A fantastic and ambitious project, Letters and Liquors is an undertaking that explores a new classic cocktail each week, with an accompanying story and beautifully created bar image. The series starts at the very early days of cocktails, exploring rarely known drinks like the Calibogus, consumed in the early 1700s, using the ingredients available at the time. Other classics that might be more recognizable include the Americano, the Ramos Gin Fizz, The Monkey Gland, Vieux Carre, and the tiki-inspired Zombie.
All in all, it’s a deep and informative journey, and we love that the series is ongoing, with at least a dozen cocktails remaining. Artist/designer Michael Wyne has a great skill for typography and lettering, and is a skilled bartender as well, ensuring that the recipes in Letters and Liquors are going to be great.
THE RECIPE
12 oz spruce beer (Anchor Christmas Ale)
2 oz Barbados Rum (Mount Gay Black Barrel)
½ a large lime
1 oz brown sugar
Fresh grated nutmeg
Squeeze the lime juice into a pint glass, then add the sugar and mix them together with a toddy stick (muddler). Add the rum and give a little swirl to combine. Fill glass with ice cubes and top off with spruce beer.
[…] by Victor J. Bergeron, better known as “Trader Vic,” a legendary figure in the world of Tiki drinks. The story goes that he created the Mai Tai for a couple of friends who were visiting from […]