The Drink Tank 140 (2007).pdf

All I Can Say Is...

The Drink Tank Issue 140

Would it be a real issue of

The Drink Tank without a couple

of mistakes? The answer to that is

no, and even though the Cocktail

issue was the most different issue

I’ve ever done, there were failures,

one of which was misattribution.

There was a drink that I gave credit

to Steve Green for. It was the Olton

Punch recipe. That should have

gone to Ann Green, who I think

might be married to the rascal king!

I apologize.

Another is the fact that I can’t

ind the piece that Bob Hole did for

me. He’s one of my faves and I’m

always trying ot include his stuff,

but somehow it has disappeared

from me. I was holding on to it for

the LoCs to the issue, and I turned

around and there it was...gone!

The other I’m ixing now.

Leigh Ann Hildebrand was kind

enough to send in her article

very early and I put it in the

wrong section. Here now is Leigh

Ann’s Five Things. I also offer a

humble apology! Forgive me, sweet

cleavagey Goddess of the snark!

to seduce/date rape me by

means of the liqueur Galliano.

Post-breakup, this ex and

I had become “friends with

beneits”, before anyone knew

what that was. One rather

boozy evening during one of

these beneicial visits, I

attended a fraternal gathering

with the ex. He introduced me

to this particular “brother”

with a sort of sly smile that I

later suspected had been the

genteel Southern equivalent

of nod-and-wink. Anyway, my

new acquaintance mentioned

that he happened to have a

nearly full bottle of Galliano in

his room, and suggested that I

might enjoy a few quiet sips of

liqueur with him there.

Now, I wasn’t particularly

gullible, but I was good-natured

enough to go along with him, in as

much as it included free drinks. (I

admit I’m still easily swayed by such

enticements, to a point.) So, we went

to his room, where he poured a bit

into two high ball glasses. I think we

made a little small talk about Harvey

Wallbangers. And then, out of no

where, he asserted himself on me in

such a way that I found myself lying on

his bed, with him on top of me -- fully

clothed, of course. Well, I was quite

surprised, but I’d been brought up to

take a irm hand with Southern boys.

I told him quite clearly that

there must have been some sort of

misunderstanding, because I was not

THAT kind of girl. He immediately

let me up, apologized, and escorted

me back to the party. I subsequently

made it clear to my ex-with-beneits

that said beneits were not transitive,

and that was that.

2. I was taught that nice girls

don’t drink hard liquor before noon,

unless they’re drinking one of a very

few number of “breakfast” drinks.

Pretty much everyone can name the

more popular of these: Bloody Marys,

Mimosas, and the rarer Bellini. In New

Orleans, morning drinking has been

Five Cocktail Things

Leigh Ann Hildebrand

1. This ex-boyfriend of mine once

introduced me to someone who tried

brandy, sugar, milk, and ice.

Shake vigorously until chilled; strain

into a cocktail glass, dust with nutmeg

and serve. Many people add a little

vanilla.

of them. With Smirnoff’s , because

mixing top shelf vodka with Minute

Maid or Tropicana is just wasteful. No,

you * can’t * taste the difference, you

dolt.

Now, this *seems* relatively

easy to make, but here’s the truth of

the thing: I have yet to have a good

Brandy Milk Punch on the west coast.

Now, I don’t want one of these all the

time -- they’re for *breakfast* drinking,

after all -- but when a west coast

restaurant purports to be serving New

Orleans style brunch food, I expect

the place will be able to make me an

coordinating mixed drink. Sadly, no.

You can get a lot of lovely things in

California, but a good Brandy Milk

Punch is evidently not one of them.

4. Other drinks of my childhood, in

order of the age when I irst drank

them:

Budweiser (age 5)

Cold Duck, Boones Farm (age 7)

Whiskey sours (age 10)

151 & Coke (age 17)

raised to an art, with a wider choice of

options. Counted among these is my

favorite of morning drinks, the Brandy

Milk Punch. In New Orleans, there are

about as many variations on the BMP

as there are restaurants. Some are

thick milkshake affairs, some involve

whipped cream in snifters, but most

are embellishments of one sort or

another on the basic punch recipe.

I tell people I gave up beer when I

was ive, and I am pretty much not

kidding. On warm summer evenings

when I was very little, my father used

to take me with him on runs to the

drive-thru liquor store. The man at

the window would give me a piece of

Dubble Bubble gum when he gave my

father his six-pack. Then my father

would basically have ive of the beers,

and I would drink some portion of

the remaining one myself, on the

way home. The cheap wine is what

my parents had with pizza when my

father came home from night school

at the university where he got his

degree. Very early-marriage-basement-

apartment of them. Whiskey sours

were the irst mixed drinks I learned

how to make as a child; at my parents’

parties, I used to go around inishing

up the ends of people’s drinks -- the

3. I recognize a gender-based spectrum

of cocktails and mixed drinks. I tell

you, it bothers me when I’m out with

a guy and he orders a girly drink. Oh,

sure, the occasional blended margarita

is okay, but only with salt, dammit.

Milkshake drinks are right out, as

are most fruity blender drinks. I like

it when men order cocktails --

combinations of liquors with the

minor additions of bitters or lavoring

agents -- instead of mixed drinks.

(Now, that said, the screwdriver is the

quintessential drink of my childhood,

and I consider it masculine by default,

having seen my father down so many

Brandy Milk Punch

2 ounces brandy

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

3 ice cubes

Cracked ice

Freshly grated nutmeg

In a cocktail shaker combine

sours were always my favorites.

And now a brief LoC from irst time

Drink Tank LoCer Don Anderson!

that still uses the original potato base

alcohol. Instead of bitters, use lime

juice. The best (and spiciest) Ginger

Beer I can get locally is Goya Brand

which adds a bit of hot pepper juice to

the ginger lavoring. It has a nice bite.

Serve in a fairly large container (the

Red Cup you mentioned would do, but

the classic container is a copper mug)

and what do you have? Why, a Moscow

Mule, of course. Delightful on a hot

summer day.

Ooh! Copper mug! Adds a twinge

too, I’d imagine!

I also agree, in general, with

David Moyce. A drink made with

Vodka may be many things but one

thing it is not; a Martini. I do make

one minor adjustment when I wish

to have a Gibson, though. I prefer

it as a “wet” Martini rather than a

“dry” one. Perhaps 2:1 or 3:1 rather

than 5:1 or 6:1 as I would a Martini.

Bombay Sapphire is the best way to

go, although I have friends who prefer

Plymouth. I prefer Sapphire because

it has a higher level of botanicals than

other gins and thus a stronger lavor.

I ind the Vermouth brand not to be so

important as long as it is a top-shelf

one.

I don’t like Gin, but I have a

fondness for Martinis...real and

fake!

I wouldn’t for a moment

suggest, as David does, that an Italian

Vermouth would be suitable, though.

And 151? Well it got the job done, at

minimal cost, for some deinition of

‘job’.

Well, now--

This is one of the few times I

have printed out an e-zine and also

one of the few times I have been moved

to comment on one.

I suppose this is because the

major theme is about the third most

interest of my life. First is my wife,

Sue. Second is sf and its associated

Fandom. And the third is the world of

Adult Beverages.

My priorities are much in line with

yours...though I think wrestling

might have a slight edge on Booze.

At my age I don’t drink as

much as I used to, and that’s not

unexpected. I don’t have sex as much

as I used to, either, but that doesn’t

mean that it has lost its interest for

me. With imbibing, I’m just choosier

than I used to be.

You know, I have a feeling I’ve got a

couple fewer years, but I’ve started

to feel the pinch myself and have

slowed down.

We agree on some things and

differ on others, but that’s to be

expected with this bunch.. The very

irst recipe you give (The Drink

Tank) could be adjusted a bit, I

think, to more suit my taste. Instead

of Rye Whiskey, substitute Vodka,

Luksuksova would do well here. It

is Polish and one of the few Vodkas

5. My ive favorite non-trendy drinks,

in no particular

order:

Mojito, well muddled, in a Old-

Fashioned glass, not a highball.

Margarita, rocks, salt (and my

favorite of those is a simple, elegant

version made with Chinaco)

Pina Colada (for when I’m feelin’

girly)

Vanilla vodka and Coke with

Splenda (it’s the post-millenial

equivalent of Captain Morgans and

Coke)

Appletini (okay, maybe it’s a little

trendy...)

In my experience most (if not all)

Italian Vermouths are sweet and red

and, of course, dry and white is the

way to go.

I like several onions in my

Gibsons. That way I get my daily

supply of vegetables.

Always think Health irst!

As for your categories of spirits, I

would suggest that Johnny Walker its

into three of those. Some people might

consider Red Label to be hooch or the

bottom end of booze. Black label could

be considered the middle level of booze

and Gold label near the upper end. Ah,

but Blue label, Blue label is deinitely

Liquor, with a capital L. I know it’s a

blend, but don’t let that throw you off.

If you can ind a bar that has it, and

your budget can accommodate it, try

a serving. Be warned, however, that a

serving may run you $30 to $50. You

will be amazed and might even ind

it more to your liking than most, or

all, single-malts. As for single-malts

themselves, since I like strong lavors I

tend to prefer Islay brands.

GImme peat-y and rich, like

drinkin’ a bog itself! I’ve fount Blue

for less than 70 bucks a bottle.

An acquaintance in Thessaloniki,

Greece has told me that they go out

every Friday night to a “Ouzo”. They

start out with a large glass of well

chilled Ouzo, and sip it between bites

of appetizers. after each sip, they add

icewater to the drink. That way it gets

San Diego

by James Bacon

I sometimes can be very lucky.

A friend of mine, Jason,

happens to run big media and comic

events here in the UK, they are

massive professional events, he is an

event promoter, I suppose, as well as a

record holder and archivist, one event

attracts about 600,000 people over

the course of a weekend. It’s a media

event in the sense that Film and Telly

stars are on hand to sign autographs.

No small parts are these people, from

all of the Hobbits, to Starbuck and

Apollo to Capt Kirk have signed among

hundreds of others. He is also an agent

for number of impressive stars on the

convention circuit.

weaker as the evening wears on, and

the food and drink combination allows

them to get a pleasant buzz-on for the

whole evening without getting falling-

down drunk. It works.

Ouzo, as well as Sambuca, is a

tough sell to me, but if its powers

are true, I might have to rethink!

Ah, but I natter. Rest assured

that I enjoyed the whole issue. I don’t

know how you keep it up. Admittedly

there have been times when I felt

“Chris Garcia”d out But not now.

Don’t worry, I’m Chris Garcia’d out

a whole lot of the time!

Best wishes,

Don Anderson

Thanks Don!

Stef and I worked very hard

for Jason, especially in earlier days, we

don’t do as much now, as Jason has

built a team around him, we still help,

but thankfully not as much, we did

many tasks, now we get to choose to

do one of many. He is a mate and one

does what one can for a mate, and we

did a lot and he knew it. Occasionally

though what goes around, comes

around and we were given a task from

the Gods.

Jason wanted to expand his

London Film and Comic Con, and

in order to achieve this wanted to

get in touch with some big name

cross Atlantic guests from the comic

industry, with an eye to bringing them

over to London. San Diego Comic con

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