The Preakness

Sometimes it startles me how lost I was in drinking before I found the Manhattan. It is such a quintessential part of drinking in the United States.  I know that I'd heard about it many times - maybe it's my contrarian nature, maybe it's the fact that when you're in college, anything more complicated than a screwdriver or a whiskey sour (using sour mix) is out of the question. 

Anyway, as I've delved into Manhattans, I've found a few fantastic variations along the way.  Tonight's cocktail is one of the many drinks in the fashion of the old standby.

The Preakness (Or The Bull Manhattan)

A couple ounces Bourbon
Around an ounce of Sweet Vermouth
A pour or two of Benedictine (or B&B if it's what you have)
A dash of bitters

Stir and serve in a manly-ass glass.

This will not overwhelm you with fine taste, surprise you with unexpected depth, or disappoint you by skipping the alcoholic punch.  It's a straightforward bourbon drink, and it will taste similar to a Manhattan.  Personally, I prefer it without the bitters, and with a heavy helping of B&B, but if you put too much in, you run the risk of creating a new bourbon-brandy cocktail, and not really following the flavor of the Manhattan. 

Repeal Day

Image Source

While I'm sure it would bring you joy to hear I didn't post anything on repeal day because I was too drunk, sadly I cannot make that claim.  It was down in my calendar to celebrate - and celebrate it I did in the most appropriate fashion.  However, I did forget to finish my post and get it published at 21:00 hours.  Sorry about that.

Some of the best mixologists in the world attended the DC Craft Bartenders Guild Ball on December 4th to celebrate the 21st amendment.  Drinks were poured, good times were had, and all of it auspiciously legal.

A site respectfully about repeal day:  http://www.repealday.org/

A drunken dousing of history about the President who helped get the 18th repealed: FDR: Portrait of a Drinking President


A Dewars ad in repeal form:

Yet Another Reason I Love Binder Clips

Ingenuity.  It is a perfect word to describe drinkers across the world.  No, it's not going to stop any wars, or save anyone's life.  And no, it won't even make your life all that different, but to me, there's something downright inspiring about this kind of thinking. 

Plus, I love binder clips.
 

 From Muteboy's Flickr page

Palative Potables - Bitter Defeat

War of 1812 - Battle of New Orleans

    Sometimes ignomonious defeat comes with its own reward.  As you choke down the bitter pill of loss, it is important to remember that you don't have to choke it down alone - you could be sputtering and swallowing it with a few good dashes of booze.

This Palative Potable isn't to make you feel better, it's to help you wallow in the stinking pit of losing.  It's to make you take it all in a little more, just in case there were some details of getting whipped you might have forgotten.



Palative Potable - Bitter Defeat

1 oz Vodka
1 oz Dubonnet Blanc
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
2-3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
2-3 dashes Angustura Bitters

This drink has a designed hole in it.  There is no finishing burn, no end to the taste - it starts off as a dry knuckle, and pulls back before delivering the whole punch.  Don't expect to feel satisfied at the end of the bitter defeat, expect to feel robbed.  It isn't even bitter enough to deserve the name, but it's just bitter enough to not be in any other category.