Arts

World Cup Cocktails: Group F

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Welcome to Group F, the group of Argentina.

Messi greets you with hugs!

Okay, there are three other teams that are fighting to be the group’s runner-up, but none of them have Lionel Messi. Argentina’s fortunes rise and fall with their star player, and we start with a cocktail as potent as Messi’s left foot. In fact, you’ll find that all the cocktails in this group are made with uniquely bold spirits, so you may want to strap in for this trio.

I was initially tempted to do another highball as part of this series, as Fernet & Cola is pretty much the national drink of Argentina (or so the Internet and its targeted ads tell me). But then I ran across a recipe from Imbibe that used Fernet Branca with Scotch. There has been a dearth of whisk(e)y cocktails in this series, so I jumped at this one.

(For those who want Fernet & Cola, it is: a shot of Fernet Branca into a Collins glass, add a few ices cubes, fill with cola to taste. Highballs are rather easy drinks.)

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World Cup Cocktails: Group E

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Like the England/Italy combination in Group D, I’ve been looking forward to France/Switzerland in this group. That’s because these two countries are closely tied with the scandalous spirit of absinthe.

This also means I have an excuse to include a gratuitous image of L’Absinthe by Degas:

Boom. ART.

I used a tiny dash absinthe in a previous group’s cocktail, but here it’ll take the center stage. France is popularly associated with this spirit, as its artists and celebrities brought it prominence in 19th- and 20th-century Paris. But the creation of absinthe goes back to 18th-century Switzerland, and Swiss politicians are trying to prevent other countries from using the term “absinthe.”

This is actually why I enjoyed the French drubbing of the Swiss team last week. I imagine that a soccer victory has somehow invalidated their silly politics.

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Musical String Theory: Richard Thompson in Millennium Park (With Further Downtown Sounds)

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The Downtown Sound series on Monday evenings in Millennium Park gives lovers of rock music the chance to hear some of the newest and most innovative sounds, with an old-school veteran or two thrown in for good measure. I have already been privileged to be there for when She & Him and Iron & Wine played outstanding shows, but this past week saw me experience what may have been the best performance to take place there in five years of concert going: Richard Thompson.

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World Cup Cocktails: Group D

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I have been looking forward to Group D ever since I envisioned this series, because it offered some of the most interesting possibilities for cocktails.

The cocktail selection hasn’t been static, either. As this group has played its matches in the World Cup, I’ve changed one of the cocktails based on the way its team has played. That team is Costa Rica, who have laughed at this so-called “group of death.” To be sure, it still is such; it is Costa Rica who is that Death.

Along those lines, I started to think about something celebratory for Los Ticos, something that also hearkened to their status as a harbinger of woe unto all other Group D teams. This brought me to sparkling wine, and champagne cocktails like the infamous Death in the Afternoon. Riffing off a couple such cocktails — the Old Cuban from Jeffrey Morganthaler, and the classic French 75 — we have a balanced, herbal drink that will surprise you after a couple games:

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Los Ticos de la Muerte

1½ oz – Zhumir aguardiente (or rum)
¾ oz – simple syrup
½ oz – fresh lime juice
barspoon of absinthe
2 dashes of Bolivar bitters (or Angostura)
dry sparkling wine

Combine everything except the sparkling wine in a shaker. Add ice, shake until chilled, and pour into a champagne flute.* Top with sparkling wine, and garnish with and orange curl.
*Champagne flutes have different volumes; adjust proportions accordingly.

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World Cup Cocktails: Group C

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Another World Cup group, another chance to talk history. There will be many things fizzy, bitter, sweet, and smoky, but first we have history! Woo-hoo!

This cocktail discussion starts in South America, in the region that would come to be known as Gran Colombia (modern-day Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and parts of neighboring countries). In the early 19th century, the people of Gran Colombia revolted against the Spanish crown. One man who emerged from this war of independence was Simón Bolívar, a military and political leader whose legacy in South America would grow to the level of George Washington’s in the USA.

Within Bolívar’s army was a German born-doctor, who created a medicinal tonic from local Gran Colombia ingredients. As the army pushed into modern-day Venezuela, this doctor created his first batch of tonic in the city of Angostura. Even though the city’s name changed, and the operation moved to Trinidad, this medicinal alcohol retains the name — Angostura bitters.

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World Cup Cocktails: Group B

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One of the reasons I enjoy international competitions like World Cup is the opportunity to lace both humor & drink-mixing with history:

He’s referencing the defeat at the Spanish Armada at the hands of English (and Dutch) naval forces. Naturally. This little tete-a-tete was a part of the broad, bloody epic of the Eighty Years’ War, a continent-spanning conflict that was ostensibly about Protestant Netherlands revolting against Catholic Spain.

If you look closely, you’ll see a Van Persie launching cannonballs with his head.

What better way to celebrate the Netherlands dispensing a revenge-fueled soccer beatdown against highly-favored Spain than with a cocktail? If we’re going to build a drink that pays homage to these two belligerents, it’s only fitting that we build it around their nationalistic alcohols: genever and sherry.

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World Cup Cocktails: Group A

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You’re watching the World Cup, and the important question is not what tactical formation Nigeria’s coach is employing, but what drink you’re deploying. I propose a few humble cocktail suggestions over the course of eight posts — one for each group, inspired by the teams battling to escape said group.

What are my criteria for these cocktails? In the end, it comes down to what I’d want to drink… and what I will drink, since none of these recipes will go untasted. It’s a selfless act, I know. Also, my morning self will need a lot of coffee this next week.

In general, though, cocktails will take the one of three forms:

  1. A national cocktail, or a drink strongly associated with one or more teams
  2. A cocktail taking inspiration from a team’s name or colors
  3. A cocktail utilizing ingredients from one or more teams’ countries

For the Group A cocktails, I’ll do one of each of the above three. The cocktails will cover the group consisting of Brazil, Cameroon, Mexico, and Croatia. The natural starting point is the national drink that you cannot escape this World Cup: the Caipirinha. If you’ve seen any feature story about the culture of host country Brazil, you’ve likely seen someone mention this refreshing, rustic, and simple drink:

I am but a humble lime muddler.

I am but a humble lime muddler.

Caipirinha

Half a lime, cut into quarters
½ oz – simple syrup
2 oz – cachaça

In a shaker, muddle the limes and simple syrup. Add cachaça, add ice, and shake. Pour directly into an empty rocks glass — DO NOT STRAIN. No need for garnish.

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A Prairie Home Perfection: The Miraculous Qualities of FX’s Fargo

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This should not have worked. FX’s Fargo — a limited-run series “original adaptation” of the Coen Brothers’ seminal 1996 film, which had its season finale last night — should not have been good. Carrying over many character types, plot tropes, and thematic ideas from the movie, it should have been a lazy cash-in or a failed experiment, ala the TV adaptations of Crash and Traffic after their Oscar-winning successes. But that was not the case. Just the opposite. In stunning fashion, Fargo was one of the best things I’ve seen on TV this year.
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My Three Queens: The Ambitious Women of Game of Thrones

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Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I’ll sleep more easily by night.
– Jaime Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Every Sunday night, we gather round the television.  Animated discussion cuts to tense whispers as the fizzle of HBO’s signature static fades to black. The theme bursts to life! DUN-dun da-da-DUN-dun da-da-DUN-dun da-da-DUN-dun… The audience sings along, made-up lyrics and all, trying to stave off the inevitable horrors and wonders that await us on the other side of the credits.

So begins my weekly Game of Thrones viewing, a ritual that I am not alone in keeping. The world loves the marriage of high fantasy and premium cable!  Whether people are coming back for the delightfully gory violence, the gorgeous design, impeccable dialogue, superb acting, or, hey, even the boobs, viewership continues to grow. Show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — as George R.R. Martin did with the books before them — lure us all with promises of dragons and heroes, aging kings and cruel queens, new threats and ancient evils. All the makings of D&D campaign! But Thrones transcends those cliches. We don’t watch because we want to see pretty dresses. We watch to see familiar struggles.

Who has not done something stupid in the name of love, like a certain blonde swordsman-you-love-to-hate? Who has not manipulated tiny events in their favor, like Littlefinger or Varys or now even mini-Baelish Sansa?

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[Note: Google “Sansa and Littlefinger fan art” at your own risk.] (Image via)

Who has not had — ahem — ill-advised romantic entanglements, a la Dany and her newfound dalliance? Fortunately for us, most of our personal dramas play out on a very small scale. In Martin’s world, though, “you win or you die” on an epic scale. Your triumphs and failures are on parade for all the world to see.

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Are There Any Faults?: “The Fault In Our Stars” From Book to Film

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This article by nature contains spoilers. Okay? Okay.

Because money is not everything, I am not going to dwell excessively on how Josh Boone’s film version of The Fault in Our Stars, made on a $12 million budget, raced past two productions that cost $180 million each to become the number one movie in the United States of America (Well, I’ll dwell on it for a second: HOLY CRAP!) and focus on a question that really matters. This question stems from something we know all too well: many beloved stories get completely messed up in the translation from page to screen, and nobody wanted this to happen with Fault. This is a novel that has the Addison Recorder seal of approval (patent pending). Over half of us read it, loved it, and cried over it, and we’re not alone, for few books have inspired such a rapturous fan base who were waiting for this film with the same intensity as others wait for Fallout 3. A fan base that hoped this anticipation would be justified. So those who have laughed and wept over Hazel and Augustus need to know: was the movie good? Or great? Or at least not a disaster?

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