August 14, 2018
The memorably-titled, Wichita-based, PI-featuring, crime-and-criminals riddled, mystery and murder-packed pocket-style book
Hot Summer, Cold Murder by Gaylord Dodd had too many Cocktail Talk moments to just have one post from it (if you missed
Hot Summer, Cold Murder Part I, then please read it now, as it’ll give you more background). I actually like this quote even more than the first, though it doesn’t feature muscatel, our hero’s (hero of sorts, that is) favorite summertime tipple. But the below quote is a fabulous one, summing up a certain type of bar at a certain time period perfectly:
Tom Silver’s big red and white face swam in an ocean of bar glasses hanging from a rack above the bar. He was the perfect bartender. He spoke when spoken to and otherwise stood leaning against the counter with his arms folded across the massive pad of his enormous gut. The drinks he made were clean and when you ordered call-booze you got what you called. When some woman you were with ordered a Gin Fizz or a Gold Cadillac, Tom made it quickly, correctly, and without the condescending leer of the bartender whose only desire is to stir a jigger of whiskey into a six-ounce tumbler with Seven-Up.
“Waddle it be, Mr. Roberts?”
“Old Grandad with water back, please Tom.”
“Yes, sir.”
— Gaylord Dodd, Hot Summer, Cold Murder
Tags: Bars, bartenders, Cocktail Talk, Gaylord Dodd, Gin Fizz, Gold Cadillac, Hot Summer Cold Murder, Old Grandad, Part II, Whiskey
Posted in: Bars, Cocktail Talk, Gin, Whiskey
June 26, 2018
Just last week, I highlighted a Cocktail Talk quote from an old noir novel called
Park Avenue Tramp, which (as detailed there) was part of a Stark House Noir Classics collection that features three out-of-print noir novels all together. These collections are really worthy reads if you dig the pulps, noirs, and pocketbooks-with-saucy-covers, because they feature books not easily picked up today. In this collection, I liked all three reads, but my favorite might have been
The Prettiest Girl I Ever Killed, by Charles Runyon. A small town serial killer search, in a way, it moved fast, had a fair amount of twists and turns, tight and creative lingo and well-written prose-ing, and a female lead who showed some gumption. All good stuff! And a good Cocktail Talk quote about a country bar, which you’ll see below.
It was a little gas station and honky-tonk; the kind you see around the country with names like Burntwood Inn and Cozy Dell. This one was called Pine Cover Tavern and was crowded (there was no work in the fields because of the rain) with men in overalls and a couple of women in print dresses. We drew stares as we walked to a booth in the back. I felt wicked and daring, and though it was unlikely that any Shermanites would see me, I found that I didn’t really care if they did. I told Curt to order me a boilermaker: a glass of beer with a shot of bourbon inside it. He ordered the same for himself and drank silently for a few minutes.
–Charles Runyon, The Prettiest Girl I Ever Killed
June 19, 2018
Recently got my hands on another one of the superb (if you’re into such things, which I hope you are, so we can be friends and all that, though of course we could maybe still be friends even if you aren’t, but it’s not
quite as easy) Stark House Noir Classics collections. Often these are collections of out-of-print books by a single author, but in this one, there are three authors from the pulp-y period. All are worthy reads – your favorite is up to you – but the one I’m highlighting here is
Park Avenue Tramp, a book by Fletcher Flora (great name, too, and one I hadn’t been acquainted with before) about booze, a dangerous (in a sort-of different way) broad, a piano player, and bleakness in the best way, the way true noir books deliver it. Enough so that I was fairly, oh, downbeat for a moment when finishing this tale. Then I moved on to the next one (which is nice in these collections). A bar plays a central role, too, which is also nice, and where we get the below Cocktail Talk quote from.
She looked at him gravely and decided that he was undoubtedly a superior bartender, which would make him very superior indeed. It might seem unlikely on first thought that a superior bartender would be working in a little unassuming bar that was only trying to get along, but on second thought it didn’t seem unlikely at all, for it was often the little unassuming places that had genuine quality and character and were perfectly what they were supposed to be, which was rare, and it was exactly such a place in which a superior bartender would want to work, even at some material sacrifice. She felt a great deal of respect for this honest and dedicated bartender. She was certain that she could rely on him implicitly.
“Perhaps you can help me,” she said. “In your opinion, what have I been drinking?”
“You look like a Martini to me,” he said.
“Really, a Martini?”
“That’s right. The second you came in I said to myself that you were a Martini.”
–Fletcher Flora, Park Avenue Tramp
May 22, 2018
Sometimes writing about drinks is awesome (okay, it always is). But sometimes it’s even better, and recently, I had one of those times, getting to write about a drink which pays homage to a sadly-departed former coworker and friend. The world of the bar is a place that’s sometimes hectic, sometimes nutty, but also a place where many good people become good friends around good drinks. But don’t listen to me ramble, go read the story about The Ultimate Ninja, a drink at Seattle bar Pablo y Pablo, which I wrote about for Seattle Magazine.
Tags: Bars, Cocktail News, cocktail recipe, Pablo y’ Pablo, Seattle Bars, Seattle Magazine, The Ultimate Ninja
Posted in: Bars, Cocktail News, Cocktail Recipes, Recipes, Seattle Magazine
May 15, 2018
- Hey pals and friends and compatriots from here and there and everywhere. I’ve been having some fun on the funtastic Seattle Magazine lately, with a number of pieces talking about some swell spots here in the Emerald City and near to here. Not that I’m saying you’ve missed any of these, but just in case, check out the below:
Tags: Bars, cocktail catch up, Cocktail News, Distillery, Seattle Bars, Seattle Magazine, Washington dillstery, Washington whiskey
Posted in: Bars, Cocktail News, Cocktail Talk, Distillery, Seattle Magazine
March 13, 2018
Recently (okay, it was like three months ago – but hey, time flies and all that), I was lucky enough to stop into the genius and amazing Seattle bar Rob Roy during their flurry of holiday amazement. Seriously, Scrooge would have come around twice as quick if he would have just stopped in the Rob Roy. One of the dandy drinks I have there was the Truffled Tom and Jerry, a long-time hit from their cocktail advent calendar. You can’t pick it up there now (cause it’s March!), but I did write the Truffled Tom and Jerry recipe up for Seattle magazine. So, party like it’s the holidays year round!
March 6, 2018
Hey cocktail-and-bar-loving pals! I’ve recently written up a whole host of new-ish (when writing, at least) local bars and bar-restaurants for the swell Seattle magazine, and I’m guessing you want to hear all about them, right? I mean, I think you’ve probably read them already, really, but just in case, check out the below so you know where to drink and enjoy life a little more:
Tags: 2 Fingers Social Club, Bars, By the Pound, Cocktail News, Devil's Reef, Rider, Seattle Bars, Seattle Magazine, Seattle Magazine Cocktail Catch-Up
Posted in: Bars, Cocktail News, Cocktail Talk, Seattle Magazine
January 23, 2018
Our trip (we’re taking it together, I feel) through some of the Charles Willeford oeuvre, via
Willeford Cocktail Talks, is almost done, and ending with a second from the Floridean funky mess (among other things)
Made in Miami, originally called
Lust is a Woman, which isn’t actually as good, or as accurate, a title in my mind. You’ll need to read the book to see why! And also read the
Made in Miami Cocktail Talk Part I, if you haven’t. You’ll dig it. The below quote isn’t drink specific like many of the Cocktail Talks we have here, but is a great view into bartenders of a certain time period. Or perhaps how some people view or viewed bartenders. You decide.
Ralph sat down on the bench to smoke while he waited for Tommy. Two bald middle-aged bartenders entered the locker room from the back and began to change their clothes. Ralph examined their dour faces with the dawning realization that all of the bartenders he had ever known looked exactly like these two. Not that they were all bad, although most of them were, at that, but their expressions were all alike. All faces, like character actors in the movies; expressive eyebrows, small chins, and large liquid eyes. Ralph pictured these two men later working behind the bar, changing their expression to match the mood of each customer at the busy half-price cocktail hour in the Rotunda Lounge. But right now, in repose, their characterless expressions oddly reminded Ralph of the ex-Presidents born in Ohio.
–Charles Willeford, Made in Miami
