Friday Happy Hour, Ep. 3
We find ourselves at the end of another (short) week, and that means it’s time for another segment of Happy Hour, Molotov Cocktail’s weekend reading list curated for you, the reader, by me, the editor. This week, we’re covering recipes, booze news, a how-to, and some other fun things, so read on, and cheers!
Staying ‘Radled’: For our readers not familiar with Radler, it’s basically the German version of a shandy – that is half beer/half sparkling lemonade. The beer became especially popular thanks to German brewer Stiegl, whose grapefruit concoction has replaced rosé for many looking for a light summer tipple. The folks at Punch Magazine asked a few bartenders to mix up some radler cocktails for the summer – perfect sippers on a hot day.
Public Service – How to Drink Whiskey When it’s Hot: Typically speaking, when the thermometer peaks, we like to reach for the gins and tequilas of the world, and keep the whiskey in the sideboard except for special occasions. There’s just something about clear liquor that lends itself to drinking when the weather is a few degrees shy of Hades. Fortunately for the whiskeyphiles in our readership, Jonah Flicker gives us a primer (and some recipes) on how to drink whiskey in the heat. We thank him.
Mixing Uppers and Downers: When the heat is up like this, it’s tough to beat starting the day with a good ice coffee. …Except if that ice coffee is also a Negroni. The folks over at Imbibe offer up a cold brew Negroni that’s light on the gin, but heavy on the caffeine – perfect for those summer days when you’re struggling to get a start to the day. We’ve covered the Negroni before, but never like this.
Budweiser Forgets April Fool’s Day is in April: After “wowing” us with their “America” beer label earlier this year, Budweiser debuted its new “Prohibition Brew” in Canada. Clocking in at a whopping 0.0% ABV, Budweiser claims the Prohibition Brew is intended to “…empower consumers with choice and [to] change social norms, and this beer will achieve both.” No word on what the hangover for Prohibition Brew (or Bud’s financial records) feels like yet.
Okay…Maybe You’ve Had Enough: Two pieces out of the Baltics and Scotland indicate that residents of those regions are likely drinking way too much annually. We’re talking “41 bottles of vodka per adult per year” too much. In the Baltics, enterprising Latvians, Estonians, and Lithuanians are doing their damndest to drink close to a quarter billion liters of alcohol annually. Might be time to go on a cleanse guys.
Depressing News Out of California: Our readers who have studied at Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS, formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies), Defense Language Institute, or the Naval Postgraduate School might not be celebrating on the city’s beaches after acing a tough exam anymore. Citing the effect of boozing on the locals’ quality of life, the city is toying with banning consumption on the beach unless beachgoers buy a $50.00 permit. If you ask me, sounds like a cash grab.
Alex Hecht is the editor of the Molotov Cocktail channel.
Image: Marler, CC
