Jaunted

Vacation Libation Memories

11/21/2005 at 9:15 AM
Tags: Drinks (all tags)

There's something about being on vacation that seems to encourage the trying of new drinks one would never touch at home. A blue mai tai? No problem. Campari and soda? Why, we always have a few after work. Drinking locally seems to um, enhance the whole trip.

The Denver Post has a fun column this week about memorable drinks in memorable places. Like this one in Cuba, 10 years ago when the Soviet Union had withdrawn all of its money from the island:

Mojitos had yet to invade the States, and we had never tasted anything so tropically elegant. I had 2 1/2, followed by a really good idea for a novel involving a bullfighter. Every mojito since has brought it back.

Or this one:

Stag's Leap petite syrah in Napa, where I had gone on assignment for Food and Wine magazine without knowing the slightest thing about food. Or wine. "Oh, no big deal," said the PR person assigned to my case. "Just say one of these two things: I'm getting a sort of cherry-berry, cherry-berry thing, and what's going on in the mid-palate? And slosh the wine around in your glass. It makes you look important." Before long, a sort of happy-sappy, sappy-happy thing was going in my mental mid-palate.

Yep, there are quite a few we'd like to relive (vodka in Iceland, that wine harvest in Fiesole). Check out the column and soon enough you'll start remembering yours too....

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