— Jenny Neill

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Tag "Cocktails"

What do Scrappy’s Bitters, “Fox Zilla,” and Shakespeare all have in common? Each shares a fondness for the complex. We might never know what the Bard of Avon himself preferred to drink. Surely though, he was fond of his character Falstaff, the cowardly knight who recited the famous line this week’s House Cocktail is named after. Attributed to Allison Webber (aka Fox Zilla), The Better Part of Valor balances bitter, sweet, and herbal notes in one of my favorite sip-it-slow drinks.

Head of a Falstaff statue

Photo courtesy of shotsbystevo. Some rights reserved.

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Doing investigations for House Cocktails is fun and not just because there is drinking involved. Many drink creation stories have the same veracity as fables or parables. Maybe they hint at the truth of where a drink originated but no one can say for sure who thought it up. Even when a particular drink can be attributed to someone, other interesting history about its ingredients or where it was developed can often be found. This week, my search bot got two stories that make mention of some New Orlean classics while tracking “cocktail history.”

Ramos Fizz
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I am a sommelier. Not only am I a sommelier, I am among those restaurant wine-slingers who consider themselves “acid hounds.” Alcohol, tannins, and viscosity in a wine of high intensity flavors is often not enough to be able to pair it with food. Such wines can be great fun to sip on by themselves. But to go with many sauced, rich, or spicy dishes, a wine needs acidity to give it a little lift. Liking that brightness is why I also like sour drinks. And why the Sidecar is in the top five for cocktails I make at home.

Flaming Orange Peel

Photo courtesy of Mike Russell. All rights reserved.

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