As I mentioned a couple posts back, this past December 5th was the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. The occasion needed celebrating, so we had a cocktail party. It was a party that almost didn't happen. Kristen was going to host, but her housemate had a family emergency the day before the show, so we had a last minute change of venue. Eighteen hours later, my apartment was the cleanest its been since I moved in. Fortuitously, only about twenty-five or so of the invited 60 turned out. There was music and dancing and much irritating of neighbors. And of course, lots of booze. Lots. Here are a few pics from the early part of the evening.

Thanks goes to Jim for volunteering to barback and for taking photos. You can check out the rest of the photos at the picasa album. I'll upload more pics as people send them to me.

I had a sign-up sheet for people to write down their drink orders, which kept things manageable. Conveniently, this left me with some stats about what was served and which drinks were most popular.

Thats 75 drinks poured, by my tabulation.

* The Choke Hold

All the drinks I had on my menu were classic cocktails, though not all of them date to the era of prohibition. The Choke Hold wasn't on the menu, but I made a few of them since I had just concocted the drink for the last TDN and was quite proud of it. While in Houston visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, I picked up a bottle of Cynar (pronounced CHEE-nar, apparently), which is hard to find in Oregon. Its an Italian apértif made from artichoke, which turns up in TDN drinks from time to time, but which I hadn't devoted a lot of time to tracking down because, well, its made from artichoke. I love artichokes as much as anyone, but they didn't seem to me like a good basis for a beverage. I was wrong. The stuff is miraculous. And 3/4 oz each of Cynar and lemon juice served over ice with 4 oz of hard apple cider is the most refreshing cocktail I have ever invented. (My cider is pretty sweet, so add a little simple syrup if you make it and it seems a bit sour.)

‡ The Metropolitan
The Metropolitan is a drink I created a while back to placate those who think the Cosmopolitan is their favorite drink. Its just a Cosmo with gin instead of vodka, but it is MUCH better than the original (as are most vodka drinks if you use gin instead). Unfortunately, the name was already taken, but I don't care since no one actually orders the original. It works better here, anyway. The term "cosmopolitan" derives from the Russian kosmopolit, a derogatory epithet implying a lack of cultural affiliation, whereas a metropolis is a city of global cultural significance. Simply put, gin is cultured, vodka is not.