Happy (day after) National Daiquiri Day

The much maligned Daiquiri; what happened to you?  You were a very noble and sophisticated cocktail; now most of the time you are blended with tropical fruit and poured out of a Slurpee machine.  This is far cry from where you once started – a rum sour. With yesterday being National Daiquiri Day (certainly a non partisan effort) my mission to introduce you to a real daiquiri;   the Hemingway Daiquiri .

They say that the Hemingway Daiquiri was invented for Ernest Hemingway in the La Floradita bar in Cuba.  It’s also said that Hemingway allegedly drank sixteen of his namesake libations and was still able to amble out of the bar upright.  Are those just  “fish tales”? It's National Daiquiri day so suspend your rational thinking for a while. What I do know is that the Hemingway Daiquiri is a well balanced and refreshing cocktail, and it should be in high rotation this summer on your go to cocktail list.

1 ¾-ounces Dark  Rum
¾ -ounces Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1-ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
¾-ounce fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
¼-ounce simple syrup
1-brandied cherry, for garnish

One Thirsty Holiday Week

Long holiday weeks usually make for lots of drinking. However, I believe this holiday week might have included more drinking than usual. You see, Mrs. Thirsty Lawyer and I spent most of the week running around Los Angeles looking at a wide variety of housing options in anticipation of my August 1 start date at the Beverly Hills office of my current law firm, and at the end of a day full of house hunting a drink or two are certainly in order.

Starting with a wonderful Saturday night dinner with friends at Ella. Cocktails, The Usual Suspects, Irish Whiskey, Scotch Amaro, Lemon Bitters; Wine, an amazing bottle of white wine, Rolly Gassmann "Auxerrois", Moenchreben de Rorschwihr, from Alsace. With dessert,, a 1989 half bottle of Vouvrey Huet, (utterly amazing that a white wine aged so well. Our sommelier explained that the wine aged well because of its hight acid content).


Tuesday. Dinner at Kay and Dave's in Culver City. Cocktails, a fantastic margarita made of Mescal, triple sec, fresh lime juice and a chili pepper rimmed glass. 

Wednesday. Lunch at Fords Filling Station in Culver City. Cocktails, Bourbon Bunny Maker, Makers Mark Bourbon, fresh carrot, lemon and apricot juice, chamomile infused agave. For Ms. Thirsty Lawyer, the Refresh Thyme, Aviation gin, cucumber, thyme, agave and fresh lime juice. Later we warmed ourselves on a chilly Malibu evening watching fireworks by enjoying a glass of Pig's Ear blended 5 year old scotch and 10 year old Edradour single malt scotch.


Thursday Dinner in Los Angeles at the Westside Tavern- an upscale neighborhood bar and grille on the westside of town. Cocktails, Pepper Smash, pressed spearmint, Aviation New Western Dry gin, lemon and bell pepper juice, homemade clover honey syrup, and for Mrs. Thirsty Lawyer, Cucumber and Cantaloupe Sour, Plymouth dry gin, muddled cucumber, fresh lemon juice, cantaloupe juice, homemade clover honey syrup.



Friday. Cocktails at the very old school, but still hip Matteos. Dirty vodka martinis of course.

Saturday : Water. What, we drink lots of water.

George Washington Loved His Hooch

With the 4th of July quickly approaching, I found myself thinking about the cocktail and America and how the two have been intertwined since our great nations birth.  Up until the the American Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783),  rum had been the spirit of choice for the then American colonists. While most of the rum consumed in the colonies came from the British controlled Caribbean, smaller quantities of rum was also being produced domestically.  When the British navy blockaded the importation of Caribbean rum, sugar and molasses, resorsefull colloniests  turned to their abundant supply of corn and American whiskey quickly became the spirit of choice.

In late 1790s George Washington ran one of the country's largest rye whiskey distilleries. Washington began his venture into destilling spirits in June 1797 with the below correspondence to his Scottish plantation manager James Anderson,

Distillery. Is a business I am entirely unacquainted with; but from your knowledge of it and from the confidence you have in the profit to be derived from the establishment, I am disposed to enter upon one....

At the peak of production, Washington's destillery produced  about 11,000 gallons of rye sold at 60 cents per gallon, netting Washington a profit of $7500 in 1799 (which is $136,363.64 in 2012 dollars), sold mainly to his thirsty local community.  According to archeological dig records, Washington's Mt. Vernon destillery was only a 75-by-30-foot distillery.  Diring its time, it was  was among the largest structures of its kind in the eighteenth century.

(In researching this post I came across an fantastic event east coast burbon fans should try to attent.  The Mt. Vernon estate is featuring a whiskey tasting and dinner event on August 3, Gentleman Distiller.  This sounds like a great way to  learn more about Washington’s role as “Distiller-in-Chief.”)

Feeling patriotic, I decided to toast our great founding father by making a cocktail with great history (and one of my favorite rye based drinks) - the Sazerac.  The Sazerac is known as the oldest American cocktail and has its roots in pre–Civil War (1861 - 1865) New Orleans, Louisiana.  I am certain George would approve.

The Sazerac

2.5 oz Rittenhouse 100 proof rye whiskey 
half teaspoon brown sugar
half teaspoon simple syrup
Peychaud's bitters
Angostura bitters.
Herbsaint (substitute for Absinthe)

Season a rocks glass with Herbsaint (I use an small atomizer but you can swirll the liquid around the inside of the glass and then discgard the excess) then chil.  In a seperate mixing glass add both sugars and saturate with 3 to 4 dashes of Peychaud's bitters and 1 to 2 dashes of Angostura bitters.  Mix the sugars and bitters into a gritty paste, add the rye and then stir gently.  Add a generous portion of ice and continue stirring.  Strain into the chilled rocks glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Drink of the Week- The Archangel

The warm weekend weather got me in the mood for summer. Personally, summertime cocktails are refreshing, thirst quenching libations. Thumbing through my cocktail recipe books for inspiration, I found a drink in the that I just had to try- The Archangel

Start with a few slices of cucumber and muddle well in a shaker. Add 2.25 ounces of Plymouth gin and .75 oz Aperol. Shake and serve up with a twist. If you are Mrs. Thirsty Lawyer, add .5 oz fresh lemon juice.