice of brilliance back in October and wrote about Creme de Cacao and lactose, I might have stopped. But that little stroke has continued to give me hits even as I have descended into a world away from wordpress but not from cocktails.

Cocktails are one of the few things I do well. Me, and no one else I know. (No offense to any bartender friends.) But I love knowing how a vodka martini sort of, fits together, and becomes the drink. I love knowing how it evolved and became what it was. Especially as I have continued to get feedback at my call center job and applied for other jobs and being friends with brilliant, witty, and wealthy in Raleigh, it sometimes seems like it’s the only thing I have to offer. It’s what I’m good at. It’s unique. Maybe writing a bad blog post would represent some sort of failure.

Or maybe I’ve just had really bad writer’s block.

I’m not sure. But I’m back, and I’ve explained myself. I suppose you can take my two and a half month hiatus as abandonment, writer’s block, or fear. I suppose, at least for tonight, when I can’t sleep, I’m reaching out to you instead of to Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, or one of my fraternity brothers, dear readers.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a 1,000 times. If you can’t be terrific, at least by prolific. On to the drink!

The Old Fashioned

6 or 8 oz Rocks Glass

2 oz Whiskey

The Juice of Half a Lemon

1 tbsp of sugar/1 tbsp of simple syrup

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

2 oz Club Soda

Ice

• Fill completely with Ice
• Pour in Whiskey and Lemon Juice
• Measure in simple syrup or sugar
• Top with 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• Fill with club soda (the club soda should be fill less than half the glass.)
• Stir with a bar spoon

Evaluation

I really like this drink. But I also really like liquor and to taste my booze. I know many people who think I drink things too strong or too bitter. I think they’re tasty. Recommendation, I think that this drink is made easier with simple syrup than sugar, because sugar is difficult to stir and incorporate fully into a drink. As a liquid the simple syrup is easier to mix in and you don’t end up with the sugar sludge.  I like it; but sometimes I feel like the last of a dying breed and I am be the only one.

Cost

I enjoy Jack Daniels or Crown Royal for this drink, so:

Whiskey: $25 for a 750 mL bottle

Club Soda: $1.00

Lemon: $1.00

Sugar: Practically Free

Ice: Practically Free

Total: $27.00 or so

As always, happy, and safe, drinking

Fraternity Line Shots

Tags

Cocktails, Cocktails between $30 - $40, Crown and Peach, Crown Royal, Peach Liqueur, Royal Fuck, Tuaca

Many of you will not need the recipes for the drinks I’m writing at the end of this. Today, the post isn’t about the cocktail. It’s about cocktails that allow me to drink to remember.

On the day that I graduated from high school, I did not and could not view it as the accomplishment that many believe that day to be. Even now, I don’t know if I could articulate why. At the time I viewed it as a day to merely get through, like finals and AP exams, instead of a day to reflect on a four year academic pursuit. When graduation was over, I was one of the first people out the door of the auditorium. I did not look for my friends or my family. I looked for solitude.

My friend Tracy and I had made plans for later in the evening after I found time for myself. I went to Little Caesars and grabbed a pizza and then Dillons for a movie. She had a bottle of wine and together on the night of my graduation, I entered adulthood. After watching Spiderman, we finished the wine, slowly chatting as her dog ran around the backyard. Six and a half years later, I have no idea what we talked about or which red wine we drank. Because of spring sunset, I know red wine and pizza always go together. It brings me back to an afternoon where alcohol symbolized a club I had been honorably initiated into, instead of a right that I had been granted by an age.

Today, I share this memory today, because I’m thinking about an organization I’m literally initiated into: my fraternity, Delta Lambda Phi. As many of you know, one of my fraternity brothers committed suicide about fifteen months ago. Yesterday, my house mom’s son also committed suicide.  I woke up this morning to that email, and my heart goes out to her and her family. I lost a brother; I cannot imagine the depth of pain that she must be feeling after losing a son.

My chapter has two shots: a straight Tuaca shot and the Royal Fuck, otherwise known as a Crown Royal and Peach Shot. After induction and initiation when I was colonizing and now for events and 21 birthdays, these are the shots we buy. While many find champagne appropriate to celebrate, with my fraternity brothers, these two drinks are what one of the many adult beverages we always drink to celebrate or to commiserate.

When Jason committed suicide last year, Dusty produced a bottle of Tuaca where we all toasted him:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

We did not drink Crown and Peach the night Jason died. However, that is the other drink of equal importance in my chapter. My big brother Randy brought the shot to Beta Mu (DLP K-State Chapter) from LA. It, and Tuaca, was had on the night the chapter initiated.  Since then, it has been had on graduation, 21 birthdays, and breakups.

These cocktails are ones I will always remember because it is built about years of shared experience in times of celebration and loss. They become more than the cocktail. Drinking it and sharing it invokes the past and present and the future; the here and now and the forever and eternity.

Tuaca

Not that you need the instructions, but . . .

1 oz of cold Tuaca

• Pour Tuaca into a glass
• Toast
• Drink

Royal Fuck aka Crown & Peach

Not that you need the instructions, but . . .

1 oz. Crown Royal

1 oz. Peach Liqueur

• Combine the Crown Royal and Peach Liqueur into a martini shaker.
• As always, shake dramatically.
• Toast
• Drink

Evaluation:

I cannot evaluate these two cocktails. The drinks are based on shared experiences on memory. While I think the taste of Tuaca leaves something to be desired and I love the taste of a Royal Fuck, that is not what these cocktails are about. It is about finding drinks to have shared memories. It is about having the liquor be more than a means to drunken tom-foolery.

Cost:

Tuaca:

750 mL bottle of Tuaca: $30

Royal Fuck:

750 mL bottle of Crown Royal: $25

750 mL bottle of Peach liqueur: $10

Total: $35

But really, who can put a price on tradition, shared experiences, and memories of someone or a time you loved?

As always, happy and safe drinking!