Meyer Moon

A White Lady should be drunk by the light of the moon.
Four White Ladies should be drunk by the light of two moons.

—Cornelia Otis Skinner, The Importance of Cocktails

A friend was talking about making limoncello, and I mentioned that a Meyer lemon version might be interesting. As it happened, a bag of the things suddenly arrived in her produce box. So with the promise that I’d have a drink recipe for her, she got to work.

In the meantime, I got the peeled fruit, and decided to make White Ladies. The White Lady cocktail is a hard drink to order. For one thing, the bartender might not know this classic. And someone nearby is sure not to know, and might think a guy’s spoiling for a fight. Besides, I have to say that for something fairly boozy, the flavor’s a little mild for me most of the time. Similar drinks like the Sidecar or the Aviation have more complexity or bite. So it’s nice to punch it up a little—and avoid getting punched by calling it something else.

Assertive gin usually helps when remixing the White Lady, so I brought out the Botanivore, an herbaceous St. George gin which has plenty of personality to stand up to the tangerine-like spice of the Meyer lemon.



Meyer Moon

• 2 oz Botanivore gin
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1/2 oz Meyer lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Meyer lemon twist.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Penthouse and Attic

By a strange and wonderful coincidence, a bottle of ouzo was given to me by another colleague one year after the previous bottle. Santa must’ve heard I like anise or something. Whatever’s going on out there, I just wanna say to one and all that ouzo makes a fine gift. Really digging the ouzo.

Last year, I complimented it with dry vermouth, so I decided to try it with sweet vermouth instead. Again, it’s soft and elegant with a little vanilla note that’s rich without being too candy.



Penthouse and Attic

• 2 oz dry gin
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica)
• 1/4 ouzo (Metaxa)
• 2 dashes Regans’s No. 6 Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

SE Portland Pub Crawling: Proof

Having nearly been carried off by a nasty cold, I’m back in the saddle again and not merely drinking for medicinal value. The misery cleared up enough to give me my palate back during a visit to Portland, Oregon last weekend, where I found Proof, a place on Hawthorne Boulevard I hadn’t seen before. It was especially nice because I was just fooling around on my own one afternoon without a plan and suddenly there was a cocktail bar, no pilgrimage to some must-try, no agenda. Melodie was behind the bar lending her distinctive charm to the place’s overall cocktail IQ.



Classic roots but fresh, and without straining every nerve to be different. Try the Tripple A, a rum drink that didn’t taste like the last ten things I’d had or made.