Story + Recipe: On becoming a father and making our house cocktail
21 months into the pandemic, a lot has changed for your boy. Our residential drink is not one of them.
Hmmm. What’s the easiest way I could get some immediate love from those who took a chance on subscribing to this newsletter?
I’ve been a father for nearly three months now. Needless to say, life is different.
Sleep is the most valued commodity. Baby poop no longer singes one’s nose hairs. Gone are the days of blasting Future, James Brown, Megan Thee Stallion, Dom Kennedy and Anderson. Paak. Instead, tunes by my girl Gracie via Gracie’s Corner slap throughout one’s SUV while The Boy is in tow. (I dare you NOT nod your head while listening to this.)
It means that my priorities have shifted.
Never before have I poured over my health care benefits, just to make sure that The Boy is fully covered for any given circumstance. Never before had I considered making two or three months’ worth of car payments to go towards one month’s worth of daycare. Never before had I just stayed up late at night, staring at this little dude’s face, terrified at the thought of being enough for him and his mother.
But how could I not be enough? I made vows and promises. I got this — right?
Of course I do. Why? Because my wife is a champion, and she inspires me daily to be stronger. Her management of The Boy and The Boy’s father is wildly impressive. She is attentive, thoughtful and kind. A walking embodiment of tenderness, love and care. And yet, she’s strong, tough and unrelenting in completing her next goal. She has recovered from her pregnancy and has a renewed vigor for all things retail shopping, loud Beyonce music, egregiously long phone calls with “The Girls” and…
…occasional requests for one of her favorite drinks, our House Cocktail. More on that in a moment.
For those members of Brown Liquor Collective who are here in support, thank you. When I moved to L.A. four years ago, I was ready to level up what we were doing with the whiskey club, and multiple house party tastings and bar takeovers later, the group really began to take off.
One moment in 2019 stands out, where we hosted an American whiskey tasting course at Neat, a low-key Santa Monica whiskey lounge with an absurd spirit selection and bartenders who know how to put a drink together. We invited 50 people to take on the eight pours offered that night, and we requested the bar owner to tweak the music a tad.
“Neo-soul and R&B, maybe?”
“We don’t do hip-hop music.”
(internally trying not to cuss him out for low-key ‘cism.)
“How about A Tribe Called Quest Radio on Spotify?”
“Oh, I love Q-Tip. That’ll work.”
(stares off into space and hangs up the phone.)
Truthfully, I don’t think the owner and bartenders knew what they were getting into, because all I told them is that I wanted to host something there for our whiskey club. So when the room filled up with mostly black people — and half of them being women — the owner was stunned, and the bartenders were excited.
Midway through the festivities, the owner had a confounded look on his face while working the bar. The front bar had nothing but black women enjoying various flights and debating an episode of Insecure. I tapped him and asked how things were going.
“What’s up man? What do you think of our crew?”
“This is cool man, very different crowd than what we’re used to.”
“Nice!”
“Yeah, I didn’t know black women loved bourbon like this. I’m stunned.”
“Yep. Imagine if you tried making them feel comfortable and welcomed.”
In our house, we have a sign that says, “Whiskey Papi and Mezcal Mami”. I’ve jokingly considered changing my name in this circle to Whiskey Papi to the wife, and every time she giggles and eye rolls. Basically telling me without directly telling me that doing so would be a poor choice. (I still might do it)
However, the wife’s love of mezcal is very real, to the point that I can usually guess what cocktail she’ll order when we’re out by scanning for “mezcal” on the menu. To that point, we were introduced to a mezcal old fashioned at The Alibi Room, a vibey bar on the westside in L.A.
Ordering an old fashioned should be the safest choice you make when ordering drinks at a respectable bar. It’s an old ass drink and hard to mess up. So when I heard that mezcal was in the beverage, I was skeptical.
And yet, that smokiness from the cooked agave in the mezcal was magical. I thought it was a peaty scotch like Caol Ila at first. Add to that the orange, bitters and agave syrup…and I was in heaven. Well, if heaven was three drinks in and an immediate craving for Kogi Korean BBQ sliders.
A month or two later, the wife and I were reminiscing and craving those mezcal old fashioneds. And it was then when I made my first attempt at making that drink at the house.
My online reference guide for cocktails is Difford’s. People I trust who make cocktails better than me refer to it all the time, so I use it. Difford’s “Oaxacan Old Fashioned,” asks for three parts reposado tequila and one part mezcal, along with agave syrup and chocolate bitters.
The wife didn’t recall the drink at Alibi Room having tequila, but I assured her that this is THE way to make it. (I was just saying that. I had no real clue but I had already overcommitted to making it Difford’s way) Her enthusiasm dwindled, and I could tell she was ready to poo-poo my latest creation in the lab.
Additionally, I didn’t have any chocolate bitters in the crib. Hell, I’ve never even seen chocolate bitters before. All I had was the common choice on most bars, regular Angostura bitters. Now I’ve got two probable strikes against me. Oh well, what’s the worst that could happen…I’ll drink hers and mine either way, even if she hates it.
She didn’t hate it. And now it’s our “house cocktail”. Yes, the drink we offer first to guests at our residence doesn’t have a drop of brown liquor in it. And that’s okay, because it’s still an old fashioned, a delicious one at that. Best served when the baby is asleep for the night and the two of us can catch up on Insecure before the finale airs.
The Maisonet House Cocktail — Our Mezcal Old Fashioned
Serve: Old fashioned glass
Garnish: Orange zest with a twist
Ingredients:
1.5 oz — Casamigos Reposado tequila
0.5 oz — El Silencio mezcal
0.25 oz — Agave syrup
6-8 dashes — Angostura Bitters
Make: Add tequila and mezcal into mixing glass with heavy ice and stir. Add syrup and bitters and stir. Pour strained drink over ice (big cube preferred) into an old fashioned glass. Enjoy.
If you decide to make this drink, let me know what you think. If you want to wait to come by the crib to get one, that’s fine too. Cheers.
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