Pairing Classic Books With Cocktails
Absinthe Easy Street, photo courtesy Copper & Kings
Mix up a drink and find a comfy spot for a literary sipping escape
Sure, the consumption of alcohol in the home has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but do you know what else is trending? Reading. That age-old act of stowing away in a comfy corner and getting lost in a story, whether you’re physically flipping pages or scrolling along on an e-reader.
We know there are countless lists out there offering up literary suggestions, but here’s something a little different: Many of the steadfast classics incorporate, encourage, and/or fixate on various spirits (just look at Hemingway alone, as chronicled in Philip Greene’s To Have and To Have Another), so we wanted to offer up some book and drink pairings for those looking for a relaxing evening at home, with the television off and all other distractions a healthy six feet away, preferably separated by a locked door.
Kerri Richardson
But before we get to our list, we should mention a similar concept the creative ladies of the Bourbon Women organization recently came out with for their members. Focused solely on bourbon, their “Book Picks & Sips” paired famous novels with suggestions on what bourbon to pour as you pore through pages.
The list included pairing William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” with Four Roses bourbon; Chicago-set Devil in the White City by Erik Larson with local F.E.W. Bourbon, and Sue Grafton’s B is for Burglar with the Heaven Hill-produced Larceny bourbon.
I asked Bourbon Women President Kerri Richardson how the list came about.
“It seems like staying at home produced one of three responses among our friends: They started binging ‘Tiger King,’ they started baking sourdough bread, or they started reading the long-neglected stack of books on their nightstands,” she says. “At Bourbon Women, we figure every book deserves a bourbon to pair with it.”
Richardson believes many people are reading now more than ever, and with libraries offering more and more e-books and audiobooks, it makes access to classics even easier. There’s one in particular she intends to tackle soon.
“I joked with my mom that now would be the time for me to finally read The Grapes of Wrath, and wouldn’t you know it, I found an old paperback copy during my quarantine cleaning,” Richardson adds. “It’s natural during times of uncertainty, crisis or danger to seek guidance or solace from writers who have documented similar conditions, whether in novels or history books.”
The Alcohol Professor Reading & Drinking List
This list was compiled with help from our Facebook community of fellow book worms.
Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway—Paired with a Green Isaac’s Special
It’s only fitting we start this list with Hemingway and his posthumously published Islands in the Stream (1970), which follows character Thomas Hudson in the Bahamas and Cuba. One of Hudson’s drinks of choice was a favorite of the author’s as well—the gin-based Green Isaac’s Special.
(Recommended by friend Maggie Cassaro, who says she once made the cocktail Hemingway so eloquently wrote about, but it wasn’t her cup of tea.)
Excerpt:
“Thomas Hudson tasted, took a swallow and felt the cold that had the sharpness of the lime, the aromatic varnishy taste of the Angostura and the gin stiffening the lightness of the ice-cold coconut water.”
Drink:
2 oz. dry gin, such as Caledonia Spirits Barr Hill Gin (Double Gold medal winner, 2019 NY International Spirits Competition)
4 oz. coconut water
1 oz. lime juice
2-4 dashes of Angostura bitters
Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain up or over rocks into glass. Garnish with lime wedge.
The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman by Hunter S. Thompson—Paired with an Absinthe Easy Street
One of Thompson’s go-to spirits, besides whiskey, was absinthe. Released in 1997, this is a collection of letters to and from the Gonzo journalist to many influential figures between 1955-1967.
(Recommended by Maggie Cassaro.)
Excerpt:
“Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives … and to the ‘good life,’ whatever it is and wherever it happens to be.”
Drink:
An Easy Street is simply stirring absinthe with ice in a mixing glass until cold, then serving over fresh ice.
Recommended pour:
2 oz. of Copper & Kings Absinthe Blanche with a fresh mint sprig
“Sylvia’s Death” by Anne Sexton—Paired with a Vodka Martini
American poet Anne Sexton was not shy about telling it like it was, and she often wrote about her personal struggles with mental health. In this poem, penned in 1963, she writes about the memories of her friend and fellow poet Sylvia Plath. It was included in her Live or Die collection, which was released in 1966.
Excerpt:
Thief —
how did you crawl into,
crawl down alone
into the death I wanted so badly and for so long,
the death we said we both outgrew,
the one we wore on our skinny breasts,
the one we talked of so often each time
we downed three extra dry martinis in Boston,
the death that talked of analysts and cures,
the death that talked like brides with plots,
the death we drank to,
the motives and the quiet deed?
Drink:
2.5 oz. vodka, such as Haku Vodka (Gold medal winner, 2019 NY International Spirits Competition)
1/2 oz. dry vermouth
garnish: olives or citrus twist
Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain in to chilled cocktail glass. Garnish.
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler—Paired with a Gin Gimlet
Novelist Raymond Chandler perfected the detective fiction category during his career, and this one, about his famous character and private investigator Philip Marlowe, became a Robert Altman-directed film in 1973.
Excerpt:
“A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s lime juice and nothing else.”
Drink:
2 oz. dry gin
2 oz. Rose’s Lime Juice
Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
courtesy Laird’s Applejack
Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck—Paired with a Jack Rose
In 1960, author John Steinbeck set out on a cross-country trek, accompanied only by his poodle Charley, to reacquaint himself with a “new America” he believed in—or perhaps to say goodbye to a country he loved. (He died eight years later.) While Steinbeck often enjoyed brandy, one of his favorite cocktails was the Prohibition-era classic Jack Rose.
(Recommended by friend Andrea Nay.)
Excerpt:
“I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment.”
Drink:
1.5 oz. applejack, such as Laird’s Applejack
.75 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz good quality grenadine
garnish: lime twist (optional)
Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish if using.
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry—Paired with a Oaxaca OId Fashioned
English author Malcolm Lowry never lived to see his works earn the respect they deserve, as he died 10 years after Under the Volcano (1947) was published. His characters, including protagonist Geoffrey Firmin in this novel, battled some of the same demons as the author. Set in the Mexican town Quauhnahuac, the story follows the Day of the Dead events in November of 1938.
(Recommended by friend Cara Tobe.)
Excerpt:
(Mezcal): “It’s like drinking 10 yards of barbed wire.”
Editor-in-chief Amanda Schuster disagrees with this assessment about mezcal (jury still out about the book), and suggests this neo-classic from bartender Phil Ward, which was created during his tenure at Death & Co., and featured in her book New York Cocktails.
Drink:
1.5 oz tequila reposado
.5 oz mezcal joven
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 bar spoon agave nectar
garnish: orange twist (flamed, if you dare)
Combine all ingredients except twist in a cocktail glass with a large ice cube. Stir until combined and chilled. Add twist (if flaming, light twist skin side down over drink until orange oils flame over the drink and discard).