I have a problem with Imbibe! and, in a larger sense, fussy-buns cocktails that require a body to prepare anywhere from 2 days to 4 weeks in advance to make a drink. You see, I’m not a planner. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the publication and think it’s gorgeous, brilliantly designed and edited, and I find you can rarely go wrong mixing up one of its drinks. But, therein lies the problem; I often can’t. This, from a guy with over 200 bottles of spirits and 30+ mixing supplements (bitters, syrups, infusions, etc.) at his disposal. I can’t imagine what a traditional reader faces what with the calls for tamarind syrup, algarrobina syrup, pinot grigio syrup, Ceylon black-tea infused silver tequila, pomegranate balsamic drizzle…I could go on and on, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that another blogger at TotC said it best when he said, “If I’m not able to reach for the bottles and mix it up, it gets a bit tiresome and fussy.” In other words, I’m in this to make drinks, people. And, I have a feeling this is why I go in for the classic and vintage cocktails so heartily; they simply require, for the most part, you have a well-stocked bar, some juices, and the gumption.

In going through my Tales of the Cocktail recipe cards I find so many obscure liquors and spirits I can’t come near to acquiring here (Rain Organics Honey Mango Melon Vodka? I mean, C’MON!) or esoteric and arcane ingredients such as Bauman’s unsweetened Spice and Sassafras Apple Butter that I just begin to throw my hands up at the byzantine morass I see ahead of me that would make drinking a slog and turn to a nice classic Attention or Jack Rose cocktail and call it a night. Maybe I can be accused of not being serious or devoted enough, I don’t know.

But, this is why I get so delighted when I see a drink such as the Elan Vital, by Daniel Shoemaker, featured towards the back of the magazine’s July/August 2008 issue. “Alas,” I say, “a drink I can make this very instant, and it looks divine.” Read More »