Hello and welcome back to yet another monthly review!
Last month was a big deal because this newsletter had its first birthday, and this month is a big deal because I had a birthday! Time just flies, doesn’t it?
I hope all of you are well, and I am especially wishing for the best outcome down in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida slammed New Orleans this weekend. I have family down that way, and my wife and I have spent many a Christmas holiday strolling the old brick streets of New Orleans. It is undoubtedly one of my favorite cities.
Starting today and through the month of September, anyone who joins as an annual subscriber, I will donate the subscription amount to Culture Aid NOLA. If you would like to help out on your own, or in a more substantial way, they have a portal on their website here.
The Cocktail Doodle Review
Drinks From August
This past month has been so hot and muggy. It's also my first month putting this review together in my office with an actual mouse and keyboard. All the past reviews were produced on a tiny iPad keyboard and trackpad. With the heat, cocktails have often been passed over for iced tea or a cold beer until it has cooled off enough outside. A sweaty cocktail glass is one of my least favorite things.
For my birthday at the start of the month, I met with some old friends from my salad days. We rendezvoused up in northern Michigan on a lake and played Mölkky for hours out on the lawn by the water and ate a ton of seafood. It was perfect.
We came stocked with plenty of cocktail fix-in’s, but to be honest, didn’t reach for them due to the heat. Instead of multistep cocktails we drank easy drinks like Spritzes, Miller Lites, Bloody Marys, Micheladas, Gin and Tonics, White Wine, and Bubbles. In the evenings we passed around a bottle of Bourbon followed by some aloe vera for our sunburns.
It made me think a bit about "The Silver Bullet: The Martini in American Civilization" by Lowell Edmunds and his list of things that a Martini is and isn’t. The second on the list is:
The martini is urban -- not rural.
And he is right. A lake really isn’t the place for a drink like that, it doesn’t fit. The actual cocktail glass is too awkward to place anywhere, you need a big plastic cup with a wide base that can nestle itself down in the sand or the grass. A cocktail gets warm immediately in the sun, and it offers no hydration (at least not the way I make them) to the sipper.
No, you need big drinks with lots of ice that are at least half mixer to keep your head in the lawn games—we keep strict score. It also looks silly drinking a Martini or any true city cocktail with a life jacket on, let alone shorts and flip-flops. I think a cocktail deserves better than that.
Regardless, here is how to make the white wine spritzer we enjoyed while grilling and throwing stuff at other stuff in the yard for points!
White Wine Spritzer
In a Giant Plastic Cup
Fill with ice
Eyeball halfway with cheap boxed White Wine
A few dashes of bitters*
Fill remaining space with soda water
Toss in a lemon slice if available
Stir with a knife, finger, or skip all together
Apply sunscreen to all exposed skin
Repeat
*Bonus points for a splash of Campari and then you’ve got a Bicicletta!
What is your go-to hot weather drink?
Current Reading
There are a few new cocktail books coming out next month I am interested in, but this month I have had my nose buried in book one of “The Silo Series” by Hugh Howey. Instead of talking about a dystopian future where everyone lives in a silo buried underground, how about something I wrote back in November 2018 about a rainy stroll in The French Quarter:
The old gas lamps reflected off the shiny brick streets due to the on and off rain. It always rained around this time of the year down here, he thought. His leather soles echoed down the narrow streets in rhythmic staccato slaps. He had undertaken the futile task of tracking down the umbrella he started the night with, but currently could not locate.
The French Quarter only takes up about a half square mile of land, but it is always difficult to retrace one's steps after a few drinks. He was pretty sure he left the umbrella in a bar up by the park. Most people wouldn't bother, but most people didn't own an umbrella this nice, and at the moment neither did he.
The door of the bar was open and to be honest it might never close. Most of the light bulbs had burnt out, but the many lit candles kept up their end of the deal. He took a seat at the empty bar top. Before he could say anything, the bartender set his lost umbrella down on the bar, followed by a crisp white napkin, “another?”
The bartender grabbed two bottles of bitters with one hand and dashed them both into a tall glass. Without looking, he reached behind and grabbed a bottle of Cognac that sat out on the back bar. At the same time, he pulled a bottle of rye whiskey from the rail in front of him and added both to the glass without measuring. To that, he poured a touch of sweet vermouth and a splash of Benedictine with lazy precision.
After a good stir with ice, a quick strain into an iced rocks glass, and a squeeze of lemon peel, the drink was ready—The Vieux Carré. It was a perfect drink for a rainy night in the Quarter. Boozy and deep. The lemon oil on the surface was there to remind you which way to go to come back up for air. New raindrops began to tap on the window. He thanked the bartender with a handshake and a damp twenty. He walked outside and opened his umbrella to keep the rain out of his eyes.
New Products
Molson Coors to release Five Trail blended American whiskey, its first entry into full-strength spirits
The Dalmore launches six exceptional new whiskies
Boston Beer, PepsiCo team up for new HARD MTN DEW offering
Brucato Amaro
Schlafly Beer releases Pumpkin Ale with updated packaging
Mariah Carey Is Launching a Line of Irish Cream
The Whisky Drop by Maker’s Mark™ expanding to Kentucky and D.C.
Yamazaki 25-Year-Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky Is Back
Basil Hayden Toast Bourbon Review
Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale returns in new 16-ounce can
Jack Daniel's Unveils First Age-Statement Whiskey in a Century
Duke’s and Champion Brewing Made a Family Recipe Mayo-Themed Beer
Yuengling beers hit shelves across Texas market
Cutwater Orange Vodka Smash, Huckleberry Spritz
ARMERO Tequila
Sierra Nevada 2021 Oktoberfest
AB InBev creates Natural Light vodka
In Other (Booze News)
Getting Carded: How to Successfully Require Proof of Vaccinations
More than $600,000 awarded to Metcalfe County Industrial Park
Debunking a Longstanding Myth About Lines on Solo Cups
Molson Coors to sunset 11 economy brands
Jack Daniel's 10-Year Tennessee Whiskey: Time to Take Jack Seriously?
N.Y.C. to Require Vaccination Proof for Indoor Dining and Fitness
Pandemic prompts increased citrus usage
Australian wine exports decrease
U.S. Keeps Inching Toward Metric System
Restaurants Nationwide Should Require Vaccination for Indoor Dining
Six Companies Produce Over Half the World's Beer
New Orleans Jazz Fest Canceled Again Due to COVID-19
Organic Farms? Vintage Variations? A New Era of Cognac Emerges
How Distilleries Use STR Casks: Shave, Toast, Re-Char
Delta Variant Concerns Temper Dining’s Summer Return as Some Americans Stay
Home
Advice for Leaders on Crafting Authentic Celebrity Collaborations
FAA Wants Airports To Ban Bars From Selling Alcohol To Go
French Wine Production to Plunge as Much as 30% This Year
Help Wanted: Breweries Rethink Employment to Adjust to Staff Shortages Brewing Industry Guide
Labatt invests $119m in brewery upgrades and pandemic recovery
Beta Cocktails: The Revolutionary Recipe Book That Ushered Cocktail Creation Into a New Era
OpenTable is now keeping record of guests’ vaccination status
Climate Change, Fermented Blueberries and Wine’s Existential Quandary
Wine scientists running studies to combat smoke exposure
David Kermode on canned wine: 'It's wine's future, but why is it so bad?'
Inside the First Whiskey Distillery In Manhattan Since Prohibition
PUNCH Joins Vox Media
The Yeast Hunters
A Pilgrimage To Meet Germany's Last Beer-Brewing Nun
Stephen Cronk’s first-hand account of the Provence wildfire
What is Whole Cluster Fermentation?
Seltzer centric spirits look to unseat hard seltzers
Warning of a new crisis, the restaurant industry presses Congress again for more aid
American Airlines Is Extending Their In-Flight Alcohol Ban in Economy Only
James E. Pepper Distilling Co. breaks ground on new warehouse
46 years behind the bar with Alessandro Palazzi
How Did the Pandemic Change Dining on Flights?
Margaritaville and the Myth of American Leisure
Can Boxed Cocktails Actually Be Good?
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Starting today and through the month of September, anyone who joins as an annual subscriber, I will donate the subscription amount to Culture Aid NOLA. If you would like to help out on your own, or in a more substantial way, they have a portal on their website here.
A paid subscription keeps the vermouth fresh and helps cover the cost of new cocktail books!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the support.
Have a great month!
2021 Cocktail Doodle Reviews:
Jan Review
Feb Review
Mar Review
Apr Review
May Review
June Review
July Review
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