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Festivus is for the Rest of Us — that Seinfeld-inspired December 23 non-partisan, secular, ecumenical annual holiday Feast.
The Menu can be as imaginative or as processed as you’d like. There is always cake (typically to be displayed, but not eaten).
We can’t imagine a cake that goes uneaten, so we offer up this recipe.
After the meal is the annual Airing of the Grievances and Feats of Strength.
Any special Festivus Cocktail should, of course, involve Bitters — and no Kentucky Festivus would be complete without bourbon — so we’ve pulled this take on an Old-Fashioned from the Archives.
The Old Fashioned
by RL Reeves Jr
The Old Fashioned occupies that curious ground between being a grown man’s drink, it’s got a serious jolt of bourbon in it, and being sweet and fruity enough to appeal to beginning drinkers or folks who typically like cocktails with miniature patio furniture jutting out of the top of the glass.
It’s a gateway beverage.
The first time I ordered one, I was at a bar in Richmond, Kentucky with a freshly minted fake ID and the knowledge that there existed a drink called the Old Fashioned. That and a pocket filled with cash was about all I had at that point.
I immediately took to it probably due to the fact that I have a genetic love of bourbon and anything that has an orange flavor will always have my complete, undivided attention.
But a bit of research shows this modern rendition of the Old Fashioned to be a pale shadow of the original. Back in the 1800s, the drink had little more than whiskey, bitters, sugar and lemon peel. At some point, a hundred or so years later, the classic mutated and became a sugary, fruity shape shifter of a cocktail.
This recipe, will be as old fashioned, i.e as much like one you’d get in the 1800s, as possible.
Old Fashioned Recipe
Ingredients
2 oz bourbon
1 each Sugar Cube
water
Angostura bitters
Lemon Peel
Method
* Place sugar cube in the bottom of rocks glass
* Add a few drops of water and stir til cube is dissolved
* Add a few drops of bitters, to suit, I like several and I also like the brand Peychaud’s
* Add 2 oz bourbon, I like Bulleit
* Garnish with ice and/or lemon peel
Notes:
Some folks like this cocktail served cold, as do I, others prefer it at room temperature.
The lemon peel is optional, some people insist that an orange peel be included, and that it be muddled with the sugar, and garnished with a cherry. It’s up to you.
There are many variations on this drink, this is just the way I like it. It hews fairly close to the old rendition but feel free to experiment and build the drink to suit your own palate.
Cheers!
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The Festivus Drinking Game
for the Annual Airing of the Grievances!
“Gather your family around, and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year!”
–Frank Costanza
Take a sip every time…
-someone says “Festivus is back!”
-anybody begins or ends a sentence with, “What?! I’m just being honest!”
Take a drink every time…
– anyone says “I gotta lotta problems with you people!”
Finish your drink any time….
– someone proclaims “another Festivus miracle!”
-anyone says “stop crying!”
Call and alert your designated driver, or taxi to take you to a hotel when:
-someone says “Festivus is not over!”
Click for the Dysfunctional Family TRADITIONAL Holiday Drinking Game.
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