The first week of 2021 has been like many other weeks in the last year. Confined to our living quarters, with curfew in place. Christmas has apparently ended, but it’s become colder, and we’ve had snow.
Our beautiful tree shown above, ornated by Danielle’s fastidious hand, must come down lest “bad luck” fall upon us. Behind the tree, you might make out my Concept 2 Model C ergometer rowing machine. Since my local boat club has closed (for obvious reasons), it’s the only exercise I have. I am getting fitter and fitter, and have possibly never been so fit over the Christmas break in all my life. It’s a little frustrating to not use this fitness, on the water, or to fit into my tailored clothes and be outside of these walls. I do not think it is unfair to liken the current situation to some dystopian prison. We must indeed remain strong of character; 100 years ago the world was caught between two World Wars, that were far tougher than staying inside being “bored”, though loneliness and boredom are non-trivial issues.
I could write on the subject of coffee for pages, and pages. From the beans to the grind, the smell, the tamping, the extraction, which machines, and which types of coffee. My preferred drink is espresso. Actually, to treat myself, a flat white is actually what I will order, but we typically don’t have cow’s milk at home. I might learn how to make this drink in 2021 mind you, as going out for a coffee is something we won’t be doing before Spring at best.
Being as everything except the supermarket is closed, I decided that in addition to coffee, other aspects of life had to be brought into the home. The “meal out” is relatively easy to do; make sure you sit together and eat a nice meal. But the harder part, is the “cocktail bar”. As with many things in life, I find it better to invest time (and money) into one area to achieve some level of proficiency, rather than trying to cover all bases “off the bat”. Literally in this sense, I had to think what drinks do I miss the most, when going out? Rather than go absolutely crazy with a full-on bar with everything (which gets very expensive, very quickly), I decided that three drinks are what I would normally order when out and about, and those are what I will “specialise” in, over the coming months.
The first is the Whiskey Old Fashioned.
One sugar cube
Two Dashes Angostura Bitters
60 ml. Bourbon, over ice
Garnish with Orange Twist
Arguably the original cocktail, the Old Fashioned is something I’ve never made myself as I would always treat myself to it (same as a flat white). Desperate times call for desperate measures, or two. I bought myself the required ingredients, and selected an appropriate whiskey (note the “e”, this is a bourbon). I picked up some Buffalo Trace Kentucky straight bourbon, which has sweet orange notes by itself, let alone in the cocktail. The result is delicious. Before I get to the end of this bottle, I might pick up a rye whiskey to compare, but so far I am very pleased with this choice. I know some of my readers are in America, so do get in touch if you have other recommendations. Of course, people drink Old Fashioned cocktails all over the world, but America is the home of this drink and its quintessential whiskey base.
With the tree down, and Christmas/NY Holidays officially over, I wonder what “Week 2” will bring…