March 24, 2020
When you’re sorta, oh, staying at home for an extended period as some are at the moment, it’s good to have a big, big book (or many). If you’re looking for a good big, big book, may I suggest what I’m reading, The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries? Cause it is very big (700 plus pages in the version I have), and very good (I mean, it features tons of heavy-hitters covering many genres), and very holiday-y, which brings a nice feeling these days. Christmas and winter holidays are mystery-story hotspots, if you didn’t know, probably due to balancing the cheer out with murder. That’s a guess, but I’m just happy there are so many good stories here! Including one by Robert Barnard called Boxing Unclever. I have to admit, I didn’t know Mr. Barnard well before this story (I know, I probably should!), but one of the fun things about a big anthology like this is discovering the writers new to you, alongside your favorites. And this story is an intriguing one, a story within a story, and one with some nice – and murderous! – cocktail-talking, in the form of the below quote:
And so it was time for a second round of drinks. I decided on that as I saw toiling up the drive the figure of my dear old dresser, Jack Roden. My once dear old dresser. I poured out a variety of drinks including some already-mixed cocktails, two kinds of sherry, some gins and tonic, and two glasses of neat whisky. There was only one person in the room with the appalling taste to drink neat whisky before luncheon. Pouring two glasses gave that person a fifty-fifty chance of survival. Depending on how the tray was presented. With my back to the guests I dropped the hyoscine into one of the whisky glasses.
— Robert Barnard, Boxing Unclever
Tags: already-mixed cocktail, Boxing Unclever, Cocktail Talk, gins and tonic, Robert Barnard, sherry, The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, whisky
Posted in: Cocktail Talk, Gin, Sherry, Whiskey
March 20, 2020
Well, the world is in a mad place right now as you I’m sure you know. But not too long ago (honestly, the world was in a mad place then, too, just not as much, perhaps), I was in the U.K. (or “ol’ blighty” as was once said), having a fine time as one does when there, and also as one does, tasting a wide range of delicious gins, mainly in delicious Gin & Tonics. So many great gins are being made in the world; we should feel lucky for that, if nothing else. While, as mentioned, the range was wide, one of my favs – and now one of many folks’ favs, as it’s made phenomenal inroads worldwide since the first time I had it like, oh, five years ago? My memory might be wrong there, as sometimes happens – was and remains Sipsmith London Dry. As the madness continues, I find sipping a nice Sipsmith and Tonic, while not removing the madness, sure makes a day it taste better. Hopefully wherever you are, the supply lines of Sipsmith (and other great gins) haven’t been slowed down. Oh, the below pic as you’ll see, has a cucumber garnish – and that’s a treat! But a lemon is also, just in case you’re cucumber-less. And a lime is, if you’re both-less.
Sipsmith G&T
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces Sipsmith London Dry gin
4 ounces tonic of your choice
Cucumber slice (or lime or lemon)
1. Fill a highball glass or comparable three-quarters up with ice cubes. Add the gin, gently.
2. Top it off with tonic (I think 3-1/2 to 4 ounces is nice, but adjust according to your desires). Stir briefly. Garnish with the cucumber.
Tags: A Sipsmith G&T, cocktail, Cocktail Recipes, cucumber, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, Sipsmith, Tonic, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
March 6, 2020
Can you feel it, deep in your bones? A wisp in the wind in your hair and/or behind your ears? A light peeking out from the dark clouds, peeking out as the wind and bones make their respective natures felt? What do I mean? Spring! Spring! Spring! Well, it’s not here yet, of course, but I can sense it, lurking with all its happiness. And lurking behind it, summer! But let us not get to far in front of ourselves. Sometimes, though, it is admittedly hard to wait, cause you want those sunny and then sunnier days to arrive like a speeding chicken into your days. You want the whole sunshine and flowers feeling in your hand now. And here we are with this drink, which has a whole spring and summer feel, refreshingly rolling like a spring river with rum, rum’s old spring break compadre Falernum, totally tubular Tuaca (which reminds us with its citrus-vanilla-y-ness of a blooming orchard), pineapple juice’s jingly-jam, and ginger ale’s bubbly dance beat. Wowza! Come aboard the sunshine train y’all.
The ASAP. from Dark Spirits
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces dark rum
1/2 ounce Falernum
1/2 ounce Tuaca
1/2 ounce fresh pineapple juice
Chilled ginger ale
Lime slice for garnish
1. Fill a highball glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Add the rum, Falernum, Tuaca, and pineapple juice. Stir, but only twice.
2. Top the glass off with ginger ale. Stir once more. Garnish with the lime slice.
Tags: cocktail, Cocktail Recipes, dark rum, Falernum, Friday Night Cocktail, ginger ale, lime slice, pineapple juice, Rum, The ASAP, Tuaca, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Dark Spirits, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rum, What I'm Drinking
March 4, 2020
I’ve never had a Cocktail Talk from Dan J. Marlowe before – welcome to the site, Mr. Marlowe! A fairly well-known writer of mid-century hardboiled crime fiction (and other things, here and there), Mr. Marlowe had two sort-of series, one with a guy named Drake (I’ve never read any of these) and one with a guy named Johnny Killain – The Fatal Frails stars the latter, and this is my first with him – and then a bunch of books without an on-going lead. My favorite book of his falls in the latter group, though The Fatal Frails with Mr. Killain (a sort-of rough-and-tumble type who is both quite a brawler and quite a lady magnet) was pretty fun, so maybe I’ll try another. The fun thing about Mr. Marlowe outside the books is that he actually hung out with a bank robber, and a murderer, and co-wrote some stories with the former, so lived the life a bit. And, he wrote the below Cocktail Talk, which may be the only French Seventy-five mention I’ve seen in a pulp – with a bonus, throwing itself into one side of a discussion mostly won by the other side these days, meaning Cognac vs. gin in said drink. Nice that it’s harder to say the drink is “much-neglected” these days, too!
His glance that had difficulty in focusing moved over to Johnny speculatively. “Although I don’t know how you knew. I was – disturbed, last evening. Upset, if you like. I am given to moods. I have – treatment for them. Early in the evening I repaired to a little place I know where the bartender is an artist in the preparation of that much-neglected drink, the French Seventy-five.” He smiled at Johnny, not quite vacuously despite the clouded eyes. “You’re familiar with the drink? Champagne over a Cognac base? Terrific morale builder. I had – several, after which I decided a spot of visiting was in order.”
–Dan J. Marlowe, The Fatal Frails
Tags: Champagne, Cocktail Talk, Cognac, Dan J. Marlowe, French 75, French Seventy-Five, the bartender is an artist, The Fatal Frails
Posted in: Brandy, Champagne & Sparkling Wine, Cocktail Talk, Cognac
February 25, 2020
Well, as I said recently (as I’m sure you recall), I’ve been reading a book every pulp, detective, mystery, American literature lover should read, The Giant Collection of the Continental Op. By dashing (okay, I’m not the first to say this) Dashiell Hammett, author of, well, if you don’t know I feel for you, cause the list includes some of the best works from last century (including The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, and The Glass Key, all seminal works of words), in this giant collection, you’ll find a huge host of stories featuring his un-named, pudgy (but tough), old-ish (but tough), work-a-day detective, and all keep the pace up, and often the body-count. A great read, I must say, so great that I had to have two Cocktail Talks from it. If you missed the first (the Golden Horseshoe Cocktail Talk) then go check it. This second one isn’t quite as drunk-y, and includes a lot of food. But I couldn’t miss it, cause it has the Continental Op drinking crème de menthe, which is both awesome and hard to picture.
Two men servants waited on us. There was a lot of food and all of it was well turned out. We are caviar, some sort of consume, sand dabs, potatoes and cucumber jelly, roast lamb, corn and string beans, asparagus, wild deck and hominy cakes, artichoke-and-tomato salad, and orange ice. We drank white wine, claret, Burgundy, coffee, and crème de menthe.
–Dashiell Hammett, The Farewell Murder
February 21, 2020
I recently had a wonderfully wonderful (if I can say so in all humbleness, which I think I just did) drink on the old Spiked Punch called Boldness Be My Friend, which featured not one, not two, but three lesser-known (in the States, at least, and other countries outside the one they were birthed in, at least, and maybe even there) liquid lovelies from Italy. If you haven’t seen that, check it out, yo! Or, it Italian, dai un’occhiata a yo! And now that you’re back, think about the simplicity and simple pleasure of a good vermouth and tonic. The gin and tonic, of course, is more well known, but a good vermouth and tonic is in need of more recognition. With the right vermouth, it’s a flavorful, refreshing, fruity, herb-y, treat that more sippers should savor slowly. I’m sad I haven’t yet managed to track down the distillery where Ippocrasso vermouth is made, in Gubbio (a memorable Umbrian town to visit, by the by), but the vermouth itself is singular, both in Boldness Be My Friend in a V&T. As mentioned in the other recipe, this vermouth is built on a base of Cantina Donini red wine (a memorable winery, in Verna, Italy), and has a bold fruitiness, with a delicate overall persona that’s just right for matching with tonic on a sunny late afternoon or early evening, or, if you’re feeling it, even into the evening as it goes along. I suggest a lemon twist as the garnish, by the way. The tartness of the lemon oil plays perfectly with the vermouth and tonic. Try it, and tell me I’m right.
Vermouth and Tonic
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces Anonima Distillazioni Ippocrasso Vermouth
4 ounces tonic
Lemon twist, for garnish
1. Fill a highball or comparable glass three quarters full with ice cubes. Add the vermouth, and then the tonic. Stir.
2. Squeeze the twist over the glass, and then drop it in.
Tags: Anonima Distillazioni, Anonima Distillazioni Ippocrasso vermouth, cocktail, Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Friday Night Cocktail, Italian distillery, Italian vermouth, vermouth, vermouth and tonic, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Italy, Recipes, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
February 18, 2020
We’ve had a small handful of delectable Dashiell Hammett Cocktail Talks here on the Spiked Punch, but probably not near as many as he deserves, being one of the undeniable pulp greats and all that. Perhaps he’s so in the firmament that it’s almost like all the Cocktail Talks of his are already known? Or perhaps I’m just behind on my Hammett-ing? Could be! But I recently read (behind on this, too), the Giant Collection of the Continental Op, which is downright demanded for any pulp-er. Most of the stories were originally printed in the legendary Black Mask magazine, and really show Mr. Hammett figuring out his style, the character, and things like pace and place – just things that would help define the genre, no biggie. The stories take the un-named protagonist hither and yonder, too, including for a spell at least down Tijuana way in the story called “The Golden Horseshoe,” where the Op tracks an English fella, and when he finds him, gets down to some serious drinking and Cocktail Talking:
He brought in a bottle of Black and White, a siphon and some glasses, and we settled down to drinking. When that bottle was empty there was another to take its place. We drank and talked, drank and talked, and each of us pretended to be drunker than he really was – though before long we were both as full as a pair of goats.
It was a drinking contest, pure and simple. He was trying to drink me into a pulp – a pulp that would easily give up all of its secrets – and I was trying the same game on him.
–Dashiell Hammett, The Golden Horseshoe
February 14, 2020
Y
ou know, I think this here lovely drink is such a nice and lovely one for lovely Valentine’s Day that I’ve probably had it on this (lovely) blog before around the heart-iest day of the year. But today is the actual day! Not just close. You knew this right? I mean, you are on it, and have the appropriate gifts etc. for your sweetest, or if single, for yourself (I mean, you deserve it)? It is, naturally, a holiday created for commerce (if you can spare me a non-lovely thought), but darn it all, still fun, or, at least, still a lovely excuse for the below drink for the lovely couples and lovely singles in the house. What a combo! Brandy! Aperol! Sweetness! Citrus! Lovely! Admittedly, a smidge on the dessert-y side for some lovely folks, but hey, if that’s not you, here’s what you do – up the lovely brandy a bit. Just like that, a Valentine’s Day dream, ideal for you, lovely you.
Ti Penso Sempre, from Dark Spirits, Serves 2
Ice cubes
3 ounce brandy
2 ounces Aperol
1 ounce simple syrup
2 orange slices, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the brandy, Aperol, and simple syrup. Shake well.
2. Strain the mix equally into 2 cocktail glasses.
Tags: Aperol, Brandy, cocktail, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, orange, simple syrup, Ti Penso Sempre, Valentine's Cocktail, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Aperol, Brandy, Cocktail Recipes, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
