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
Category Archives: Bourbon
MxMo XIII: Straight to the Point
God, what a couple of weeks that just was. Between hellacious work demands and the decline of an ailing, elderly cat, I’ve had precious few minutes to spend to myself, or — you might notice — typing away at this contraption. But hey, the deadlines are behind me, the cat has briefly rallied and look… 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
Milk Punch
It’s easy to think of this old chestnut of a drink as a lazy man’s eggnog — I do, in a fashion. But this relic from mixology’s mesozoic era has enough of its own character to deserve attention and respect, especially at this time of year. Now, I’m sure there are a number of people… Continue Reading
St. Nick Sour
Sometimes a little variation on a theme is all that’s needed to breathe new life into an old drink. Take the whiskey sour. A lovely thing on its own, of course, and a dependable ally in an unfamiliar bar (as long as that bar has figured out how to squeeze a lemon, that is). But… Continue Reading
