Before you even accuse me of repetitiveness, I already know that I just did a Cocktail Talk post containing an Anthony Trollope quote (the one from The Three Clerks below). Or just a few weeks ago. But, but, but I also just read a different Trollope book, Castle Richmond, and it also had a few worthy quotes, one of which is below. See, I’ve run into a little Trollope luck lately, finding a few of the less-easy-to-find books, and so have been reading my Trollope-loving-heart out. Usually when browsing a bookstore, you’re only going to find a book from the Chronicles of Barsetshire (probably Barchester Towers or The Warden) and maybe something from the Palliser novels (usually, for reasons unknown to me, The Eustace Diamonds, which pales in my mind to Phineas Finn). The lesser known Trollope numbers? Not so much. Which is why, since I recently did find a few of these, A: I’m pretty excited, B: I’ve been reading so much Trollope, and C: why you, lucky people, get another quote about booze and boozing from a Trollope book. This may be, by the way, the finest whiskey punch quote ever. Castle Richmond itself is a darn fine read, an Irish tale which takes place during the potato famine with Trollope’s usual keen observing of politics, both personal and public. And with whiskey punch:
But the parlor was warm enough; warm and cosy, though perhaps at times a little close; and of evenings there would pervade it a smell of whisky punch, not altogether acceptable to unaccustomed nostrils. Not that the rector of Drumbarrow was by any means an intemperate man. His single tumbler of whisky toddy, repeated only on Sundays and some rare other occasions, would by no means equal, in point of drinking, the ordinary port of an ordinary English clergyman. But whisky punch does leave behind a savour of its intrinsic virtues, delightful no doubt to those who have imbibed its grosser elements, but not equally acceptable to others who may have been less fortunate.
In the above title, I did not mis-type. Neither did I mean I was drinking cold “soul” as if I were a demon thirsting for evil-doers or that I was drinking cold “Soul” as if David Soul were chilled down and liquefied. Oh, no. I meant was a drinking cold Sol, the light-on-its-feet beer made in Mexico that I sometimes fancy when it’s the height of summer (the other beer usually being Miller High Life, but when snacking on some cheese enchiladas lathered in mole, it’s Sol). And, strangely, here in September at this very moment seems to be Seattle’s height of summer, which has led me to Sol. Which sounds much deeper in thought than it is (but I can’t always be philosophical, in the same way that I can’t always be drinking only cocktails and mixed drinks. Sometimes, I just wanna pop open a bottle without any fuss):
PS: The above photo was taken with Hipstamatic on Nat’s iPhone, which I thought matched up the cantina feel of the Sol (and which was the only camera for miles at the time). If you really want to know the exact settings, let me know.
Alibi Baby, by Stewart Sterling (who I’ve never read before, as far as I know. Which may not be too far, as the old pulp writers played pretty fast and loose with nom de plumes and such) falls into the perhaps sparsely populated genre of hotel detective story. It has nothing to do with the 1945 adoption drama movie (another sparsely populated genre). Our hero here is operating in a snazzy New York hotel, where a number of murders occur around an oil scheme. Or something like that. His name is Gil Vine (great name, really), and he’s hardboiled enough to say things such as, “Don’t play me for a sap!” without batting an eye. The murders begin after a night of drinking, which I like, though the drugged drinks don’t do much for me (they mess with the taste, if nothing else). But the party sounds like it was loads of fun (before the drugging, that is). Just read over the list of drinks:
He began to dress, reluctantly. “If there was any dope in Monsieur’s wine, I had nothing to do with it. He was mixing cocktails and Champagne, vodka and dessert wine; it was enough to put anyone under the table.”
“The Tokay was drugged,” I said. “Heinz had some of it; it put him out, too. You were paid to load the wine. The man who paid you hoped you’d be the one to help Lejourd up to his room after he passed out.”
I don’t want you to think I’m getting routine in my drink making and testing and making some more. But I just couldn’t resist conjuring up another mighty mix that maximized the potential of the Deluxe Foods Earl Grey syrup (used last in The Earl of 15th Avenue cocktail), which will soon be available in better stores near you. Or online at the Deluxe Foods site. It has a hint of smoky-ness and a hint of citrus and, naturally, a little sweetness. All those combined had me dreaming of mixing it with a smoky tequila (and yes, these are the kinds of things I dream about. Well, these things and late 1950s era Kim Novak. A boy’s gotta have multiple hobbies), a tequila like the Casa Noble Reposado, which has a smooth smoke mingling with vanilla, citrus, and agave flavors. So, I made the dream a reality by mixing the above two ingredients, and then upped the ante with a little fresh squeezed oj, for health reasons. Delicious, I must admit:
Ice cubes
2 ounces Casa Noble Reposado tequila
1/2 ounce Deluxe Foods Earl Grey syrup
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add everything. Shake well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drink with a hat on. Or drink out of a hat. Up to you.
A Note: Shoreditch is a neighborhood in London. Earl Grey tea is named for the 2nd Earl Grey, who was England’s Prime Minister at one point and who lived in London. Tequila is from Mexico, where the sombrero originates. Now you know about the name. As a bonus, Vince Noir once called himself a Shoreditch vampire. And he’d certainly like this drink.
Everyone (and I mean everyone) knows that I like reading Anthony Trollope. Heck, I’m the president of the “Bring Back Trollope in Zombie Form to Write More Books” club. And I’ve had some Trollope quotes on here before, cause he likes to slip in some drinks and pubs and such into his books. Or, I should say, liked (at least until Zombie Trollope). He wrote loads of books, and I’m slowly reading them all (and re-reading some). Recently, I picked up a lesser known ear;y-ish Trollope number called The Three Clerks, and liked it plenty. Especially because it was about three, well, clerks, of a youngish age, and so as they were living la vida loca circa 1874, they imbibed quite a bit. The book has mention of three kinds of gin (regular, Hollands, and Old Tom), rum, brandy, the Bishop, and even the Mint Julep (and more that I don’t have space to mention). Amazing. It was hard to pin down what quotes to post here, but I went with the below two, the first cause seeing a Mint Julep mentioned in an 1800s English novel is rare and the second cause I like the word “hogshead.” Just know that if you read the book (which I suggest) you’ll find many, many others.
One man had on an almost new brown frock coat with a black velvet collar, and white trousers. Two had blue swallow-tailed coats with brass buttons; and a fourth, a dashing young lawyer’s clerk from Clement’s Inn, was absolutely stirring a mixture, which he called a Mint Julep, with a yellow kid glove dangling out of his hand.
In person, Captain Cuttwater was a tall, heavy man, on whose iron constitution hogsheads of Hollands and water seemed to have no very powerful effect.
PS: One more great non-booze quote from the book (cause I like you, reader): “He is as vulgar as a hog, as awkward as an elephant, and as ugly as an ape.”
In the Earl of 15th Avenue cocktail post below, I talked a bit about how I was lucky enough to be mixing with a Deluxe Foods syrup not yet widely available. Then I apologized for it. And now I’m apologizing again, because in the drink we’re sipping today, the main (really) ingredient is another of those Deluxe syrups, this time strawberry. And, to keep the apologies flowing, let me apologize for putting a drink sans alcohol on a booze blog. What kind of a creep am I anyway? But sometimes a summer refresher needs to be light, and light on alcohol, and sometimes even without alcohol altogether. Which is how the Deluxe SSB rolls. But its dry-ish strawberry goodness more than makes up for it and will cool you down on a day when the Mercury has risen to the tops of the thermometer. Oh, and keep checking the Deluxe Foods farmer’s market stands for syrups–you never know when you’ll get lucky.
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces Deluxe Foods strawberry syrup
Chilled club soda
1 Rainier cherry, for garnish
1. Fill a highball or comparable glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Add the syrup.
2. Fill the glass almost to the top with club soda. Stir well, and garnish with the cherry.
A Note: Rainier cherry deficient? Sub in a second type and only cry a little.
A Second Note: Feel this has to have a alcohol component? Add an ounce of gin to the glass in step one. Gin and strawberries are a yummy combo.
Here’s something long-time readers (all three of you) of the Spiked Punch don’t see very often: a drink recipe with vodka. It’s true, I find most mass-produced modern vodkas a wee smidge, well, boring. Flavorless, even. This has probably and sadly kept me away from some modern craft-y vodkas, ones I would enjoy. Until recently, that is (and that, friends, is what we call an “ah-ha” moment). Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to try some of the new local vodkas, those created around the Seattle and WA area, and I’ve been blown away–complex vodkas with intriguing flavor profiles? Amazing. I’m talking about vodkas like Bainbridge Organic’s Legacy vodka, Woodinville Whiskey’s Peabody Jones vodka, and Sound Spirits’ Ebb+Flow vodka. The latter is what I used in the below drink, because it’s flavor, which comes from using 100% malted barley, mingled well with some tasty Earl Grey syrup I received from the fine folks at Deluxe Foods. Deluxe isn’t selling their syrups yet (I don’t think–though if you’re in Seattle you should stop by a Farmer’s Market and ask), but keep checking the Deluxe Foods site for when they do. The Earl Grey syrup has a subtle-but-evident tea taste and a nice medium sweetness. Sorry to list a recipe that might have hard-to-find ingredients, by the way, but you know what they say: fate favors those who track down hard-to-find-ingredients. Or something like that.
Ice cubes
2 ounces Ebb+Flow vodka
1/2 ounce Deluxe Foods Earl Grey syrup
1/4 ounce Lillet blanc
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add everything. Shake well.
2. Drain the mix into a cocktail glass and enjoy to the fullest.
Before you even accuse me of repetitiveness, I already know that I just did a Cocktail Talk post containing an Anthony Trollope quote (the one from The Three Clerks below). Or just a few weeks ago. But, but, but I also just read a different Trollope book, Castle Richmond, and it also had a few worthy quotes, one of which is below. See, I’ve run into a little Trollope luck lately, finding a few of the less-easy-to-find books, and so have been reading my Trollope-loving-heart out. Usually when browsing a bookstore, you’re only going to find a book from the Chronicles of Barsetshire (probably Barchester Towers or The Warden) and maybe something from the Palliser novels (usually, for reasons unknown to me, The Eustace Diamonds, which pales in my mind to Phineas Finn). The lesser known Trollope numbers? Not so much. Which is why, since I recently did find a few of these, A: I’m pretty excited, B: I’ve been reading so much Trollope, and C: why you, lucky people, get another quote about booze and boozing from a Trollope book. This may be, by the way, the finest whiskey punch quote ever. Castle Richmond itself is a darn fine read, an Irish tale which takes place during the potato famine with Trollope’s usual keen observing of politics, both personal and public. And with whiskey punch:
