Repeal Day!

Repeal Day!

It's Repeal day. That means you should celebrate by getting shit face drunk! Ok, so let's get into the history. You are aware that at one point in time, alcohol was outlawed in the U.S. Much like weed, they thought that people were going too crazy and they just outright outlawed it. I'm trying to make a joke about how if you outlaw alcohol, only outlaws will drink, but I'm drawing a blank.

Well, 13 years later and with bootleggers and moonshiners prospering, they finally decided that they could give back the power to the states to decide if they wanted to sell/make booze legal. So for 13 bad years, you couldn't get a single drop of booze that you didn't make yourself (and it's very easy) or that you didn't get from a bootlegger. Let me tell you from first hand experience, Moonshine from the south is really strong as fuck.

While I'm out of town right now, it doesn't mean that I wont try my darnedest to celebrate the 21st Amendment in style! Since it is the 21st Amendment, perhaps you may want to start your drinking at 21:00 hours.. which is 9pm. Yes, it's a late start, at least for me, but we should honor some traditions. That doesn't mean you can't pre-game. I'm sure I'm going to have some wine at some point today.



Funny note about that, Wine was still allowed as long as it was for religious use. Pretty funny. I guess it was like Medical Marijuana. It's good to know that we still demonize a lot of things as the cause or fault of our own personal choices. Maybe if weed is decriminilized, it'll be much the same as alcohol, something that the police can make millions on.

Here's a reminder to drive... semi-responsibly. I mean, I'm not going to lie, it seems that no matter how many drunk driving laws they make, they aren't going to curb the action. In Los Angeles, especially. Without much in way of a public transportation system that is really effective in covering most of the ground, it's just not going to prevent people from driving while intoxicated. I suppose I'll write another piece that goes into that aspect more. Let's just say that you should be responsible enough to know your limit and/or to sober up some before hitting the road.. or someone else.



I don't know how much I'll write, but here's some recipes for your Repeal Day festivities:

DEWAR’S OLD FASHIONED
* 1 part DEWAR’S WHITE LABEL
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 2 dashes Angostura bitters
* 2 orange slices
* 2 maraschino cherries
* Water or Soda water
In the bottom of a rocks glass, carefully muddle the sugar, bitters, 1 orange slice, 1 cherry and a splash of water or soda. Remove the orange rind and add the DEWAR’S and ice. Garnish with the remaining orange slice and cherry.

DEWAR’S HIGHBALL
* 1 part DEWAR’S WHITE LABEL
* 3 parts soda
In a pint glass filled with ice, combine Dewar’s and soda.

Origins of the Highball (cocktail, not the glass) are rumored to be in the Midwest, specifically St. Louis. On some rail lines, if an engineer spotted a large steel ball resting upon an approaching signal pole, it was a sign that he should speed up. From that, the word ‘highball’ evolved to mean a quickly prepared drink.

WARD EIGHT
* 2 parts DEWAR’S WHITE LABEL
* Juice of 2 orange wedges
* Juice of 2 lemon wedges
* 1 dash grenadine
* Or 1 splash of pomegranate liqueur
Shake all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The Ward Eight is over a century old, with roots stretching back to Boston in the late 1890s. As with many drinks of yore, the Ward Eight is a celebratory concoction, named for Martin Lomasney’s state legislature victory n his ward-hence, its relatively obvious name.

ROB ROY
* 1.75 oz DEWAR’S WHITE LABEL
* 1.75 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso (sweet) Vermouth
* 4 dashes
Shake all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Rob Roy MacGregor (1670-1734) fought to protect the farmers’ way of life, earning the respect of this fellow Highlanders and a prison sentence for treason. He escaped (several times, actually) and lived the remainder of his life as an outlaw. The Rob Roy cocktail was created in 1894 to celebrate the opening of the Herald Square musical that paid homage to this Scottish folk hero.

There you have it. Hope you have a very drunk Repeal day!