Cocktails | The Institute of Idle Time

This week’s segment will be a little different. After Tyrion is captured by Catelyn and her men, on their way up North, Tyrion has to sit and watch his horse being butchered.

“None of us will go hungry tonight,” Bronn said. He was near a shadow himself; bone thin and bone hard, with black eyes and black hair and a stubble of beard.

“Some of us may,” Tyrion told him. “I am not fond of eating horse. Particularly my horse.”

“Meat is meat,” Bronn said with a shrug. “The Dothraki like horse more than beef or pork…”

Chiggen grinned, showing yellow teeth, and swallowed the raw meat in two bites. “Tastes well bred.”

“Better if you fry it up with onions,” Bronn put in.

Because I don’t have a scrumptious horse recipe lying around, let’s skip dining with Tyrion this week. Let’s talk about what to drink instead.

Continue reading (Don’t) Dine with Tyrion →

It is no secret that my family has a taste for the drink. My grandfather, Walter, owned a couple of bars in Sacramento, one of them, Goeman’s, still stands today on Franklin boulevard. Though I never personally saw the old guy overindulge, he never turned down a good cocktail. Whenever we would have family dinners, all of the adults would imbibe at least one of his signature drink: The Manhattan.

In honor of the late Walt Goeman, and to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day, I tried whipping up an Irish version of this classic cocktail. They say on St. Paddy’s Day everyone is honorary Irish, and in the spirit of the holiday, the Manhattan is relocating 3,172 miles (5,104 km) to Ireland’s metropolis, Dublin.

The Manhattan is a really great drink because there is a simple way to remember how to make them. The area code to Manhattan is 212, which translates to:

2 shots of Whiskey

1 Shot of Sweet Vermouth

2 dashes of bitters

Pour those into an iced shaker, give it a couple whirls, then pour out into a glass. Martini glasses are traditional, but on St. Patrick’s day, any ship will do, ya feel me?

Add a maraschino cherry, and 1 tsp. of the cherry juice, and you got yourself a good beverage.

Now, here’s what you’ll need to make a delicious Dublin:

Continue reading The Dublin →