The Booze Poll Results

So classic cocktails is where it’s at! Wikipedia says that “A Classic cocktail is defined here as a cocktail which appeared after the publication of Jerry Thomas' 1887 Bar-Tender's Guide but before the end of Prohibition in the United States in 1934.” I didn’t really mean this when I posted this poll, and I don’t think most of you who voted thought this way. To me, a classic cocktail is not only one filled with a history, but one that is simple, and made with simple or standard ingredients. I’ll go ahead and say a classic cocktail shouldn’t have more than 3 ingredients, unless there is a history to one of them that trumps the rule of 3.

When I was 21 and living with a roommate we often shared liquors in a very respectful manner. On one occasion I can vividly recall this chap bringing home a citrus juicer, 3 very large grapefruit, a container or kosher salt, and an expensive bottle of gin. Way too much for my taste at the time, but after he gave me the whole Hemingway story, I was down with it, and we shared what I later learned is in fact a classic cocktail known as a Salty Dog.

When I was only 20, in college, and walked to the liquor store only so often since I had to cross a very busy road and carry everything in a back pack. I had some extra cash and decided on a bottle of scotch. I had no idea what scotch was so I went mid-level. A bottle in a box seemed very classy to me at the time. A seal and a cork top made my mouth water as I opened my prize after a long trip home. A few ice cubes, and my first sip…..I almost spit out, tasted like charcoal to me. I went to work the next day and asked a few guys if scotch tastes like charcoal, and they said, “Only if you bought some good stuff.” I think I gave the bottle away.

I like most mid-American men have come to the conclusion that fancy cocktails are not necessary. We have our own cocktail we call a shot and a beer. Maybe the most perfect drink imaginable. Mix it yourself, cheap, manageable, and manly, no frills here, no garnish, no sword picks, cheese stuffed fruit, not even any ice!

No matter if it’s a salty dog or a shot and a beer “Cheers” to you and thanks for voting.