The Four Fists is a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which generally retells the narrative (in a few key scenes) of one character’s (Samuel Meredith) life. The scenes, as you might guess from the title, all revolve around times when he was punched in the nose. And then afterwards learned something from said punching that made him a better person. Don’t think I’m advocating violence as a solution here (I’m a drinker, not a fighter), but the quote below seemed to go so well with my fall highball-ish Hour Glass below that it seemed apropos. There are lots of good swilling moments in Mr. Fitzgerald’s stories (those jazz agers and floppers loved the cocktails and bubbly, bless ‘em all), so expect more Cocktail Talk from him later.

“He played football in the autumn, drank highballs in the winter; and rowed in the spring. Samuel despised all those who were merely sportsmen without being gentlemen, or merely gentlemen without being sportsmen.”

 

– F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Four Fists”

All right, all right, I know it may seem strange (not groovy and mystical like Dr. Strange either, but just downright odd) to be sipping a bubbly-cooling-kind-of-a-drink in Seattle’s damp and dreary mid-to-late November, but I’ve been working hard stocking the shelves (virtual shelves surely, but shelves) and shilling the books, not to mention raking the inordinate amount of leaves in my backyard (and, you know what, if Mr. Cherry Tree is reading this, please stop dropping basketfuls of your leaves on the ground the minute I get finished raking said ground. Wait a couple days at least. Give me that, for gosh sakes.), or writing this sentence which will never stop. Anyway, I was feeling the need for a refresher last night, but one that still had an underlying . . . strength of character. I didn’t want to go teeth-rotting sweetness, but did want a hint of sunshine. And, I wanted to be able to name drop a second super hero in one post (Hourman, that is). All of which led me to the Hour Glass:

Ice cubes

1 ounce Cognac

3/4 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce absinthe

Chilled club soda

Lemon twist, for garnish

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the Cognac, Cointreau, and absinthe. Stir well.

2. Fill a highball glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Strain the mixture over the ice, and then fill the glass with club soda (unless it’s a large-ish highball, then just go up three-quarters of the way).

3. Squeeze the lemon twist over the glass and drop it in.