Greetings from South America

August Newsletter

Hello and welcome to my booze-soaked newsletter! If you’ve found your way here through a search, share, or some other means but are not subscribed let’s get you signed up: click here!

Friends,

I hope your summer has been fulfilling and also filled to the brim with cocktails. I’m writing this newsletter from Bogota, Colombia — one of the cities in my 2021 book Booze Cruise: A Tour of the World’s Essential Mixed Drinks. I’ve spent the past few weeks traveling to Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Lima.

Last month, I promised to share a new project. Unfortunately, we haven’t signed the deal yet and it’s best to hold off. Folks are often surprised to hear how publishing works behind the scenes; it is often the case that authors will have a manuscript complete before a deal is inked. In this case, the book will be finished by the end of August — I’m headed back home to the US in the next few days for recipe testing and rewrites.

Please accept this great cocktail as apologies for not being able to share the new book! It hails from Buenos Aires.

COCKTAIL

Clarito

The Clarito was created in 1935 by the dashing Argentinian bartender, Santiago Policastro. The drink was his take on a Dry Martini, minus the olives and with the addition of lemon and sugar. Wildly popular in the 1930s, the cocktail slipped into obscurity until bartender Frederico Cuco revived it at Verne Cocktail Club in the mid-2000s. The Clarito is a prime example of a historic drink resurrected to new-found popularity. Note that the sugar is typically omitted, and is optional.

2 1/2 ounces gin

1/2 ounce dry vermouth

Strip of lemon peel

1 teaspoon white sugar, for garnish

Lemon twist, for garnish

Coat rim of a chilled cocktail glass with sugar. In a mixing glass, stir gin and vermouth with ice. Express a lemon peel into the mixture and strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Book Tour

Saturday, August 17 - join us in Chicago at the Pendry Hotel. We’re on the rooftop for drinks from Forbidden Cocktails.

Sunday, September 8 - I’ll be back at CRAFT in Asheville, NC, with the inimitable Denise Kiernan, at Little Jumbo.

THANK YOU FOR READING