Join us on Thursday, Feb 18, 4-9:00 PM for our “Presidential Drink.” Founding Father or one-term Presidents, or Democrat or Republican, almost every American President has shared something in common. They all drank. A few:
George Washington – In 1799 established one of the first distilleries in newly formed Washington and produced nearly 11,000 gallons a year, making it one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America at the time.
Abraham Lincoln, – The driest. If “Honest Abe” did drink, he seldom did so.
Theodore Roosevelt – loved Mint Juleps and “used them to entice his cabinet to play tennis with him at the White House” and partake. Mint from the White House garden made the drink that used 10 to 12 fresh mint leaves, brandy, rye whiskey and sugar cube(s).
John F. Kennedy enjoyed drinking Bloody Marys which can be delicious or terrible with little in-between. It’s safe to assume he was served the best of the best. He also drank lots of daiquiris and Heineken beer.
Lyndon B. Johnson – “while Senate majority leader, instructed staff to make his scotch and soda significantly weaker than his guest’s so that he could keep a clearer head.” He threw massive, lavish barbeques for dignitaries at his Texas ranch, where he’d drive around with “his Styrofoam cup of Cutty Sark” as his “constant companion.”
Ronald Reagan, born and raised in Illinois, migrated to California on the back of a seven-year contract with Warner Brother’s studios where he developed a taste for California wines and “an occasional Orange Blossom Special (remember from The Brandy Bar’s Chinese New Year? brandy, grenadine, orange juice)
Gerald R. Ford enjoyed drinking martinis so much that he sometimes had multiple at lunch. But when Ford was thrown into the presidency following the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation from office, Ford’s staffers advised he cut back on the drinks
George H. W. Bush, former President George H. W. Bush, father to former President George W. Bush and 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush, drank a bit of everything. But often went for martinis and beer.
Teddy Roosevelt – Mint Julep – our brandy smash. Brandy, fresh mint, club soda
Andrew Jackson – New Orleans drinks were his liquor of choice so the Vieux Carre’ using Italian Vermouth to create some cultural diversity. Brandy, rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, bitters
Franklin Pierce – Since he drank a lot of everything and died of cirrhosis of the liver, we have chosen one of our most popular cocktails – Old Fashioned using Copper & Kings American Brandy, mulled fresh orange and bourbon cherries, sugar cube & bitters.
George H.W. Bush – Brandy martini – Brandy, gin, dry vermouth
Ronald Reagan – Orange blossom special – brandy, grenadine, orange juice
