Virtual Travel Through Songs and Drinks to Pair With Them
Hemingway Daiquiri, courtesy Papa’s Pilar
Escape right now without leaving home - all you need are these cocktails and streaming music
Music has the uncanny ability to transport us to a certain place and time. Thank goodness, since that’s pretty much the only way we can go anywhere right now while we #StayatHome to combat COVID-19. Find a cozy nook in your abode, mix up one of these drinks, crank up the accompanying song and let the experience take your away.
The Sound Trip: “Havana” by Camila Cabello
The Lyric: “He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na, Oh but my heart is in Havana.”
The Drink: Hemingway Daiquiri
Rum to Try: Havana Club 3 Años (the real one from Cuba, if you happened to pick some up in an international airport), Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum (silver medal winner at the 2019 NY International Spirits Competition), Neptune Rum (gold medal, 2019 NYISC)
Cue the Latin-influenced piano riffs at the intro of Camila Cabello’s salsa ditty that was seemingly everywhere in late 2017. In the accompanying video, the Cuban performer plays several roles, including Karla, a bespectacled homebody who whiles away her nights watching telenovelas with her abuelita instead of going out dancing and bar-hopping like her sister. It’s delicious to virtually travel to the romance of old Havana by inserting ourselves into the alter ego she envisions when she heads to the cinema—that of a confident young woman in a sexy Latin club who’s nobody’s plaything. So what’s she sipping? Perhaps a version of the cocktail first requested by Ernest Hemingway, who walked into Havana’s El Floridita Restaurant and Bar and asked that his Daiquiri be mixed without sugar and double the rum. It was a drink that would be unpalatable for most people, according to Papa’s Pilar rum advocacy and events manager Andy Borbely, yet one that mirrored Hemingway’s persona, “Papa was larger than life; he was a man who made bold choices.” At the end of the video, Cabello gets bold, letting loose and dancing in the street. Oh-na-na-na-na-na.
Hemingway Daiquiri
Recipe courtesy of Papa’s Pilar
1 ½ oz. light or gold rum
¾ oz. lime juice
½ oz. grapefruit juice
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
1 tsp. sugar
Grapefruit peel, for garnish
Add all ingredients except garnish to a cocktail glass, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an expressed grapefruit peel.
Paloma, photo Illumination Marketing via Unsplash
The Sound Trip: “Mexico” by James Taylor
The Lyric: “Oh, Mexico, It sounds so simple I just got to go, The sun's so hot I forgot to go home.”
The Drink: Paloma
Tequilas to Try: Tequila Azunia Reposado (Organic Tequila Distillery of the Year at the 2019 NY International Spirits Competition), Playa Real Silver Tequila (bronze medal winner, 2019 NYISC), Tequila Cimarron Reposado
In this 1975 single, James Taylor reminisces about a night spent in a border town including meeting a “sleepy señorita with [her] eyes on fire.” But it turns out the joke’s on us when he admits he’s never actually been to Mexico, but guesses that he should go now. This song is for any of us who’s ever oohed and aahed at a friend’s recounting of a vacation story to a place they’ve always wanted to visit, but haven’t made it to yet. So whether or not you’ve toured the tequila distilleries in Jalisco, done a taco crawl on Cozumel or snorkeled off the coast of Cabo San Lucas or are just dreaming about it someday, you can sip this easy breezy three-ingredient libation that gives the Margarita the day off. As Taylor admits, “I never really been but I'd sure like to go.”
Basic Paloma
2 oz. tequila of choice (preferably silver or reposado)
½ oz. lime juice
grapefruit soda, to top
salt and lime wedge, for rimming
grapefruit peel, for garnish
If you prefer a salt rim, rub half of the outside of the rim of a Collins glass with the lime wedge and coat in salt, otherwise proceed to next step. Add ice to the glass, add the tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda, and stir to combine. Garnish with the grapefruit peel.
Mojito photo by Melissa Walker Horn via Unsplash
The Sound Trip: “Miami” by Will Smith
The Lyric: “Party in the city where the heat is on, All night, on the beach till the break of dawn, Welcome to Miami, Bienvenidos a Miami.”
The Drink: Mojito
Rums to Try: Zíami White Rum (from Miami), Copalli White Rum (gold medal winner, 2019 NYISC)
The artist formerly known as the Fresh Prince perfectly encapsulates Miami in the late ‘90s in this infectious rap tune that samples 1979’s disco song “And the Beat Goes On”: Lambos cruising down Ocean Drive (“hundred thousand dollar cars, everybody’s got ‘em”), clipboard-wielding bouncers at nightclubs, and billowing curtains towering over the entrance of the art deco Delano Hotel making everyone who passes through them feel like a celeb—even if you are just there for a really overpriced glass of Prosecco. The city might be a little different now, but one thing’s for sure: you can still get a well-made Mojito. Fair enough, the classic cocktail technically was invented 300 miles away in Cuba, but it’s become as associated with South Beach as the façade of Gianni Versace’s former mansion-turned-boutique-hotel. Bartenders may bemoan all the effort involved in all that muddling but any of us who have ever escaped to South Florida’s melting-pot playground and spent the afternoon day drinking at a beach bar sure enjoy sipping them. “I only came for two days of playing, But every time I come I always wind up stayin'.” We see you.
Mojito
1 oz. white rum
1 oz. lime juice
1 tbsp. sugar
3 fresh mint leaves
splash of club soda
2 dashes bitters, such as Angostura (optional)
Muddle the mint leaves and sugar in the bottom of a Collins glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes then add the rum and lime juice and stir. Top with soda and bitters, if using, and stir gently.
The Sound Trip: “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel
The Lyric: “But I'm takin' a Greyhound on the Hudson River line, I'm in a New York state of mind.”
The Drink: New York Sour
Whiskies to Try: Five & 20 Spirits Rye Whiskey (New York Rye Distillery of the Year, 2019 NY International Spirits Competition), NY Distilling Co. Ragtime Rye , Van Brunt Stillhouse Empire Rye
Though named for New York, this cocktail was actually believed to have been first created in Chicago in the 1880s. But you just can’t help picturing yourself sipping the red wine float-topped Whiskey Sour riff while seated at a barstool in a darkly-lit, classic hotel hotel bar in Manhattan, now can you? Succumb to the temptation. Billy Joel’s iconic ode to the Big Apple that first appeared on the 1976 album Turnstiles was—like other tracks on the album including “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”—inspired by his cross-country trip from Los Angeles back East. Yes, he was actually on the bus when he penned the lyrics about having seen it all, from the Rockies to the Evergreen, yet secure in his decision that he knew exactly where he wanted to be. And just like songs that have come along since (see: Jay Z and Alicia Keys declaring in “Empire State of Mind “ how “these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you”), Joel’s song toasts the vibrant energy and unwavering tenacity of the world’s most famous city. Go ahead: toast it, too.
New York Sour
2 oz. bourbon or rye whiskey, preferably from NY state
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
¾ oz. simple syrup (1:1 ratio of sugar to water)
1 egg white
½ oz. dry red wine
Add whiskey, juice, syrup, and egg white to a mixing tin and dry shake (shake without ice) for 15 seconds to add air to the egg white and emulsify the citrus. Add ice and shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds. Double strain with the cocktail into a rocks glass over fresh ice and float the red wine on top.
photo courtesy Gin Mare
The Sound Trip: “Barcelona”, by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé
The Lyric: “Barcelona, Such a beautiful horizon, Barcelona, Like a jewel in the sun”
The Drink: Gin & Tonic
Gins to Try: Gin Mare Mediterranean Gin, Level Gin (Spanish Gin of the Year, 2019 NYISC)
You can argue that no two cocktail ingredients pair together as effortlessly as gin and tonic. The same can be said about the vocals on this unexpected duet from Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (a lifelong opera fan whose range among pop stars was unmatched) and soprano Montserrat Caballé. The song was released in 1987 as part of their collaborative album of the same name and featured at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Though the G&T has its origins in the UK, when the British Navy and British East India Company gave sailors quinine-rich tonic water to mix with their spirit of choice in order to combat malaria, Spain has an unmatched reverence for the refreshing highball. Go into any bar in Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza or Malaga and you’ll be met with a menu of dizzying choices of both, matched to coax out the aromas and flavors of each and thoughtfully garnished with adornments that mirror the botanicals in the selected gin. Make a batch, listen to the vocals, dream of aperitivi and people-watching at a sidewalk cafe along La Rambla.
Olive
A Gin and Tonic variation courtesy of Gin Mare
1 ¾ oz. Gin Mare
⅓ oz. fino sherry
6 oz. tonic water
Rosemary and olive skewer, for garnish (optional)
Add the first three ingredients in a large wine goblet over ice, add ice, stir, top with tonic water and stir again. Garnish with the rosemary and olive skewer.
The Sound Trip: “Africa”, by Toto
The Lyric: “As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti... Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you.”
The Drink: Sundowner
Drinks to Try: One of the many ready-to-drink offerings from Wilderer Distilleries (South Africa Gin Distillery of the Year, 2019 NYISC), Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky with a splash of soda (South Africa Whiskey of the Year, 2019 NYISC )
Members of #TeamToto or #TeamWeezer find themselves equally loyal and enthusiastic about their preferred version of a song that’s actually a bit tone deaf, since it pretty much equates to a broad generalization about a vast, diverse, entire continent. Still, the song’s role in pop culture can’t be overstated, inspiring everything from an Instagram account dedicated to memes about the song to an art installation in a Namibia desert that will play the song on loop for eternity thanks to solar-powered speakers and an MP3 player. If you’ve been on safari in Botswana’s Okavango Delta you’re probably familiar with the tradition of the Sundowner; but even if spotting the Big Five in Kenya remains an evasive entry on your bucket list you’ll want to familiarize yourself with Africa’s answer to the aperitif. When it’s nearly sundown during a game drive your guide will find a picturesque spot, park the LandRover, open the back hatch and set up a makeshift tailgate. What you drink is actually less important than the ritual and setting; it could be anything from South African Chenin Blanc to a cold beer to brandy, set out DIY-style along with a selection of nibbles like nuts, chips and olives. What’s more important is taking a moment to slow down, soak in your surroundings and watch the sunset—a little bit of mindfulness we could also use right about now. “Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.”