Cheat To Win

If the martini is the undisputed king of gin drinks, the Manhattan rules the whiskey ones. And though I’m utterly intransigent about how a good martini ought to be made, I’m flexible when it comes to the Manhattan. Even in its innumerable variations, the deep and dark character stays intact. With brown-liquor season upon us, it’s the drink for right now.

That said, it’s a cocktail that requires a whole host of decisions. Rye or bourbon? Perfect (composed with equal measures of sweet and dry vermouth), or just sweet vermouth? Bitters? Garnish? Rocks? My advice is to try the Manhattan every which way (just not all at once), because different versions suit different moods.

Every day is made better with a Manhattan - my favorite garnish is a whiskey soaked cherry.

Thug life in Boston.

Caption on Woodford’s Facebook page:

Beat the 5:00 rush.  Leave at noon.

When am I actually going to have time this summer to drink this much?

The word’s on the streets and it’s on the news: I’m not gonna teach him how to dance with you.

Don’t worry, all that excessive drinking is just a sign of your intelligence. According to two long-term studies — one American, one British — there’s a correlation between smarts and a thirst for alcohol. The “more intelligent children in both studies grew up to drink alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than less intelligent children,” says Liz Day atDiscover. Why might this be the case?

It’s all about evolution: Drinking alcohol was “unintentional, accidental, and haphazard until about 10,000 years ago,” says Satoshi Kanazawaat atPsychology Today. Smart people are generally early adopters and, in the context of human history, “the substance [alcohol] and the method of consumption are both evolutionarily novel.”
“Why intelligent people drink more alcohol”

Alcohol makes up for boring early years: ”I’m surprised” by the findings, says Joanne Hinkel at The Frisky, so “here’s my pop-psychology theory” to explain it: “All that studying in childhood repressed kids so much that they’re still trying to compensate well into adulthood for all that fun they missed.” Granted, that’s just a theory.
“Brain types booze more — are you surprised?”

Drinking is the only way to deal with morons: Smart people “booze so we can tolerate everyone else,” says Greg at Food & Wine Blog. When sober, we tend to “take people’s responses at literal face value.” But after a few drinks, “we can relax a bit, stop being so anal with semantics and let comments slide a bit.”
“Speculative reasons why smart people drink more”

I like the third option.  I’m nicer when I’m drunk.  Not nice, per se, just nicer.