Whiskies sour
Nightown peaked in the sophisticated dark-panelled, low-lit surroundings of The Roosevelt Bar, which is conveniently located next to the Lehel U-Bahn station (Lines 4 and 5) and the Lehel tram stop (Line 17). It's open Saturdays until 3 am, by the way.
Three sides of the evening's sparkling conversational rectangle were provided by Ann, Talitha and Jill, who concentrated on the full-bodied reds and whites of Coldwater Creek. With the bar being named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt, that great US president who helped end Prohibition and fascism, I decided to concentrate on whisky sours, of which Michael Jackson in his splendid World Guide To Whisky says:
"When the rest of the country was grappling with Prohibition, cosmopolitan New York contrived to develop a taste for Scotch and Canadian whiskies, and both have endured. The enthusiasm for Canadian whiskies has been fostered, too, by their tantalising proximity: they are within easy reach, and not excessively priced, yet they have the cachet of the import. In those days of Prohibition, it was the East that disguised whiskies in cocktails like the Manhattan, the Old Fashioned and the Sour."
Fancy a whisky sour? Here's how to make one:
INGREDIENTS: 60 ml. Bourbon or Rye whisky 20 ml. lemon juice 1 teaspoon castor sugar 1 teaspoon egg white (optional) PREPARATION: Shake with ice, then strain into a chilled highball glass. Place lemon slice on the rim and serve immediately.
And here's a timeless FDR quote to enjoy with the cocktail: "A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car, but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad."
