Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Squid Mixes: Joe Rickey

"Colonel" Joe Rickey was a Democratic lobbyist from Fulton, Missouri.  During the 1880s, he invented this simple drink combining whiskey with lime juice and soda then had bartenders make it for him.  Later, people started making the drink with gin, which ultimately became more popular.  But Joe was always faithful to whiskey.

I used bourbon for our drink, as recommended by David Wondrich in Imbibe!, from which I also got the above history.  We've had gin rickeys before and my wife says she prefers it that way.  I like the bourbon.  Gin doesn't stand up as well to mixers as whiskey does.  I like the fact that with whiskey, you always know it's there.  Even if the flavor fades, that warmth in the back of the throat remains.  I can see how the mellow bourbon is the right choice.  A sharper rye, for instance, might clash more with the lime.

10 comments:

  1. I still like Gin the best very nice drink.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. It's certainly worth having both around to cater to tastes. Many older drinks are also prepared in the glass which makes such variation easier.

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  2. A Democratic lobbyist drinking cocktails? It reminds me of a story of a Democratic populist from Alabama, Big Jim Folsom, who was charged with drinking cocktails with the Kennedy's back in the 50s.A rumor had circulated that Folsom was known to have cocktails with the Kennedy clan. “That’s a damn lie,” he supposedly said. “Everyone knows I don’t drink cocktails, I drink my whiskey straight, just like you folks.”

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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  3. Wow! What a drink! And it sounds good, too!

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