Brass tacks first: I’m so hyped to be doing an event with Cafe con Libros. I’ll be in conversation with Jezz Chung on Tuesday, April 13 at 7PM Eastern.
Cafe con Libros is one of a few Black-owned bookstores in the US; they are also intersectional and feminist. They are a *chef’s kiss* brought to life. Even if you don’t live in Brooklyn to visit in person, you can support them through your purchases via the Amazon-alternative bookshop.org.
[This section is about cocktails. Maybe you don’t drink them. If so, you can feel free to delete or archive this email and swim right on. Have a great day!]
It’s taking willpower galore not to feel defeated by this pandemic. I’m doing dance cardio and talking about what I’m grateful for each day, but there is a monotony to my privileged life.
ENTER COCKTAILS. I feel strongly about my old fashioned recipe and have for years, but since last March I’ve begun to expand my repertoire in earnest. The Seelbach! Penicillin! New York Sour! Eye of the Komodo! I even experimented with replicating cocktails from my favorite BK bar, Quarter.
Taking an old hobby more seriously has just been… fun. Fun to make cocktails for others. (Making cocktails is my love language.) Fun to experiment.
Here’s one of my all-time favorites, the Oaxaca Old Fashioned. This is the recipe I use:
1 oz mezcal (I use Del Maguey Vida Mezcal)
1 oz reposado tequila
2 dashes chocolate bitters (but Angostura also do the trick)
1 tsp agave syrup (but 1 tsp sugar muddled with 1 tsp water will work in a pinch)
Muddle and stir. Add ice. Swipe an orange peel around the rim of the glass, then toss that sucker in. Imbibe.
What’s a drink in the whiskey and tequila/mezcal families that I should know about?