. . . on the danger posed by Bailey’s Irish Cream. Puzzlingly, the offender was French.

Catching up on some 2010 reading that I had heretofore missed–will my manservant ever catalog the periodicals correctly?–I find that Wayne Curtis shares my aversion to supersized cocktails. Small cocktails were favored for a simple reason: they stay chilled from beginning to end. Few things are as unappealing as a Martini that’s warm when you [...]

At the worryingly named Eatocracy (phonetically closer to autocracy than democracy; I suspect they intend the latter whilst I prefer the former), it is suggested that guests may be adequately provided for with a slapdash, mix ‘n’ match drinks philosophy — although to call it a “philosophy” does it too much credit. In fact, the [...]

A man of my acquaintance mailed George Bilgere’s very fine poem, “The Return of Odysseus,” to another man (also of my acquaintance), with its excellent description of how a household hero’s wrath is salved: I slammed the door. I threw down my book bag in this particular way I have perfected over the years that lets my [...]

Via the electronic mail, from a relative in the McCulloch clan, a recipe for “Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies.” While I cannot personally recommend tequila for yuletide consumption, this does recall to mind injuries sustained whilst baking macaroons in the company of 16-year-old Lagavulin. Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies   1 cup of water 1 tsp baking soda [...]

Suffering celebrants have this morning two options: going it again or going without. Mr. Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal discusses the options. I myself am partial to the “liquor-egg-dairy lines” favored by Mr. Frank Sinatra.

Some events current, some less so. Mr. Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal commemorates the “delightfully vulgar Blagojevich affair” with the cocktails du jour–and of yesteryear. His recipe for Cohasset Punch, itself an ingredient in Saul Bellow’s Dangling Man: 1½ oz dark rum 1 oz sweet vermouth juice of ½ lemon ½ oz syrup [...]

Satisfactory “doin’s”: “It’s a common saying that no one has been able to tell if they are historians that like to drink or drinkers who like history,” said Dr. Robert J. Chandler, a senior historian at Wells Fargo Bank and a proud member of the group’s San Francisco chapter. “And no one knows because no [...]

In the Atlantic Monthly, Wayne Curtis explores the bitter truth of Fernet Branca–which, contrary to popular misconception, is not the older brother of Glenn. Other than that, it’s hard to describe what Fernet Branca tastes like; it mostly tastes like Fernet Branca. But to give you an idea: in 1960, Betsy von Furstenberg was suspended [...]

— and the taste of a good whisky as well. Doctors offer new prohibitions on drinking for the older set. I’ve been exceeding these limits since before the researchers were born, thank you very much. What doesn’t surprise me is that the “risky” drinkers are the happy ones.