Part of recalling that I have a blog is remembering all the stuff I forgot to post over the past few months. Well, I’ll probably forget to post about some (hopefully not all) of these events in the weeks to come, but I’ll get at least a brief mention out of the way at the beginning of the month: here are a few events taking place in December.
- Most notable for readers of this blog, Mixology Monday is scheduled to take place on Monday, December 14. I know, we missed November — this is due to a mix of technical problems, miscommunication and suddenly realizing the month was almost over — but now it seems like we’re ready to go for December’s event. This round of MxMo will be hosted by Kevin Langmack at Beers in the Shower, and Kevin has chosen as his theme “Money Drinks”, which means — well, I’ll let Kevin explain it in his announcement post, but suffice it to say this should be an appropriate theme for the holidays.
- If it’s December that also means it’s time for Repeal Day. For those not in the loop, here’s a little background: way back when, a bunch of people (usually distinguished by their pinched expressions and dreary personalities) decided that matters of personal liberty be damned, nobody in the U.S. of A. should be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages. Somehow, inexplicably, this became the law of the land in 1919, and for the next 13 years people absolutely drank like fish. By 1933, however, it was clear that the whole ordeal was a stooooopid idea, and on December 5 of that year, Utah — yes, Utah — ratified the 21st amendment, giving the repeal effort a 3/4s majority and sending Prohibition the way of the passenger pigeon. Now, on December 5, we remember the end of that long unpleasantness by, of course, hoisting a few. Those of you in the DC area should check out the 2nd Annual Repeal Day Ball, hosted by the DC Craft Bartenders Guild, while locals here around Seattle should head down to the Repeal Day party at Vessel and make sure Keith gets no peace at all.
- If you do celebrate Repeal Day at Vessel or any other fine Seattle establishment, be sure to leave some space in your liver for Drinking Lessons at the Sorrento Hotel, on December 7, when the guest bartenders are Zane Harris and Anu Apte from Rob Roy. I finally got around to attending a recent Drinking Lesson with Alex Day from Death & Co. and Toby Cecchini of the now defunct Passerby (more on this later), and if Zane & Anu put on an event anything near the caliber of what these guys did, it’ll be a lesson for the ages.
- How is this next one connected? Not entirely sure , but as a PSA for readers who like a smoke with their scotch, I’ll mention that Partiga Cigar is holding several “Benji Menendez Socials” in cities around the country to introduce the Benji Menendez Partagas Master Series Majestuoso. I’ll admit I’m mostly a cigar neophyte, but somewhat curious, so when the event organizers asked if I’d offer passwords to my blog’s readers who might be interested in attending one of the socials, I thought, “What the hell, why not.” (And the disclaimer: I’m being paid bupkus for mentioning this event, and considering that I haven’t consumed a tobacco product in close to ten years, the sample stogie that may or may not be on its way has little power to sway my judgement. The organizers just caught me at an uncharacteristically generous moment.) Anyway, the socials are in LA on December 1; Las Vegas on December 3; Chicago on December 8; and NYC on December 15. If you’re interested drop me a line (let me know which event you’re hoping to attend) and I’ll give you the password.
And probably a whole bunch of other stuff that I’m missing along the way. Anyway, keep an eye out for the MxMo post, head to Vessel (or DC) on the 5th, the Sorrento on the 7th, and around the country all month, smoke ’em if you got ’em.
