My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine Cocktail

In the late '80s,  I worked as an outside insurance adjuster in the DC/ Northern Virginia/ Maryland land of congestion.  Traffic was criminal and I spent 10 hour days in a butt ugly light blue Nissan Sentra --  Not exactly what I had in mind when the boss promised a 'company car.'  With only an AM/FM radio, music choices were mostly country, Christian or Barry White.  I finally found an alternative station out of Annapolis that could just make it to Manassas before it was rolled over by, 'Three Rusty Nails.'

I was a sponge soaking up new sounds and bands out of Annapolis.  The Feelies did a cover of Patti Smith's, 'Dancing Barefoot' that this one dj played over and over but never identified.  I finally recorded it on my company, 'Olympus micro cassette' and played it for a kid at an alternative music store in Alexandria.

My Bloody Valentine, a band MIA in most everyone's vocabulary in Northern Virginia,  had huge play on the Annapolis station.  Again, like the Feelies, they were a unique sound, but they were a tad more more popular and every once in a while I'd hear them while eating crab at the Quarter Deck in Arlington or throwing back beers at the Tune In on the Hill.

I wanted to do a cocktail for Valentine's Day and I really liked the Negroni that uses Prosecco instead of gin.  Along the same lines, I replaced the Prosecco with Blood Orange soda and while it's not a requirement,  a couple shakes of Regan's Orange bitters really rounds this cocktail out.  It's more  refreshing than boozy.  Bitter, but quaffable.  I first used a martini glass but the Golf Foxtrot inherited a dozen or so coupes from her grandmother and while I'm not a big "colored glass" guy, they do pair well with the bloody red.  

2 oz Aperol or Campari
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
4 oz Blood Orange Soda
2 shakes Regan Orange Bitters

Add ice and stir until very cold.  Strain into a coupe.  Maybe throw in a Whitman's Sampler for her.  I gave one to a stripper on Valentine's Day in 1977.  I was driving a '68 Dodge Charger and pulled into the parking lot behind behind the Suzy Wong Club when a cop...

Cutty Sark - Not Just for the Big Girl's Blouse

Cutty Sark by F.M. Tinseth, oil on canvas, 1976

Cutty Sark in Flagler College dorm room, 1983

Cutty Sark in September Esquire, 1961

Rare Cutty Sark tie on even rarer yellow university stripe oxford, 2013

Cutty Sark by A. J. Tinseth, 2013

My old man was very proud of his Cutty Sark.  His painting...not the Scotch. He was a gin martini  man through and through and Beefeater gin was his go to.  I don't ever remember him drinking anything else except beer, of which he gave no brand his loyalty, or the occasional glass of wine, which, if he knew anything, he learned from me.

His Cutty Sark painting was about an image - he knew - was instantly recognizable...at least by himself and his peers in the officer's clubs he frequented. My connection to Cutty Sark is through Berry Brothers and Rudd.  A wine merchant in the Pall Mall area of London, I was first introduced to the 300 year old merchant via their catalogs a London friend, Vodka Ronnie, kept by his toilet.  Not the most glorious of beginnings but Vodka Ronnie had very good taste in wine.

Barry & Rudd, as it's more commonly known, came up with the idea for a light blended Scotch as they were wine merchants and I assume didn't want to blow their customer's palettes outta the water with a double barrel Islay. Their target customer were Septics (Septic Tank- Yank) who were about to get back into Rub a Dubs (Rub a Dub- Pub) as Prohibition was coming to an end. With the Septic in mind, a 20 single malt blend was used with mostly Big Girl's Blouse Speyside (Glenrothes) being the predominant malt.

"Whis-KAY" as it's pronounced over there also sounds a lot like "Cut-TAY."  When I hear one, I think of the other.  I'm not sure why.  It's a Lemmon-NAY Whis-KAY.  Light and dry and being that it's not too dear, I think it's best to be mixed, which I did, with a $20 bottle. I  tried it with Polar Bitter Lemon (find it - far better than Canada Dry) and it wasn't bad. I mixed it with lemon flavored seltzer and thought it completely changed the Cutty with the soda giving it a rounder and fuller taste of a scotch double the price. Impressive for those like me who are mean when it comes to their Whis-KAY.

I used it to make a Side Car replacing the brandy with Cutty -- A favorite of the tasting and something I look forward to ordering in a Rub a Dub, "Make mine a Cut-TAY side car, To-NAY." If you're thinking a Manhattan -- I wouldn't -- Although I did.  There's just not enough backbone to the Cutty. Having said that, if you're a beginning Scotch drinker, this is the tricycle for you, in much the way Barry & Rudd always intended it to be, even if you are a big girl's blouse; I wear a 14.

Lots Of Friday Belts

Somewhere on the Upper West Side -- Near Broadway -- Maybe it's on Broadway -- I'm not telling you exactly -- In the 70s -- There are a number of outdoor book stalls. The guys who own them don't strike me as serious bibliophiles. Sometimes you can find a real bargain. It's a couple blocks south of Fairway. I'm not telling you exactly where.

The Golf Foxtrot does not allow me to stop at book stalls. And she ain't crazy when I bring books back from book stalls. Sometimes they smell like an ashtray. She's also afraid of bed bugs. Me? Not so much.

Walking north on Broadway a week or so ago -- 50 feet north of 73rd Street -- On the west side of the street -- Not telling you exactly where -- The sun reflects off a sheet of mylar and nearly blinds me. Stumbling up to a stall between Loehmann's and American Apparel -- That's your last clue -- I find this book. The yellowed '40s style cover is one I've seen before.


The introduction by Lucius Beebe is one I've read before. And I know, through my many bookstore travels, that this book is worth, depending on condition, about $100 smackeroos. Even more in New York. That should be a bumper sticker-- "Even More In New York" Anyway, I open the book and see it's a first printing. $3.00 is written in pencil at the top of the page.


The book is bright and clean with no smell and no bed bugs. I look at the stall owner and Presbyterian him down to $2 because, that's what you're supposed to do in New York. Another bumper sticker?


I get the book home and am amazed at the number of cocktail recipes, long lost to history, that I can steal and call my own. If I could find a source for cheap custom made belts then I'd have a book contract -- And a line. Look at the Portuguese Virgin. White Port!? Who in the hell even buys White Port anymore? Well, me but that's another story.


Most are straightforward sans blenders and infused syrups


"How about a Sink or Swim, Phil?" Now that's a cocktail


One of you will steal this


Never


Beats a Slow Comfortable Screw


"Do you want me to call you in the morning or should I just nudge you?"


Two of you will steal this


Brandy, gin and vermouth - That's a wedding


The End


Pretty amazing story, huh? I just wish it were true. What is true is that I don't have the time or the bridge table to set up a stall on Broadway. And I have a lotta catalogs to sell. Brooks Brothers catalogs going back to 1980. The first batch went up Sunday night. I'll follow each week with different seasons: Fall, Christmas, Winter, Spring and Summer.


Brooksgate, Women, Footwear...You get the idea. These things are taking up too much room in an 805 sq foot apartment. Add that to the fact that Heavy Tweed Jacket is off the air again and you can blog your own Brooks Brothers posts. Catalogs can be found here and I suggest having a few of these cocktails while you're bidding. Cheers.

Hard To Get Friday Belts

Welcome back to the Friday Belt. The Main Line Sportsman took a challenge upon himself back in May to hunt down the elusive Schweppes's Bitter Lemon. I'm pretty sure he had no idea what he was getting himself into but four months later (glad I wasn't thirsty) it has arrived. I wasn't looking so much for free Bitter Lemon as much as I was wondering where to find it. Main Line's liter bottles come from 'Republika Crna Gora' and that ain't gonna help me in NYC.

Main Line likes his Schweppes Bitter Lemon with Mount Gay rum and bitters. I think I invented my favorite: Mix, 2 oz Gin, 1 oz Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur and Fee Brothers Orange Bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a martini glass. Top off with Bitter Lemon. I call it a Double Cuff in honor of the British refusing to utter French cuff.

A belt to wear is that French Bridle belt up there. Normally I would abstain from something like this but it's beautiful in that French kind of way and there's only a 42 left. I'll have to cut it down a few inches but it's so out of the ordinary and you never see the damn things - just like Schweppes Bitter Lemon.

Something else you never see here in the states is the French red head, Pascale Rocard. That's from a 25 year old issue of 'M' The Civilized Man. She turned 50 last week. I'd love to have her over for a Double Cuff and talk about her 2006 film Rabbit Fever...but that ain't ever gonna happen. Not that I'm bitter.

Pierrepont Hick's Field Bow & Cocktail

I've never been gifted a bow tie - I've never invented a cocktail.

The folks at Pierrepont Hicks are some very nice folks. They gifted me their bow tie, the Field,which is made in NYC and sells for all of $59 . That ain't bad. I could swing $59 on my own but this affords me the chance to buy another belt.

A lot of men and David Sedaris won't wear bow ties and that's okay. Not everyone can pull them off. I didn't wear one until I was 44. I've made my stand about bow ties (and Sedaris) before so I'll just say the Field bow with the shantung silk backing is my new favorite. The green, blue and yellow with the orange really inspired me and I don't have an inspiration board. You gotta work for Ralph Lauren to have one of those.

So I invented a cocktail.

' The Pierrepont Hick's Field Stripper' is made from one part Manzanilla Sherry. One part Cointreau and a dash of Fee Brothers Orange Bitters. Add ice and stir. A lot. Get it cold before you try it. On the rocks or strain it into a martini glass and add a slice of orange. This is what the Field bow tastes like to me. Subtle St. Augustine oranges floated on a Chapel Hill green forest of pine trees and everyone's naked except for yellow cashmere socks.

If your boyfriend, husband or partner wears a bow tie - - this is a great present. I like the Giles bow too. If they don't like bow ties - - don't waste your time. But they just might like this cocktail.