Bourbon and co*ke (Shakespeare Forgive Me) (2024)

BOURBON LOVERS, WHISKEY GEEKS, co*ckTAIL AFICIONADOS, LEND ME YOUR EARS. I COME HERE TO BURY BOURBON AND co*kE NOT TO PRAISE IT.

Bourbon and co*ke. My Dad drank bourbon and co*ke. Every night when he came home from work. In a small juice glass. Ancient Age with co*ke. I remember as a kid when Dad would take me up town to the liquor store and he would get his bottle of Ancient Age. I still remember what the bottle looked like. Dad had stomach issues so he added some co*ke to his bourbon.

I also remember as an eight-year-old coming into the house one evening in search of a little left over iced tea in the kitchen. There it was, on the counter, a glass with some left in it. A small juice glass. I took a good long pull. Oops!! That wasn’t iced tea. Dad hadn’t finished his bourbon and co*ke. And that was my first taste of bourbon. My throat was burning and my eyes almost popped out of my head.

Dad drank bourbon and co*ke. What did I know?

THEY HATH SAID THAT BOURBON AND co*kE IS NOT WORTHY AND THEY ARE HONORABLE PEOPLE.

Fast forward ten years. College, University of Maryland. A friend and I are at one of the first football games of our freshman year. Maryland was not a good football team at the time. Much worse than they are now (If you can believe that). There was no joy in that stadium. Wait, the frat boys are all smiling and laughing. How come?

I watched as one guy would get up, go up the steps, and come back with a tray of co*kes. Remember those trays with the wax paper cups of co*ke, with the cellophane over the top to keep it from spilling? Maybe you don’t. Why so many co*kes there? Oh, I see. Rebel Yell. They are drinking bourbon and co*ke. No wonder they are so happy.

YET THEY SAY THAT BOURBON AND co*kE IS NOT WORTHY. AND THEY ARE HONORABLE PEOPLE. I SPEAK NOT TO DISPROVE THEM BUT HERE I AM TO SPEAK WHAT I KNOW.

According to an article in Garden and Gun magazine, knowledge of bourbon and co*ke first surfaced in 1907 when the United States Bureau of Chemistry dispatched the head of its drug laboratory, Dr. Lyman Kebler, to the south to collect data on the use of a new drink called Coca-Cola. One of the doctor’s findings was that a proprietor of a soda fountain near a military base frequently served co*ke to soldiers who mixed it with bourbon. The proprietor termed this drink a “coca-cola high-ball.”

So when I reached the legal age, what did I know? Bourbon and co*ke. Out at a bar or restaurant, if I wanted hard liquor it was bourbon and co*ke. Sometimes Jack and co*ke. Sometimes it was Jim Beam. At the time I was into beer mostly but when out with friends, if not beer, it was bourbon and co*ke. What else did I know?

YOU ALL DID LOVE BOURBON AND co*kE ONCE, NOT WITHOUT CAUSE.

Well. most of you, right? Admit it. How many started their whiskey love with bourbon and co*ke. “Come on, they know. You can say it. (quote from the movie, My Cousin Vinny)” Yes, I drank bourbon and co*ke. When Knob Creek and Maker’s Mark showed up in bars and restaurants, yes, I drank them with co*ke. When Blanton’s showed up in the 90’s, I, heaven forbid, drank it with co*ke (well really diet co*ke). Not very often but I did. The fact is the better the bourbon, the better a bourbon and co*ke tastes.

THEN WHAT CAUSE WITHHOLDS YOUR PRAISE NOW?

Bourbon and co*ke. It was my go to liquor drink. I went through the beer phase and into the wine phase. If I wanted hard liquor through those times, it was bourbon and co*ke until….

On a Thanksgiving trip to Ocean City, MD, around 2005, my wife, Patti, and I were having dinner in the hotel restaurant. Once the meal was finished, we went to the bar and I ordered a Knob Creek and diet. The bartender said, “Why don’t you try this,” and handed me a sample of Buffalo Trace, neat. That was my eye opener and started my bourbon and whiskey phase. From that point on, I drank and pursued more and more bourbon and drank it neat or with some ice. My bourbon education really started on that day in Ocean City and continues to this point.

O JUDGMENT! THOU ART FLED TO BRUTISH BEASTS, AND [PEOPLE} HAVE LOST THEIR REASON. BEAR WITH ME. MY HEART IS IN THE COFFIN THERE WITH [BOURBON AND co*kE], AND I MUST PAUSE TILL IT COME BACK TO ME.

I still drink bourbon and co*ke, well co*ke zero. Not very often and usually not outside of our house. Most likely when my stomach is telling me it has a problem, but I want another drink. It has great medicinal purposes. Maybe I just want a cool and simple co*cktail. It is usually Buffalo Trace with a splash of co*ke. But I still drink it and I like it. The problem with bourbon and co*ke: It goes down way too fast. That probably leads to another and another and …..

And I am not alone. Sometimes when I am in a bourbon bar, I look around to see how others enjoy their bourbon. I remember doing this at Doc Crows in Louisville, KY a few years ago. What did I see? A lot of bourbons and co*ke.

METHINKS THERE IS MUCH REASON IN HIS SAYINGS. IF THOU CONSIDER RIGHTLY OF THE MATTER, BOURBON AND co*kE HAS HAD GREAT WRONG.

Yes, bourbon and co*ke has had a great wrong. It is a good drink. The flavors of the bourbon and the co*ke mix to produce something sweet and enticing. Don’t be fooled. Different bourbons provide a different flavor profile. Yes, when you “consider rightly of the matter”, bourbon and co*ke makes a really nice co*cktail. There are a lot of people out there drinking bourbon and co*ke.

As our guide, Shelly told us on our Buffalo Trace Distillery Tour a couple years ago, “Drink what you like, the way you like it.”

My Dad drank bourbon and co*ke.

And I do too….sometimes.

#DRINKCURIOUS
Bourbon and co*ke (Shakespeare Forgive Me) (2024)
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