Cocktail Recipes: How to Drink Like a Writer

How to Drink Like a Writer bookPairing 100 famous authors, poets, and playwrights from the Victorian age to today with recipes for their iconic drinks of choice, How to Drink Like a Writer is the perfect guide to getting lit(erary) for madcap mixologists, book club bartenders, and cocktail enthusiasts.

Do you long to trade notes on postmodernism over whiskey and jazz with Haruki Murakami? Have you dreamed of sharing gin martinis with Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton after poetry class? Maybe a mojito—a real one, like they serve at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana—is all you need to summon the mesmerizing power of Hemingway’s prose. Writer’s block? Summon the brilliant musings of Truman Capote with a screwdriver—or, “my orange drink,” as he called it.

With 100 spirited drink recipes covering vodka, gin, tequila, and whiskey, and special sections dedicated to writerly haunts like the Algonquin of the New Yorker set and Kerouac’s Vesuvio Cafe, pointers for hosting your own literary salon, and author-approved hangover cures, all accompanied by original illustrations of ingredients, finished cocktails, classic drinks, and favorite food pairings, the book How to Drink Like a Writer is sure to inspire, invoke, and inebriate—whether you are courting the muse, or nursing a hangover.

Below, we’ve compiled three of the recipes from the book for you to try.

Ernest Hemingway’s Papa Doble Daiquiri

ernest hemingway daiquiriIngredients:
2 oz light rum
3/4 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 oz grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur
lime wheel for garnishing

Directions:
Combine rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice, and maraschino liqueur in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with lime wheel.

 

Pablo Neruda’s Pisco Sour

Ingredients:
3 oz pisco (preferably Chilean varietly like Alto del Carmen)Pablo Neruda Pisco Sour
1 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 oz simple syrup (1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part water)
1 egg white
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Directions:
In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, and egg white. Shake until mixture is foamy. Add ice and shake again until chilled. Stain into a chilled rocks or coupe glass. Top with a dash of Angostura Bitters.

* Extra Credit: Pair the cocktail with a hot dog loaded with mashed avocado, tomato, hot sauce, onions, mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup served on a soft bun.

 

Marlon James’ Dark ‘N’ Stormy

Ingredients:Marlon James Dark 'n' Stormy
2 oz dark rum (Gosling’s or equivalent blackstrap)
1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
4 oz ginger beer
lime wedge for garnish

Directions:
In a highball glass, combine rum and lime juice. Add ice and ginger beer. Garnish with the lime wedge.

*Extra Credit: Pair with curry goat, one of James’ traditional Jamaican dishes.