An Amtrak crisis is averted, so let’s have an end-of-the-week drink.

Cocktails

First an article, then on to what I have been drinking.

Fix the Right Martini

It is doubtless true, as Punch says, There’s No Stopping the Martini this Fall. Some of the recipes in the Punch article are not readily forgivable, but the note about a return to martini service bears a mention:

While some bars are escorting the sophisticated Martini into yet-unexplored territory, others are leaning into its roots, carting purist versions of the drink to tables in dedicated Martini services. At Hotel Chelsea’s Lobby Bar in Manhattan, ice-encased bottles of Tanqueray 10 and Ketel One arrive tableside when you order a Dukes Martini, an impossibly cold and dry classic born out of 1980s London. For nearly a decade now, Brooklyn’s Maison Premiere has stirred its Old King Cole Martini before your eyes. And this fall, Le Rock, one of New York’s buzziest new restaurants, will also introduce a tableside service featuring three freezer Martinis. 

Punch

Drinks I Have Been Drinking

Here are three cocktails for your consideration.

I am not a regular consumer of sours. The egg white makes a difference here.

And, from Death & Co., a Sazerac variation:

• Laphroaig scotch
• 1 1/2 oz. Rittenhouse rye
• 1/2 oz. Bruichladdich scotch (or some milder Islay whisky) [Glenfiddich is fine — ed.]
• 2 dashes absinthe
• 1 tsp demerara syrup
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• lemon twist

Rinse a rocks glass with Laphroaig and dump. Stir the remaining ingredients (except lemon twist) with ice. Strain into a rocks glass. Squeeze the lemon twist over the drink and discard.

Crime Fiction

From CrimeReads, an interesting note on Five Mystery Novels That Prioritize Character, Style, and Insight. (I have not read any of them, so you will have to take his word for it, or not). From Rap Sheet, a summary of the Anthony Awards distributed last week at Bouchercon, the annual event sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America. The winner of Best Novel, Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby, is an extraordinary example of Southern rural noir.

Music

Mickey Dolenz, the last man standing of The Monkees, has apparently sued the FBI: Monkees Member Micky Dolenz Sues FBI For Hoover-Era Files (subscription required). Mr. Dolenz claims that the Bureau may have surveilled the made-for-television band in the 1960s:

Most people might not think a lawsuit concerning the ’60s rock band The Monkees would reveal what our government was up to, but this litigation actually demonstrates the intended power of FOIA,” Dolenz’s attorney, Mark Zaid, told Law360 in a statement Tuesday. “The FBI was actively monitoring war dissenters, perceived radicals and anyone counter to J. Edgar Hoover’s cultural beliefs, and that included The Monkees!”

Ivan Moreno, Law360, Monkees Member Micky Dolenz Sues FBI For Hoover-Era Files.

Who knew.

In any event, the article brought back fond memories of “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone”: