funknik Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 My mother owns a bookstore and we are both avid readers & drinkers...last Christmas she gifted me a book called, "Hemingway & Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers." It's a very interesting coffee table book with a little blurb about each author as well as a drink recipe and an excerpt from some of their work that celebrates drinking. I think the drink - author pairing may be a little arbitrary, though. They have Dr. Hunter S. Thompson listed as a Greyhound due to his fondness for grapefruit (when I would've thought a Boilermaker of WT101 & Ballantine XXX ale would be more his style), Kerouac gets the Margarita because he wrote so much about Mexico, Papa Hemingway gets a Mojito which I doubt was even invented in his day. I'm reading "The Sun Also Rises" by Hemingway right now and it takes place in Paris (and other locales in Europe) during American alcohol prohibition. The characters are always drinking and it seems everything is mixed with soda (club soda, I imagine)....brandy & soda, whiskey and soda. Encouraged by this and having a bottle of CR around (which I don't really like), and because I drink gallons of seltzer water a day (a much bigger addiction than bourbon, even), I thought, why not mix them together. Well, suffice it to say, the seltzer did not improve the Crown and the whiskey definitely did not help the seltzer.Does anyone subscribe to whiskey & soda and, if so, what's the draw? Am I missing something?Here are the author/drink pairings that include whiskey for your amusement.... James Agee - Whiskey SourSherwood Anderson - Old-FashionedCharles Bukowski - BoilermakerJohn Cheever - Rusty Nail (Scotch & Drambuie)William Faulkner - Mint Julep (one of my favs)Ring Lardner - ManhattanRobert Lowell - Ward 8Edgar Allan Poe - Sazerac (Absinthe & Rye)Thomas Wolfe - Rob Roy (Manhattan with Scotch substituted for Rye)Happy Reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I would have guessed William Faulkner to be an Old Fashion, makes more since to me because he would always go to New Orleans to do his "sinning".One of my favorite authors is Charles Willeford, I'll guess him to be bourbon on the rocks, from his writings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scratchline Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 If drinking is "sinning", Faulkner didn't have to make it to New Orleans to get his sin on.What's interesting about the list is how many of those writers were full blown alcoholics. And how amazingly functional many still were as writers while under the influence.-Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Papa Hemingway gets a Mojito which I doubt was even invented in his day. The mojito was definitely around in Hemingway's time, and according to many the La Bodeguita del Medio was his favorite place to drink Mojitos (he supposedly also enjoyed Daquiris at El Floridita) when in Cuba.It should be noted that while most writing definitely has Hemingway as a Mojito drinker, one biographer questions that idea saying that Hemingway did not like sugar in his drinks would have avoided the Mojitos for the sugarless Daiquiris served at the El Floridita.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funknik Posted December 21, 2008 Author Share Posted December 21, 2008 The mojito was definitely around in Hemingway's time, and according to many the La Bodeguita del Medio was his favorite place to drink Mojitos (he supposedly also enjoyed Daquiris at El Floridita) when in Cuba.It should be noted that while most writing definitely has Hemingway as a Mojito drinker, one biographer questions that idea saying that Hemingway did not like sugar in his drinks would have avoided the Mojitos for the sugarless Daiquiris served at the El Floridita.TomAwesome info -- thanks for the research! and the correction... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcheer Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Does anyone subscribe to whiskey & soda and, if so, what's the draw? Am I missing something?Yes, I often enjoy whiskey and soda, especially in the summer. I usually prefer Perrier water but club soda can be good, too. I will make this highball with bourbon, Canadian, or scotch. What's the draw? Sometimes, I just want something I can drink instead of slowly sipping.Note that I cannot stand highballs made with sweet beverages such as Coca Cola or 7 Up.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcheer Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 It should be noted that while most writing definitely has Hemingway as a Mojito drinker, one biographer questions that idea saying that Hemingway did not like sugar in his drinks would have avoided the Mojitos for the sugarless Daiquiris served at the El Floridita.Based on what I have read, I would agree with that. It is my understanding that his favorite drink was a large glass of rum and crushed ice with 1/2 a fresh lime squeezed in. This is the "Hemingway Daquiri", and I believe it was probably named that while he was still around drinking them. He was a huge celebrity in his lifetime.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 A whisky-soda, which is an approved British spelling, was a classic way to drink whisky. It took its cue from brandy-and-soda, surely.It is a good drink, the soda makes it last longer and the bubbles give some scotches and other whiskies a good taste, they "stick" to the whisky.I find blended scotches do best with soda, I don't know why. Maybe the soda unfurls the diverse flavors of a blend and presents it to best advantage. I like 50/50 or a little more soda. Perrier is okay but seems to have a mineral-like note that doesn't suit all whiskies. A soft bubbly water seems best.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Alcohol and the Writer, by Donald W. Goodwin, is a good book on the subject. He was doing research on alcoholism among certain groups and writers indexed highest for alcoholism, at 71%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funknik Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 Alcohol and the Writer, by Donald W. Goodwin, is a good book on the subject. He was doing research on alcoholism among certain groups and writers indexed highest for alcoholism, at 71%.I've noticed that a lot of writers seem to be alcoholics....is this not a result, maybe, of not having to punch the clock, so to speak, by making one's own hours and not being held to standard employer-imposed rules of conduct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcheer Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I've noticed that a lot of writers seem to be alcoholics....is this not a result, maybe, of not having to punch the clock, so to speak, by making one's own hours and not being held to standard employer-imposed rules of conduct?My thinking is more along the line that maybe alcohol frees up their minds from the everyday realities, allowing them to range more in their thought processes. But, that's just an idea.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 It sounds like you're saying there are only two kinds of people, those who drink all the time and those who would drink all the time if they could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funknik Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 It sounds like you're saying there are only two kinds of people, those who drink all the time and those who would drink all the time if they could.Ha! Maybe I am saying that........but what I was thinking was that said freedom enables an already present tendency to thrive. Not suggesting that everyone would drink all the time if possible, but certain people would....maybe writing as a profession drives one to drink? Or maybe those who are predisposed to drinking heavily, lean towards a vocation that will not hinder their vices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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