Superheroes Drink Their Whiskey Neat: A Guest Post by Amy Katherine
I’m on maternity leave! During this time, a few of my favorite authors offered to step up and write guest posts so that this blog would remain active while I adjust to my new role as a mother. I may also be a bit slower to respond. Thanks for understanding and for being so supportive of me, my family, and my blog. Want to donate a few dollars to keep this blog running or perhaps contribute to my diaper fund? You can do so on Venmo or Paypal.
Superheroes Drink Their Whiskey Neat: A Guest Post by Amy Katherine
I’m a former bartender. For years I worked on the infamous strip of real estate in Austin, Texas known as Sixth Street. While I have plenty of bar stories that range from utterly ridiculous and hilarious to profane, it always comes back to the source: the drink itself.
My husband and I lived in Germany for over seven years and during that time we developed a strong appreciation for the obvious: beer. Specifically, lagers and doppelbocks streaming from the northern regions of Germany.
After moving back to Texas, we developed an appreciation for mixed drinks again. Perhaps it was the blazing sun and the hours spent on a John Deer. More likely it’s the gorgeous 200-year-old German carpenter’s bench, complete with ornate metal bench clamps, that now serves as our bedroom bar—this said, making a mixed drink around 5 PM hits the spot like nothing else. A well thought out drink is perfectly balanced, icy cold, and has a certain freshness, whether that comes from citrus or herbs. And this is precisely what Superman taught me all those years ago bartending in Austin, which is detailed in my book Holding Superman’s Hand.
He wasn’t actually Superman, though he was a spitting image. His name was Matthew and he was a co-owner of the bar I worked in. He was normally the bouncer but could bartend well and for all the flashy cocktails he made in a blur of motion, he still preferred to drink his whiskey neat. At his prompting, I tried that myself a few times—and maybe I breathed at the wrong time, or was too inexperienced to drink something so strong, but I always came up sputtering and frowning. This elicited uproarious baritone laughter from him every time.
Not fair. No. But, I do like a pretty cocktail, from the sparkling glass, to the shape of the ice, to the top-shelf content. And though Matthew drank his whiskey neat, I convinced him to share the bar’s version of a New York Sour with me on more than one occasion. His thick fingers wrapped around our nightcap, my head nestled in his arm. We made it like this:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of half a grapefruit
1 tbsp agave syrup
2 ounces of your favorite Whiskey
Grilled lemon slices and a sprig of basil
Shake the first three ingredients with ice and strain into a lowball glass. Float the whiskey on top and decorate with a half-slice of grilled lemon for smokiness and a sprig of fresh basil.
Looking back, perhaps this is where my Superman got his profound sass and vigor. This cocktail is absolutely delicious, and it would, without a doubt, give superhuman strength to anyone.
#holdingsupermanshand #amykatherine629
Superheroes Drink Their Whiskey Neat: A Guest Post by Amy Katherine
