Ernest Hemingway. Drinking. Writing. Tools of the Trade Cocktail Recipe

Ernest Hemingway. Love and Death in the Afternoon. A cocktail strong enough for a great American writer.

I'd like to think that a sober mind is a strong mind but our guy Ernest here
 certainly pleads a case for the opposite. Was he actually spending more time
 making cocktails and drinking them or writing. There are far more words on the pages of his novels than there are quotes about him drinking but let me tell you it ain't by much. What a champion! Turning everything we know about the affects of
alcohol on its head. Most people can barely think straight or function with a couple of glasses in him and this amazing author schools us all and creates a drink that will put any mimosa drinker to shame. Here is where Death in the Afternoon
enters the story.

Ernest Hemingway gives these famous instructions for the drink - His advice, circa 1935: "Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness.  Drink three to five of these slowly." I definitely recommend less than five. The taste is off putting unless you take care to prepare the absinthe correctly as the following recipe is a bit more refined.

I've been taught to prepare the drink more like absinthe service by adding a dash of water and a bit of sugar to calm the potent absinthe to its sipping form. Add all to a champagne glass filled with ice. Pour the very cold champagne into the champagne glass and garnish appropriately with a twist or a wedge. This recipe will make for a much easier drink to drink.

Did the heady buzz of the infamous Absinthe spirit enlighten Ernest Hemingway because he knew how to harness it's mind altering powers or did he simply get lucky because he was a fucking champ of an alcoholic. We will never know this
truly. Only our imaginations now may take us there.

I think my favorite quote of his is " Don't bother with churches, government buildings or city squares. If you want to know about a culture, spend a night in its bars."

Whether you have traveled extensively or not I know we can all relate to this.

Cheers to you Ernest Hemingway and thank you for the next blog theme. Traveling and Spirits.

Sammy G

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