Bottoms Up

A hint of creme de menthe, I thought, savouring Jim’s latest concoction. ‘Cocktails began with Prohibition, didn’t they?’

They went back further than that, Jim said. The first so-called cocktail, a bit like a mint julep, was probably invented in Kentucky in 1806. And some people say, the name might have been inspired by an Aztec Princess Xochitl and her elixir of love.

Aztec princess! Elixir of love! I grabbed Jim’s phone. ‘Hallo, Fiona?’ My editor, sharp and neurotic and looking like the figure in that painting, The Scream.

‘Good news, Fiona, Jim’s fixed my computer so I’m back on track with my text. And get this, he also makes cocktails and he’s writing a book about them. Interested? You know, Manhattan, Bloody Mary, Brass Monkey, Zombie, Screwdriver, Rusty Nail, Hanky Panky, Between the Sheets, Strip and Go Naked, Harvey Wallbanger. What? Wall, Fiona, as in bricks. Banger, as in sausage.’

The stupid bitch hung up. I pointed to Jim’s silver shaker. ‘Any more of that stuff?’