Reading & Drinking
A well crafted story is surprising and intimate, built with intent and great care to stir within you something long buried or hidden away. And, it turns out, a great cocktail will do the same. Every Friday, just in time for Happy Hour and the weekend, you can find a new cocktail post here exploring the urgent matter of reading and drinking. Expect each post to take a brief but intense look at a crafted narrative—whether it be fiction or non-fiction, graphic novel or movie or television series—and pair it with a unique cocktail, suitable and silent, as a companion along your journey. Please, leave a comment if you have one, and questions, too.
I look forward to reading and drinking with you.
“Shit Face”: Everyone Out of the Pool
“Shit Face” by Amy Lynne McKenzie, and published online at The Kenyon Review, is a maximalist dervish hellbent on whirling you towards it’s clever emotional twist and what remains after the dust settles is a story that gobsmacks and wounds, leaving you blindsided by the unexpected but well-earned turn of events. Devil’s Night is a Daiquiri of sorts that uses a compound syrup made from Daily’s Strawberry Daiquiri, and a Habanero Tincture brings some sweet heat to mix
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before: “A Duck Walks Into A Bar”
“A Duck Walks into a Bar”, written by Joshua Bohnsack and published at AGNI, is a feel-good story about a mom, her autistic son, and a classic joke that defies the literary story’s all too common interest in the darker side of people. The cocktail inspired by it, Quackers & Juice, is also light in nature. A riff on a Garibaldi, this cocktail uses Apple Juice, Vermouth, and Goldfish-Infused Gin.
Desire, Coffee, and Studies Abroad
“Study Abroad”, written by Cassie Burkhardt and published online at Rattle, is a bittersweet reminder why we look back through the windows of our memory, and its cocktail is an espresso martini that replaces vodka with cognac, creating a bold, cherry-spiced core around which crème de cacao, cherry heering, and chocolatey amari are wrapped.
