Books, bans, and Expats
Good news first: After a very long wait, Raising the Bar is finally out! My friend Brett Adams and I started work on the proposal for this book back in late 2019. When we sent it off to our agent at the beginning of 2020, we envisioned a fun year of hosting cocktail parties with our friends to test all the recipes. Needless to say, that’s not how things worked out. The book was written in a bubble, with tragic numbers of perfectly fine drinks dumped down the drain or into the bushes after tasting because there’s only so many cocktails two guys can reasonably consume.
But in 2022 we can celebrate in person, which we did with a book signing at the legendary Powell’s book store followed by a cocktail party at Teardrop Lounge. And if you’re hosting any holiday parties of your own or shopping for a cocktail lover in your life, I suggest that Raising the Bar would make a great resource or gift. I’m biased, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s what Peter Suderman says in his excellent home bartending newsletter: “…this is truly and genuinely the single best cocktail book for enthusiast-beginners I have ever read. […] There are over 200 recipes, and while I obviously haven’t made all of them, from my sample, they are universally excellent. This is my favorite cocktail book of the year.”
Peter knows what’s what! Pick up a copy wherever books are sold, including Powell’s, Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Bookshop.
Nicotine prohibition comes to Portland
Now the bad news: Multnomah County, which includes Portland, is poised to pass a comprehensive ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products. As I’ve written before, this is extremely hypocritical given our liberal approach to other drugs. It’s also bad policy, depriving adults of safer sources of nicotine while leaving deadly cigarettes on the market.
While the focus of the ban is flavored e-cigarettes, it will also drive the few hookah lounges left in Portland out of business. There are only three of them and it’s already illegal under state law to open any new ones. I’m more of a cigar guy myself, but with the ban coming up I decided to visit one of these lounges and enjoy a hookah for the first time in more than a decade. There I met the owner, Raed Dear, an immigrant from Jordan. We spoke mostly through one of his employees, because he is also deaf. It seems unlikely that there is any legal way for his business to survive if this ban is implemented.
I wrote about his plight for Reason. It’s an infuriating situation, especially for a city that otherwise takes pride in portraying itself as a leader on drug policy, harm reduction, and racial justice. Give the piece a read and, if you’re so inclined, share it online.
The Multnomah County flavor ban is so poorly thought out that it not only bans shisha, but also bans low-risk flavored nicotine products even if they are authorized by the FDA. I’ve submitted written testimony to the Board outlining a couple obvious changes it should implement to make the law slightly less bad. Read that here, and if you’d like to submit your own feedback, here’s the form.
A Seabird update
I’m not leaving Twitter yet, but I’m increasingly inclined to do so eventually. (Especially since they say they’re going to take away my legacy blue check. Damn you, Elon!) Read this from Ken White (aka Popehat) on his reasons for leaving the site. I’ve created accounts on Mastodon and Post. We’re also making progress on Seabird: our web app is working in a small private beta, mobile apps are in their second phase of development, and we’re adding a few needed features. Unlike these other networks, Seabird isn’t aiming to replace every thing Twitter does. It’s focused on sharing links to worthwhile writing. If you’d like to check it out, sign up for our next beta phase. I might even let you in early.
Dealer’s choices
To read: Penn Jillette’s new novel Random is great fun, a raunchy dive into seedy Las Vegas. The basic premise: an unlikely hero who gives his life over to the dice, making decisions based on random rolls. The idea is deeper than it seems, drawn from a satire of self-help books published in the 1970s and a few real people in Penn’s life who’ve given it a try. The key is that actions are weighted by how much one might want to make them. The things you really want to do? Give them a seven. The things you’re not sure of? A two or a twelve. But all the options are things that at least some part of you wants to do. By adding a bit of randomness to your life, you end up expressing parts of yourself that might otherwise be suppressed. Penn, to be clear, thinks this is a very risky way to live, but I’ve tried it out a bit and am tempted to continue doing so periodically. (In the spirit of Random, I rolled the dice to determine whether I would invite a date along to his recent book talk in Portland. The dice said no and I ended up having a very enjoyable solo steak dinner instead.)
To listen: How about eleven hours of Christmas music? My holiday playlist of mostly non-standard renditions has you covered, from Lucy Dacus to DMX.
To drink, without alcohol: I’ve been getting a bunch of samples of non-alcoholic beers, spirits, and cocktails. I love this bubbly Phony Negroni from St. Agrestis. It’s fantastic, though a bit spendy if you end up drinking them regularly. For a more DIY non-alcoholic Negroni, the new bittersweet aperitivo from Wilderton is the best in the category I’ve tried yet, very enjoyable with soda or tonic and a squeeze of citrus. Rationale is a new non-alcoholic brewer whose beers are worth trying if you’re looking for non-alcoholic IPAs; their juicy New England Hazy is the standout of the line for me. Lastly, Parch Spiced Pinarita is a canned non-alcoholic “cocktail” made with agave nectar, roasted pineapple, prickly pear, chamomile, hibiscus, lime, cayenne, and other ingredients. It’s really good, with just the right amount of spice. (You could probably also use it as a mixer with tequila or mezcal if you’re not committed to the non-alcoholic thing.)
To drink, with alcohol: As I wrote on my blog recently, “It’s hard to pick out the most exciting part of releasing a new book but it’s easy to name the most dreadful part. That’s discovering the little errors that made it into print despite the many rounds of editing and proofreading that any good book goes through.” We found one error in a recipe in Raising the Bar. Fortunately the recipe still makes a nicely balanced cocktail as published, and future printings will list it correctly, but I want to highlight the correction here. That’s good news for you, because it’s a really great cocktail!
The Expat was given to us by Lauren Schell and Vito Dieterle. It’s an unusual bourbon cocktail in that it calls for lime rather than lemon juice, and the mint gives it a slightly tropical note. It’s a good winter sour and one I’d recommend for your holiday parties. Here’s how to make it correctly:
2 oz bourbon
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
small handful of mint leaves
mint leaf, for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a mint leaf.