Welcome to “Recorded Conversations,” an occasional feature where all the Addison Recorder editors contribute their thoughts about a question, idea, or prompt. Everyone will chime in, and then we see where the conversation wanders. For today’s conversation, J. Michael Bestul looks forward to a few drinks over the Labor Day weekend, and wonders aloud what might be drinking.
Prompt: You’re at a bar, restaurant, or pub that you’ve never been to before. The place has a pretty good drinks list, and on it, you notice ____________. And because this is one thing you always have to try when you’re at a new place, you order it.
Question: What is ____________, and why is it the libation you order?
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To explain my contribution to the conversation, I must pay due respect to three people who shaped my philosophy on ordering drinks in public places.
When I was developing my palate for alcohol, my parents allowed me to try anything and everything they were drinking. My mother has a taste which runs towards mimosas, Bellinis, cosmopolitans, etc., and I also attended many college parties where fruity and sweet mixers were in fashion. For a long time, I preferred incredibly sweet cocktails. But a couple months before I earned my master’s degree, I went out to dinner with my parents at one of the best restaurants in Chicago, ordered such a drink, and received a frown from my father.
(My father’s answer to this question, by the way, would be a martini, with Hendrick’s Gin if available, almost no vermouth, and a twist of cucumber.)
If you’ve never had Hendrick’s, by the way, it is the NECTAR OF THE GODS. The finest nationally-available alcohol there is. What are you waiting for?
“Andrew,” he said to me, “you’re getting older, and drinks like this…they aren’t you.”
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