It’s been a long weekend with the family, a lot of work yesterday, quite a bit of play today. So, we are going to keep the drink nice and simple. I have had this one in my sights for a while so please join me now as we stand and make the Revolver. 

This is another from Brad Thomas Parson’s wonderful book, Last Call. It’s a riff on a Manhattan from Prizefighter’s, Jon Santer. It is super simple, but has a great depth of flavor. Let’s get into it.

Grab a mixing pitcher and pop in 2 ounces of bourbon, I went with Hudson Baby Bourbon for its corn forward flavor; 1/2 an ounce of coffee liqueur, I chose St. George’s Nola. Add 2-3 dashes of orange bitters, five artisanal ice cubes and stir to the tune of Dvorak’s Largo from the New World Symphony. That’s the one they also used for the music to “Going Home”. It’s slow, thoughtful, breathtakingly beautiful, perfect for a nice reverent stir. Grab your julep strainer and strain into something small and lovely, express a couple of orange twists over the drink, hell, flame one of them and garnish with a stupidly long orange peel on a cocktail pick. 

This is nice. Not a lot to it, but the coffee and that bourbon play well together while the orange adds great depth. This one is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s a keeper. 

We celebrated my grandma’s 94th birthday today and I wanted to find the right drink to celebrate someone who doesn’t drink. I gave up on that and decided to keep it simple. Kind of like this weekend and celebrating the lady who has looked out for me, for all of us, from day one. We kept it simple. We worked on the farm, cleaned in the basement, went and tended Pa’s grave, had lunch together both days and talked a lot. We had lunch today with the family, there was cake, there were laughs, there were stories, there were presents, but the only thing that really mattered is we were all together. Kind of like this drink, the family is greater than the sum of its parts. There is strength in that and comfort and love. Don’t forget to stop every once in a while and take some time together and y’all be good to each other. Stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, my friends.