July 2010

Hot Weather Drinks

legacy/Mint-Julep.jpg

It's hot. It's damn hot. It's summer, so that means there's little to do in the off hours but sweat and long for air conditioning. It's hard to get into a mood for booze when there's so much heat outside. Never mind that alcohol actually drops one's core body temperature, just one nip will bring on a little too much mercury for these dog days. So, how can you get away with downing the fire water when it's blazing in the shade? Well, you can dip deep into the classic cocktail book or you can get creative.

Bourbon: A True American Spirit

legacy/bourbon.jpg

Today is Independence Day in the United States, a holiday when we yankee folks recall our country's successful bid for autonomy from our colonial rulers in the English crown over 200 years ago. It's a day to celebrate liberty and all the things we love about our nation. While there are a lot of things to appreciate about America (its dense cross-section of different cultures, its unparalleled contribution to the art of film and its varied landscape to name a few), one of my personal favorite things about our sovereign union is its most popular native liquor: Bourbon whiskey. A lot of cultures have a unique variety of whiskey to their claim and it's for that reason that America has bourbon today. Many of our 18th century immigrants were of Scottish and Irish descent, so they brought their craft for whiskey making with them to these shores. There's a very interesting history to just how bourbon became the whiskey Americans know and love today. It involves war, two great historical figures and a staple of American agriculture.