The IRS – Income Tax Ccocktail and Why I Drink
Posted on April 15, 2010 | By The Bon-Vivant | Comments Off on The IRS – Income Tax Ccocktail and Why I Drink
April 15 is invariably a day of sadness for me. Not only are income taxes due (or, in my case, a request for an extension) but the news delights in bringing up massive cases of government waste so that I can feel even worse about paying my taxes. Here, let us rip one from the pages of reality (short humming while I go to google news, type in government waste, last 24 hours). Here is a good one. Maxine Waters, Democrat Congresswoman from California, my fair state, put in an earmark for $2 million dollars to build a center in the L.A. Unified School District and to name it AFTER HERSELF! (This is from 2009 but popped up in the search). Way to honor yourself, Maxine! This is why I drink.
And, in terms of what to drink, we have the Income Tax Cocktail. You will probably see this one all over the place today, but what the heck, I might as well jump on the bandwagon.
INCOME TAX COCKTAIL
Jigger of Gin
1-1/2 tsp. of Sweet Vermouth
1-1/2 tsp. of Dry Vermouth
Shot of orange juice
Dash of Bitters (orange if you have them, Angostura works fine though)
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (According to the Thin Man, Nick Charles, the Bronx must always be shaken to “two-step” time, so I will assume that holds true for the Income Tax as well.
)
This is basically a slight variation of a Bronx Cocktail. The Bronx was #3 of the World’s 10 Most Famous Cocktails of 1934. In 1934 FDR raised the income tax rates from 4% (Oh how I long for the good old days) to a top rate of 63% on the wealthy and doubled it or more for everyone else. So, a slight curse to FDR on this day.
This drink is very tasty but I would not worry about using great gin or anything else on it. While I have some very nice Bendis Distillery Gins and some others, I find for most mixed drinks (anything other than a straight Martini) that Seagram’s is a very good gin for the price. If you want to splurge on anything here, get good orange juice or if you truly want the best of cocktails, squeeze it yourself shortly before mixing the drink. This makes it muy bueno-er.
So drink up, and let the blessed alcohol take your tax cares away for a short time.
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