Citrus, spice, cherry, juniper
Play off the sweet-sour notes and spices here with Chinese food, such as fried rice, or serve it unadorned—it’s complex and moody, a sultry sipper.
Cocktail historian Ted Haigh drew us to this drink, which is likely the precursor to the Singapore Sling from the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. We like its cleaner, less syrupy characteristics. Residents originally called Singapore the “straits,” and this drink dates back to the years before, or during, World War II. We find the Straits Sling classier than the typical Singapore Sling recipes, which involve grenadine and pineapple, and can be overly sweet. We like to shake and strain this one into a chilled coupe glass—although it can be served on the rocks in a highball with a soda water float. Garnish it with a cocktail umbrella if you have one.
2 ounces (60 ml) gin (Plymouth)
½ ounce (15 ml) Kirschwasser (Clear Creek)
½ ounce (15 ml) Benedictine
1 ounce (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
2 dashes orange bitters (Regans’)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Quarter of a lemon wheel, for garnish
Cherry, for garnish
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Spear the cherry and lemon to garnish.
THE HEMINGWAY BAR
Ernest Hemingway was a notorious cocktail lover, not just an imbiber but also a tastemaker—he liked to put his own twist on classics. He also liked his drinks stiff and without sugar, in line with modern tastes. Part of the popular mystique surrounding “Papa,” as he was called, is the struggling American writer in Paris. And there are plenty of cocktails that come from this time period, after World War I and during Prohibition. But there’s also the later, twilight Hemingway—think rum daiquiris and mojitos. This is the Caribbean fisherman, when he lived in Key West and Havana, Cuba. Either era supplies the avid cocktailian with exquisite drinks.
To drink like Hemingway, you’ll need a liquor cabinet that includes rye whiskey, rum, gin, and absinthe. For a writerly fête, we recommend a range of Hemingway drinks. Leave out your dog-eared copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls, and cue up the old Cinemascope version of The Sun Also Rises, starring Ava Gardner and Errol Flynn. For more on Hemingway’s drink love, check out Philip Greene’s To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion.
Sidecar (page 60)
Jack Rose (page 84)
French 75 (page 60)
Hemingway Daiquiri (page 102)
Death in the Gulf Stream (page 178)