From the Archives:

Friday, May 8, 2020

On this day….

Concerts from Home

By this date, just about every concert has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic — and even if it’s not, we really don’t want to be going anyway. 

According to Vulture.com. as artists scramble to figure out what to do next, many have started livestreaming concerts on social media from their homes, empty venues, or wherever they can – while they practice social distancing, 

Under the catchy title of Quarantuning, the site lists dozens of performances you can be checking out while you remain inside and isolated. 

Performances range from series subscription models to free Youtube videos with performers as diverse as Andrea Boccelli at the Duomo cathedral in Milan, Jazz at Lincoln Center to Pussy Riot on Youtube, or an Instagram battle, RZA vs. DJ Premier, pitting the Wu-Tang Clan founder against the GangStarr and PRhyme members. 

Bittersweet Symphony

When I was recently asked what I had discovered in the process of writing this book and experimenting with all these drinks, I realized that I have developed an appreciation for bittersweet drinks.

Bon Appėtit Magazine discusses this phenomenon in depth in a very interesting article,

How Our Sense of Taste Changes as We Age. It seems that as our taste buds age, so does our taste for flavours. 

As children, our first love is usually sugar – kids will eat it right out of the bowl. They need the energy for survival and growth and sweetness is nature’s shortcut to energy.

Sadly, as we age our senses lose their sharp edge. However, during this period, we’re also becoming more adventurous and expanding our taste experiences. Taste becomes more a matter of our minds and memories than our physical sensations – which is why we’re likely to overcome our aversion to beets and eventually appreciate the more bitter flavours in life.

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. Plato

DAY 57 BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY

What you need

• 1½ oz London dry gin
• ¾ oz Fernet Branca or Cynar
• ¾ oz Aperol
• 1 generous lemon twist (garnish)

What you do:

STIR all the ingredients with cracked ice in a mixing glass, then STRAIN into a chilled glass. 

Garnish: Lemon twist

Serve: Cocktail Glass (coupe)

Style: Digestif

Taste: Very Bittersweet