I’ve been bitten by the cocktail bug. After reading “How to Drink” I found a bartenders deck, abandoned my usual regiment of wine & beer, overspent on liquor, and started experimenting. I even spent a good part of last Saturday working out a spreadsheet for the ingredients called for in classic cocktails, but a spreadsheet is hardly exciting to look at.These two, the Negroni and Whiskey Sour, have each had a turn as my favorite go-to cocktail.

Negroni

I had a whiskey Negroni at a bar near where I work, which for $5 was a revelation (having never had one before.) I struggled to describe it to my drinking comrade, but eventually, I settled on "a sweet orange-scented candy that you have to dig out like buried treasure." I've a funny way with words...

Whiskey Sour

The Whiskey Sour, my go-to when I first started going to bars, was something of a mystery to me. I would order it at bars when I didn't know what I was doing, and it (almost) never let me down. Although the official recipe calls for it, most people shy away from the dash of egg white. It gives the drink a smoother texture, but it ultimately optional.