San Antonio, Texas

A five-minute walk down the San Antonio River Walk from the historic Alamo, sits a watering hole that has been satisfying thirsty Texans since the end of Prohibition: The Esquire Tavern. Opening in 1933, just six years ahead of the groundbreaking of the River Walk, the Esquire prides itself on an upstairs brimming with historical swank and a downscaled downstairs that offers a more laid-back setting on the river at the tavern’s rear. Both levels boast a separate cocktail list; the downstairs claims a more uncomplicated experience, but like the upstairs, the house cocktails are likely to contain five or more ingredients, many from the classic prohibition era. No Seven and Sevens here.

The Esquire didn’t mind if the whole family got a bite to eat upstairs, so we did; I grabbed their meatloaf sandwich, which may not seem very sophisticated except with a beautiful classic cocktail in tow. Mine was a Warpaint- a heady concoction of Norwegian Aquavit, Beet-Tarragon Shrub, Herbsaint, Cocchi Americano, and fresh-squeeze lemon juice. Cindy’s cocktail, the Scrubby Collins, was equally involved- a mixture of blanco tequila, strawberry-basil black pepper shrub, and mineral water, stirred on ice and served long.

In true Wisconsin-style, I couldn’t leave without an after-dinner (or lunch, in this case) drink, so I ordered up a Waking the Dead #1 (yes, they did also have a #2 too, which was too fruity for my tastes). Although we don’t know the exact proportions, I do have the ingredients, so here’s my best approximations...

Drink: Waking the Dead #1
Establishment: The Esquire Tavern
Location: San Antonio, Texas
First Connoisseur: Holly

1 ½ ounces bonded bourbon
¾ ounce Italian vermouth (I used Carpano)
½ ounce espresso-fernet (I used a mix of espresso liqueur and fernet branca)
1 ounce pineapple juice
Dash of fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a shaker full of ice. Shake until chilled. Serve up in a cocktail glass and enjoy in warm temperatures.

10 Rules of Martinis

I was a child of the ‘80s. Thank God I was not old enough to drink. For some reason, America completely lost their memory of their traditional cocktail heritage and fell into a dark age of domestic beers and fruit ‘martinis’; essentially anything in a cocktail glass was a ‘martini.’ Ugh. Mercifully, we have returned from that miserable era to a more sophisticated time. However, some bars still have a ‘-tini’ section on their menus- mostly fruity or chocolate undrinkable nightmares. So let the FWL educate you on that most wonderful American invention this side of the light bulb: The Martini.

One - There is no fruit juice, chocolate, coffee, syrup, or even bitters in a martini. Yes, that’s right, the martini may be presented in a cocktail glass, but, unlike its close relative the Martinez (gin, vermouth, maraschino, bitters), the martini itself is not a cocktail. In its true form it only has two ingredients: 5 to 1, gin to French (dry) vermouth. (Classically, the ratio is 6 to 1, however most bartenders prefer to give modern palates a bit of a gin break).

Two - There are only two exceptions to the two ingredient rule. An olive wash in the cocktail glass prior to the alcohol strained into it. This is known as a Dirty Martini due to the briny olive tint to the drink. (For God’s sake, don’t pour olive brine into an already made martini!) A smoky scotch wash (like Laphroaig or Ardbeg) is also a classic touch; this is known as a Burnt Martini.

Dallas, Part 2

Last time we left you, the boys (Aaron and M.J.) and I were thirsty and looking for a drink. Surprise! We drove back into uptown Dallas in search of the cocktail bar Parliament and found it buried in various townhouse-like apartments and scattered classy eateries, mostly still relatively active given the growing late hour.

Fort Point

Drink: Fort Point
Establishment: Bryant's (made famous at Drink in Boston)
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin / Boston, Massachusetts
First Connoisseur: Holly

Essential Liquor #19

#19) Crème de Cacao - Like curaçao, this is a liqueur whose name gets totally butchered. Two pronunciations are correct. The first pronunciation is the one tosses around here at the Firewater Lounge, phonetically ca-cow. The other is a bit more classy, phonetically ca-kay-o. Likely you will hear, "Grab me the bottle of chocolate" as often as anything.

Essential Liquor #11

#11) American Whiskey - A bar without Jack Daniel's is like a farm without a dog. It's not absolutely necessary, but, if absent, you notice that it's not around.

Essential Liquor #7

#7) Triple Sec- Historically, its name meant ‘triple dry,’ this orange liqueur was less sweet than regular curacao. At the bar of the common Joe, cost-effective triple sec is simply blue curacao without the color. Why is it important?

Essential Liquor #4

#4) A single malt scotch- Everyone is going to have a favorite here. Smokiness, sweetness, and varying amounts of peat drive the myriad of favors of single malt scotch. My favorites tend to be sweeter, Dalwhinnie and The Glenrothes being among them, by virtue of my predilection of Rusty Nails. The one I would recommend here is The Glenlivet 12 year. It is a solid scotch for most scotch drinkers and, for $35, it is cheap enough to mix.

Welcome to The Firewater Lounge

In a response to our bar book, Stiff had made a request that I simply couldn’t refuse- list the top 30 essential liquors you need to have in your bar. Believe it or not, it actually was easier than I thought. I stuck to three rules: 1) The average Joe should be able to purchase the booze without taking a second mortgage out on the house, 2) Beer, wine, and champagne are not liquors, 3) Versatility matters.

Now, in teaser style, we are going to give you the first three liquors in this post and then unveil them a liquor at a time until we get to thirty! Each post we’ll give you a new drink that can be made from the growing list of liquors. So empty the change from your couch cushions, get to Woodman’s, and buy…