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LongIslandWeekly.com • April 11 - 17, 2018 • Published By Anton Media Group • To Advertise Call: 516-747-8282 29A

Long Island Iced Tea Gimlet Dry Diner Drinks Decoded Beginner’s Guide to Vintage

BY STEVE MOSCO [email protected]

n the same way a diner’s varied and extensive menu means that eaters can order any dish they want at any time, a diner’s full barI means that all drink concoctions are available for consumption. Yes, diners are a great place for a cocktail— especially those of the vintage variety. White Russian Piña Colada

somehow become a boozy soft serve concoction Rose’s Juice, a preserved lime juice and a dash Tom Collins that coats the drinker’s mouth with silky smooth- or two of soda. Highly drinkable and a great way to Who is Tom Collins and why did his mix live in ness, while enlightening the mind like only spirits prevent scurvy. my grandparents’ liquor cabinet for 30 years? It can. This drink abides. doesn’t matter, this -heavy, club soda-fizzy drink Martini is actually refreshing and not nearly as cloyingly Mint Julep sweet as other mixers. A high society cocktail with drinkers who are a The favored drink of the decadent and depraved smidge more insufferable than whiskey fanatics, attendees of the Kentucky Derby, the Mint Julep the martini was once called “the elixir of quietude” Manhattan occupies the forbidden zone where cocktail meets by author E.B. White. Ugh, really? I’d rather just eat The first sip is immediately reminiscent of the toothpaste. If you like drinks that are sweet, full of a jar of olives. cough you enjoyed as a kid—vaguely fruity bourbon and taste like an icy plant, then this is for with strong sweet, bitter and boozy notes. A taste you. Piña Colada for whiskey—and sweet vermouth—is most defi- nitely a prerequisite for enjoying this cocktail. More than just a song about cheating on your wife Sidecar and getting caught in the rain, this cold concoction Pulled straight from the past, the Sidecar is one of of pineapple and rum is a tropical vacation that will Old Fashioned those classic menu items that no one ever orders give you brain freeze should you drink it too fast. Similar to a Manhattan, the Old Fashioned is the anymore—like the drink version of loaded potato The heavier the rum, the better the drink. insufferable whiskey lover’s drink when they want skins. Though outdated, it’s not terrible. Cognac, to order something other than a whiskey. A whiskey orange and lemon juice shaken with ice, it’s drinker’s idea of a fun cocktail, the Old Fashioned is cool and lightly tart. a bit of a bore. Made with what basically amounts to all of the left- overs in your liquor cabinet along with a splash of Gimlet cola, our island’s namesake drink tastes deceptively White Russian This is a T-shaped tool used for boring holes. But tame but can bring on a blackout with a boozy Alcohol and sweet cream, together at last. This mix it’s also a cocktail usually with gin (sometimes dropkick. There’s some dark magic at work in this of , Kahlúa and sweet cream coalesces to vodka, though that would be incorrect) along with cocktail that prevents it from causing blindness.

20180413_XAL_LNW_PG00 - 12:51 April 9, 2018