Hot Whiskey
Guest drink from Rosie Schaap
Cocktail of the Month…
(from Blood & Whiskey #8, December 2021)
This month’s guest mixologist is Rosie Schaap, former "Drink" columnist for The New York Times Magazine and author of Drinking with Men and Becoming a Sommelier. Her next book — The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country, about moving to Northern Ireland after dual tragedies — is coming in August. (If you want to sample her wit and style, read this: “How I Learned to Love Vegetables—by Following the Grateful Dead.”) I asked Rosie to share a drink for winter, and was psyched to receive her take on a personal favorite of mine…
Thanks to the book club in my village, I'm currently reading John Banville’s novel, Snow. So far, it’s very good—but isn’t Banville always very good? Snow, of course, puts me very much in mind of the Irish winter that is just now closing in on me here on the Antrim Coast, a good distance north of County Wexford, where the Banville book is set. The days are short, the wind frequently fierce, the chill in the air has a determinedly damp, Irish cast about it. And this is when, if I feel like bundling up for the very short walk to my local, I’m likelier to order a hot whiskey than my usual pint of Guinness. It’s the simplest thing—but these are the proportions that please me most.
Hot Whiskey
2 ounces Irish whiskey (I prefer Paddy or Powers for this)
1 tsp. Demerara sugar
3 ounces water, just off the boil
1 lemon wedge, studded with three cloves
In a heatproof glass, stir the sugar and the whiskey together. Add the hot water and stir again. Garnish with the lemon wedge.
