Category Archives: Cocktails

MELTING…Melting…melting

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Mic Lowther

The cocktail before you tasted wonderful when the bartender first made it. Now it’s fading, getting weaker, watery, losing its appeal. The ice is melting and diluting it to a shadow of its former self. Time to order another but, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails | Tagged bushmills on the rock, clear ice balls, david hilbert, eyeball margarita, Friedrich Neitzsche, geomerty of sphere, ice ball press, ice balls, princess daiquiri, tequila sun | Comments Off

A Night at the Dakota

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Mic Lowther

I’m sitting at the Dakota Jazz Club bar staring at soft, amber lights. My thoughts wander. Soon I’m standing at the end of Jay Gatsby’s dock seeing lights across the water. That green one, that’s on Daisy’s dock. Daisy…she wasn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails, People and Places | Tagged a-train martini, al jolson, billy strayhorn, birdland, come to my graden, dakota jazz club, deedee bridgewater, dizzy's club coca-cola, duke ellington, ernest hemingway, f scott fitzgerald, grace jones, jay gatsby, jazz age, minnesota martini, minnie riperton, papa doble, preservation hall, pull up to the bumber, ramsey lewis, satin doll martini, sazerac, straight no chaser, take the a train, the avalon, the great gatsby, the in crowd, thelonious monk, yoshi's | Comments Off

Hangover

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Mic Lowther

SYMPTOMS – But I had Such a Good Time Your head pounds, you’re desperately thirsty, you ache like you’ve been tackled by Roosevelt Grier. Bright lights and loud noises hit you like harpoons. You’re sweaty, shaky, sick, crabby, and so … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Bourbon, Canadian Whisky, Cocktails, Gin, Irish Whiskey, Rum, Scotch Whisky, Tequila, Vodka, Whiskey | Tagged acetaldehyde, anxiety, black coffee, blurred vision, breathing difficulty, burnt toast, cottonmouth, cysteine, dehydration, don't mix beverages, drink slowly, eat something, glutamine, greasy foods, hair of the dog, hangover causes, hangover symptoms, headache, increased blood pressure, mental confusion, nausea, restless sleep, tremors, vasopressin | Comments Off

A Dozen Classics

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Mic Lowther

MOJITO: Muddle four lime slices, two teaspoons granulated sugar, eight fresh mint leaves, and a dash of lime juice in a highball glass. Add ice and 1-1/2 ounces light rum. Fill with club soda and top with a dash of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails | Tagged a bartender's guide, bellini cocktail, boston sour cocktail, colonel james e pepper, cuba libre, cuba libre cocktail, daiquiri, elliot stubb, giuseppe cipriani, harry craddock, harry macelhone, harry's bar in venice, harry's new york bar in paris, jacapo bellini, jennings cox, Jerry Thomas, long island iced tea, mojito cocktail, morris bar, oak beach inn babylon, old fashioned cocktail, pendennis club, pisco sour cocktail, robert bott, rusty nail cocktail, savoy cocktail book, sidecar cocktail, stinger cocktail, victor morris, Whiskey Sour cocktail, white lady cocktail | Comments Off

Alcohol in the Movies

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Mic Lowther

Beer, wine, whiskey, and cocktails in movies illustrate everything from people having a boozy, brawling good or bad time, to the affectations of high society, to the ravages of alcoholism. In some cases a particular drink is identified with a certain … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Cocktails, People and Places, Whiskey | Tagged absinthe, animal house, arthur, beer, blues brothers, boilermaker, bottle shock, casablanca, casino royale, cat ballou, chianti, cognac, cosmopolitan, days of wine and roses, fear and loathing in las vegas, french 75, i'll cry tomorrow, leaving las vegas, lost weekend, manhattan, martini, moulin rouge, my favorite year, orange whip, pinot noir, rye, scotch, sex and the city, sideways, silence of the lambs, singapore sling, some like it hot, the bad news bears, the big lebowski, the thin man, vesper, whiskey, white russian | Comments Off

Cocktail Mathematics

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Mic Lowther

Published books and smart device applications offer cocktail collections, some 500, some 5,000, some more than 10,000 individual recipes. Trying even a fraction of these would be — fun, interesting, expensive, decadent, mind-altering — you choose. But just theoretically, how … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails | Tagged cocktail combinations, International Bartenders Association | Comments Off

Stars of the Bars

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Mic Lowther

Here’s a selection of innovative bartenders from today and times past who have helped shape the classic library of cocktails. JERRY THOMAS “The father of American mixology” learned bartending in Connecticut then went to California to work as a bartender, gold prospector, and minstrel … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails, People and Places | Tagged Audrey Saunders, Blue Blazer, Bramble cocktail, Bull & Finch Pub, Cheers, Cheers Beacon Hill, Cheers for Children, Class magazine, Colin Field, Dick Bradsell, Don the Beachcomber, Donn Beach, Eddie Doyle, Eddie Doyle Square, Ernest Gantt, Espresso Martini, famous bartenders, Gary Regan, gaz regan, Hemingway Bar, Hinky Dink's, Hotel Ritz Paris, Jerry Thomas, Libation Goddess, Mai Tai cocktail, martinez cocktail, Pegu Club, Russian Spring Punch, Sam Malone, The Bar-Tenders Guide, The Bartender's Bible, The Cocktailian, The Joy of Mixology, Tiki restaurant, Trader Vic, Zombie cocktail | Comments Off

Who Was…?

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Mic Lowther

The exact origin of the cocktails listed below isn’t known and there are many stories for each from which to choose. These are the most plausible and interesting. BLOODY MARY Fernand “Pete” Petiot was an American bartender working at Harry’s New … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails, People and Places | Tagged harvey wallbanger day, origin of bloody mary, origin of harvey wallbanger cocktail, origin of margarita cocktail, who was bloody mary, who was harvey wallbanger, who was margarita, who was tom collins | Comments Off

Manhattan Melodrama

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Mic Lowther

The Manhattan originated in the late 1800s. Various stories attribute its creation to different people or events but it is likely more than one person came up with it at the same time. Italian vermouth was new to bartenders then, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails | Tagged how is a manhattan made, how to make a manhattan, manhattan cocktail variations | Comments Off

Martini Worship: Is It Wrong?

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Mic Lowther

HOPE FOR CIVILIZATION? “The Martini is the supreme American gift to world culture.” — Bernard DeVoto “A man must defend his home, his wife, his children, and his Martini.” — Jackie Gleason “I am prepared to believe that a dry … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocktails | Tagged famous martini quotes, one olive or three in martini | Comments Off