It seems that whenever heat wave grips the nation we all get just a tiny bit nuts. When this last wave peaked I got to witness a fight at the supermarket over a ripe avocado. This kerfuffle took place in front of a display of at least one hundred other perfectly beautiful avocados. The same day I received 3 sexting messages from one evidently under-appreciated woman who must not have been knowledgeable of her boyfriend’s area code. I notified her I wasn’t who she thought I was. She then sent me angry texts because I didn’t compliment her figure anyway.
Naturally, I tried to engage her. She was from Arizona and so I tried to blame her attitude on the heat.
“Isn’t it like 115 degrees there?” I asked by text after Googling her area code.
“Its a dry heat”, she answered back.
Why do Arizonans always say that?
In the end I decided it was hopeless to try to convince her I didn’t owe her a compliment when I didn’t ask for the photos in the first place. Above the norm air temperatures are taken by many as a license to act out.
I’m not complaining. Severe heat can make life interesting and I generally enjoy it when the population at large gets a bit fiery and indulgent with their individual brands of self-crazy. When you all go unhinged from the heat I will blend in all the more. When the mercury pushes 100 degrees and everyone is sticky and uncomfortable you can get a full moon-like crazy during daylight hours. Yeah, I love it.
What I don’t like is the meta dialogue that goes with it. That is, when complaints and observations about the heat become the universal and dizzyingly dull topic of conversation no matter where you go or whom you talk to.
“It’s hot outside today.”
“Yup.”
Is it any wonder we go a bit batty with scintillating conversations like these to keep us sane?
Oh, and people start to stink. ‘Nuff said there.
Locally the morning news will open each day during a heatwave with a reading of how many elderly people perished the day before and how many homeless sought refuge in hospitals and clinics. We are suitably cautioned and saddened by these tales but then the anchorman will invariably treat us to a “human interest story” about some idiot who did a marathon through the Mojave Desert.
So in a demonstration of my own sanity I yell at the television.
“Idiot!”
I do this even when it is a dry heat.
Newscasters are also keen to list off the many precautions one can take during the heat to avoid issues. The one thing they always fail to mention but that I always try to do is to stay indoors and experiment with new refreshing summer cocktails. Whether it is a dry heat or a sticky moist one just about everybody appreciates a refreshing adult beverage.
Though I will always lean on my margaritas, Pimm’s Cups, and Aperol spritzes (spreetz?) to counter summer heat, these longer, post-global warming apocalyptic summer heat waves mean that I must get busy and expand my summer cocktail repertoire.
I picked up a bottle of Maurin Quina at the store when I saw its devilish green label stare back at me from the shelf. How could I resist it? I knew that the “quina” part in its moniker comes from same quinine notes that tonic come from so I knew it would be a natural for gin. But how? Thankfully my friend Adri came to the rescue and pointed me towards this refreshing riff on both the the classic Gin Rickey and the name of a famous singer.
Gin Rickey Maurin Cocktail
Maurina Quina is a digestif amaro made near Lyon, France. Only recently reintroduced, Maurin Quina was invented in 1884 by Auguste Maurin and had its peak of popularity during Paris’ La Belle Époque. Maurin Quina has a base of sweet white wine and cherry brandy, with wild cherries, almonds, lemon, and cinchona bark. It is pale red in color and 32 proof. It is not so sweet that it can be called a liqueur which actually makes it quite pleasant on its own, on the rocks and with a very small splash of soda. Certainly worth getting a bottle.
This drink comes courtesy of Bohanan's bartender Chris Ware.
This is what you will need:
- 2 oz Gin
- 3/4 oz Maurin Quina
- 1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
- 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
- 3/8 simple syrup (1:1 ratio)
- 2 leaves of basil (muddled)
This is how you make it:
- lightly muddle basil leaves in the bottom of cocktail shake.
- Add ice and then pour in the rest of the ingredients. Shake well and strain into a collins class filled with fresh ice.
- Top with soda and garnish with grapefruit wheel and maraschino cherry. A basil sprig would be nice too. (I ran out!)
Where I live, people are violent and aggressive no matter the weather , so I am used to staying inside and medicating with cocktails. This one would certainly do the trick, and in this intense heat and humidity I am thinking it would also make a remarkable refreshing spritzer and disinfectant for one’s more dampish regions. It’s a win-win drink!
You made me laugh first thing in the morning, and that is a very good thing indeed. I guess Anthony Wiener’s got nothing on your anonymous sexter from Arizona…
Your new site design is so gorgeous. It reminds me of a menu in a supremely comfortable restaurant,one with high backed mahogany booths offering privacy, comfort and a cocoon of tradition. Do you remember the booths at C.C. Brown’s on Hollywood Blvd? That’s what I think of. I also love your new features, and the title “Sis Booze” for your liquor articles is genius. Well done!
Thank you for the shout-out. What a surprise., and how very gracious of you, but then what else would I expect from the proprietor of so classy an establishment?
This drink is made for summer”Heat Watch.” Something about gin drinks and the hot summer months – what is it? They do go so well together. I think our local news stations ought to start a “Cocktail Watch” segment with you as the on-air talent – or perhaps a stint on Rachel Maddow???
I would definitely say “Yes, please” to this drink. Your photographs and styling are beautiful. When I was young, that bitter taste of chichona held no allure, but now, with a few years on me, I have come to really enjoy it. Funny how that works.
Congrats on a gorgeous site re-do and a wonderfully tempting summer cocktail.
Each season seems bring out its own breed of “special”. Even I don’t understand the people who are out running in 100F+ heat with 80% humidity at the height of the afternoon. We won’t even talk about the “summer people” who have flocked into my neck of the woods to vacation at the lake.
Totally intrigued by the Maurin Quina… although you had me at grapefuit…
Cheers
I could use some heat here – I hate the cold. I love the devil on the bottle – I would have to buy it. Gin and squash is a terrific drink – but it doesn’t beat Pimms cup.
hey Trevor…thanks for visiting me. i meant to tell you i LOVE this photo. i’ve been doing some beverages lately with no spectacular pics, but THIS is fabulous. oh, and that “Pie Plate” a few weeks ago?…loved everything about it…you kill me
We get a lot of crazy tourists in my neck of the desert who do idiotic things like run their dogs when it is over 100 degrees, or go hiking without water and need to be airlifted out of the mountains.
Seeing how I live in near hell a good 4 months out of the year where the low temp frequents 84 and the high averages around 110 – I can guarantee that a dry heat really does make a difference. Especially if you are sipping cocktails poolside – forget the fact that the pool is bathtub temperature.