Cocktail prescriptions for writers? Yes, please. Being a freelance writer definitely has its ups and downs. Days locked away in a dark office with only the glow of the computer screen for light when on deadline. Living on coffee and crackers because you don’t want to interrupt the creative flow you’re in. Answering the door to receive a package from the UPS and realizing you’re still in your pajamas at 5 pm. And then the celebrations when a pitch gets accepted or you see the sweat, blood and tears you poured into an article displayed in a shiny magazine spread. When Angie Hilbert, blogger of Wanderlust & Lipstick’s Wanderlit column, asked me to compile cocktails for writers, I jumped at the idea.
In correlation of her recent review of “To Have and Have Another – A Hemingway Cocktail Companion” book by Phillip Green, I took a look at famous writer’s go-to cocktails. Here are a few to either console or toast yourself with:
Court the Muse
Carson McCullers, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and screenwriter, kept a mixture of hot tea and sherry in a thermos by her side as she wrote. She named the drink her “Sonnie Boy”.
3 oz hot black tea
2 oz Sherry
Add ingredients to a thermos. Enjoy throughout the workday as McCullers liked to do.
Liquid Courage
Mint Julep Recipe
In the early 1800s, doctors used the word julep to describe “a kind of liquid medicine.” Mint Juleps were also Faulkner’s favorite drink. He was also known to drink straight whiskey while writing, so you could try that too if you need a little help before pitching editors.
7 sprigs of mint
1/2 oz. simple syrup
3 oz. bourbon
Crush 6 mint sprigs into the bottom of a chilled double Old-Fashioned glass. Pour in simple syrup and bourbon. Fill with crushed ice. Garnish with the remaining mint sprig and serve with two short straws. Add a splash of soda if you wish.
Pitch Perfected
Gin Rickey Recipe
When you’re meeting with an editor and pitching ideas, it’s best not to reek of booze. Taking F. Scott Fitzgerald’s lead, he drank gin because he believed you could not detect it on the breath. Here’s his favorite gin cocktail recipe, the Gin Rickey:
2 oz. gin
3/4 oz. lime juice
Top with club soda
Lime wheel
Pour gin and lime juice into a chilled highball glass filled with ice cubes. Top with club soda, and stir gently. Garnish with lime wheel. Serve with two straws.
You’ve Been Published!
Ramos Fizz Recipe
If you’d like success like playwright Tennessee Williams enjoyed, no better cocktail to channel it than his drink of choice – the Ramos Fizz. And of course, a Kir Royal (champagne and creme de cassis) always works to celebrate your efforts as well.
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
.5 oz. fresh lime juice
1 egg white
1 tbsp. sugar
2 oz. gin
.5 oz. cream
Soda water
Place all of the ingredients except the club soda into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake vigorously (more than normal to ensure the egg and cream are well mixed). Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with club soda.
For more on cocktail prescriptions for writers, check out Hemingway & Bailey’s Bartending Guide to Great American Writers.
Wishing you inspired, fruitful writing!!
Drink Well,
Lanee
Photo is a self-portrait, capturing what I look like on deadline.