So We Have an Offical Drink

What I thought was a purple bottle of gin turned out to be a bottle of purple gin. This was completely unexpected and a little horrifying. I’d gone to the liquor store with my brother to pick up some supplies and wanted to try a new gin. I’d never heard of Empress Gin. I just knew it was a little more expensive and took that to mean it would have something herbal and potentially kooky going on. We drank it with soda. It had a delicate floral taste that made me certain an olive or two would destroy it, so we started simple. Lime wasn’t great in the soda, but lemon was just fine. The thing is, I like cocktails and if I was going to get the most out of the gin’s flavor, diluting it with soda wasn’t going to help. I keep St-Germain in the house to replace simple syrup in drink recipes. I’ve yet to be disappointed. So how’s this for a cocktail: A Martini, but with St-Germain replacing the vermouth and a lemon replacing the olive? Turns out it was spectacular. My particular take was 3oz. Empress Gin with .25oz St. Germaine and the juice from a thin lemon slice. Twists seem a little wasteful because I’m shitty at making them and I use very little lemon, but I’ll bet it would be just as good. Since the drink happens to be the GCFL colors, we’re temporarily calling it the DOD Cooler. We understand it’s not a great name and invite you to do better. We’re sure tryng. Happy Hour is when you say it is. Best, Tony Show Notes: This week’s sponsor: DOD Cooler and Bullet Bourbon on ice. Remember. You can be the show’s sponsor by literally replying to this email and saying you want to be. There is no fee involved. Todd: One Cool Thing The annual beach olympics were this week and Todd got a chance to get out there. He reports in detail. The takeaway is that restaurants and chefs around here don’t compete so much as collaborate. Sure, that might not be true all the way down the line, but the better the restaurant, the more likely the chef or owner sees the other good restaurants as a complement rather than a threat. It certainly helps that there are more people who want to dine out on a given Friday night than there are places for them to dine, but it is an attitude that survives into the winter. Tony: One Cool Thing Tony wrote a book. We say this on the outside chance this is the first you’re hearing of it (or, alternatively, you keep forgetting to order it). If you’re in the area, though, there are plenty of signed copies at The Greyhound in Berlin. That’s where Tony found himself this week. While he and Todd didn’t get to talk too much about the event (there’s another one this week anyway) they did talk about parking for longer than intended, but it’s not too awful. They promise. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit daydrinkingondelmarva.substack.com