Old Fashioned made with a bit too much Johnny Walker Red
9.2 Best New Drink

I love Johnny Walker Red. I don’t know what that’s supposed to say about me. I like kind of dry, peaty-flavored alcohol that doesn’t cost that much. I wasn’t sure about using this scotch to make an Old Fashioned, though. I had been banging pretty hard on the Sazerac Rye for my Old Fashioneds, of late. But that liquor store that sells the stuff seems far away, and I don’t want to run out before I’m ready to go get some more. I don’t think I’ve ever had a scotch Old Fashioned before, and I can see why. But it’s not bad. The formula tends to blow up the characteristics of the liquor you choose, and since I’m already a devotee of this one, I like it under the looking glass.

“Brooklyn,” from Alchemy in Park Slope
1.1

The problem with the Brooklyn, a variation of a Manhattan, was for one I forget what they used to make it, but it wasn’t bourbon. I think it was some sort of blended whiskey. Whatever. The main problem is it was really watery—a half-booze/half-vermouth formula. They made an additional error in omitting maraschino cherries from the mix. Whether they’re not included in the Brooklyn to begin with, or if the bar tender forgot, it was a lame move. The mistake was purely formal, though, since any further mitigation of the cocktail’s strength would have made it float out of the glass, undrinkable. All in all, it was a terrible variation on a classic, nearly un-fuck-upable drink.

Sierra Nevada IPA
7.8

Good old stand-by brew. IPAs owe their distinct dryness to their having had to have been shipped across the landscape of India by the Britishers. A more robust brew was needed to avoid spoilage. Whenever IPA and I are in the same room, spoilage is never an issue. I had a few of these while I watched Buffalo make an improbably come back then collapse then come back then collapse yesterday and it was lovely. The beer. The football was mediated by the beer, but alcohol has never significantly altered the course of history. Oh, well… At least not history on television.

Old Fashioned from Union Hall
3.5

I inquired after Sazerac Rye, but the bar didn’t stock that. The bar tender offered (ri)1 Rye expectantly, and I agreed. In hindsight, the fault of the cocktail was not its primary spirit but rather the huge amount of water (seltzer, perhaps?!) the bar tender used to make the drink. I don’t think, I wasn’t watching extremely closely, that he used any or much sugar to make the drink either. He basically just made Rye with water and crushed ice. What the fuck is crushed ice doing in my Old Fashioned? Not acceptable.

Tall boy of Old Milwaukee
6.9

The man at the bodega IDed me, and then after taking in my considerable calendar age, he remarked how I looked so young. That was nice. It made drinking this foamy, soon-to-be-hand-temperature beer a little bit nicer.