Good Drinks for Bad Days - Kerry Colburn [12]
½ tablespoon ginger syrup or simple syrup (see page 35)
3 to 4 ounces ginger beer
2 lime wedges
Fill a glass with ice and add the fresh ginger, if using. Add the rum and ginger syrup and stir. Top with the ginger beer. Squeeze the lime wedges and drop them in. Drink next to a space heater or sunlamp.
Bad Day: Last-minute holiday shopping
Why are the holidays so maddening? The traffic is awful, there’s nowhere to park, the salesclerks are cranky, and the other shoppers are quite literally manic. You almost broke your wrist wrestling the last cashmere scarf—which you clearly saw first—out of a mean old lady’s death grip! Granted, you may have waited a tad bit too long to shop this year, but still. Put the bags away, ignore the Christmas cards waiting to be addressed, and have some hot buttered holiday cheer.
Good Drink: Hot Buttered Rum
1 teaspoon brown sugar
4 ounces hot water
2 ounces dark rum or bourbon
1 tablespoon butter
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish
In a warmed mug, combine the brown sugar and hot water, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the rum and float the butter on top. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
From Bad to Worse: Still have more than five presents to buy? Add an extra rum floater!
Bad Day: Fender bender
Whether you or the other idiot were to blame, a fender bender is a hassle for both parties. With the insurance issues, unsightly dents, and evil mechanics, one way or another you’re always out more dough than you ever expected. How can a Toyota bumper cost two grand? This calls for a drink named for a barfly who cleverly chose not to drive, instead being chauffeured nightly in a motorcycle sidecar.
Good Drink: Sidecar
Lemon wedge
Sugar for rimming glass
1½ ounces Cognac or brandy
¾ ounce Cointreau or triple sec
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist for garnish
Rub the rim of a cocktail glass with the lemon wedge and coat with sugar. Shake the Cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice with ice and strain into the glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink and drop it in.
INDEX
Absinthe
Alabama Slammer
Ale
Amaretto
Angostura bitters
Apple brandy
Apricot brandy
B-52
Baileys Irish Cream
B-52
Butterball
Death by Chocolate
Irish Cream Milkshake
Mudslide
Quaalude
Barracuda
Beautiful
Beer
Bellini
Benedictine
Between the Sheets
Bitters, Angostura
Black and Tan
Black Magic
Blended drinks
Blue Hawaiian
Death by Chocolate
Mudslide
Bloody Caesar
Blue Curaçao
Blue Hawaiian
Blueberry Tea
Bourbon
Hot Buttered Rum
Hot Toddy
Manhattan
Brandy
Brandy, apple
Brandy, apricot
Butterball
Butterscotch schnapps
Chambord
Champagne
Bellini
Champagne Cocktail
French
French Kiss
Mimosa
Death in the Afternoon
Champagne Cocktail
Cherry juice, maraschino
Chocolate ice cream
Clamato juice
Cloves
Club soda
Coconut, cream of
Coffee drinks
Flaming Diablo
Irish Coffee
Coffee liqueur
Cognac
Beautiful
Between the Sheets
Flaming Diablo
Sidecar
Cointreau
Flaming Diablo
Honeymoon
Kamikaze
Mimosa
Planter’s Punch
Sidecar
Cola
Cranberry juice
Cream of coconut
Cream, heavy
Crème de banana
Crème de cacao
Crème de menthe
Cuba Libre
Curaçao
Dark and Stormy
Death by Chocolate
Death in the Afternoon
Dirty Martini
Drambuie
Earl Gray tea
Flaming Diablo
French
French Kiss
Fuzzy Navel
Galliano
Garnishes
Gin
Dirty Martini
French
Greenback
Ginger beer
Ginger syrup
Ginger, fresh
Glassware
Grand Marnier
Grapefruit juice
Greenback
Grenadine
Greyhound
Guinness
Hairy Navel
Harvey Wallbanger
Hazelnut liqueur
Heavy cream
Honeymoon
Horseradish
Hot Buttered Rum
Hot drinks
Hot Toddy
Hurricane
Ice cream
Chocolate
Vanilla
Irish Coffee
Irish cream liqueur
B-52
Butterball
Death by Chocolate
Irish Cream Milkshake
Mudslide
Quaalude
Irish Cream Milkshake
Kahlua
B-52
Black Magic
Mind Eraser
Mudslide
South of the Border
Kamikaze
Lager
Lemon
Lemon juice
Lemon peel
Lemon-flavored vodka
Lime
Lime juice
Love Potion
Manhattan
Maraschino cherry juice
Milk
Mimosa