I wish I could take a minute this Repeal Day to post a list of swell goings-on around town, but alas, Providence doesn’t seem to have anything going on. I could dig around in my books and find a classic cocktail to post (and I may still do that), but why follow the crowd?

Instead, I figured I’d help you program the music for your happening bash. The following songs, unless Wikipedia has lied to me yet again, all have some peg in 1933, the year that Prohibition finally ended. Some of them were written a year earlier but premiered in 1933, whereas the rest are fully Repeal Year babies.

Some of the songs are performed by their original artists, but most are not, and most are also not 1933 recordings.

Included in the mix are two very different versions of Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s “Stormy Weather,” just to show how versatile these songs are. Enjoy.

1. Fred Astaire, “The Carioca.” From 1933’s Flying Down to Rio, the first Astaire/Ginger Rogers picture. It’s always nice to remember that Astaire could also sing.
2. Hoagy Carmichael, “Lazy Bones.” The (only?) instance of a song performed by its composer. Hoagy ‘n’ me went to college together. I’ve eaten in the former cafe where he wrote “Star Dust,” and he’s the third-best thing about the film version of To Have and Have Not.
3. Henry Hall, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” Number three said nix on tricks, I will build my house with bricks. He had no chance to sing and dance ’cause work and play don’t mix. This is from the Disney short, “Three Little Pigs,” which premiered May 27, 1933.
4. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, “Drop Me Off in Harlem.” Louis + Duke = Nothing else to say.
5. Maude Maggart and Fiona Apple, “(It’s Only A) Paper Moon.” Maggart and Apple are sisters, and they join up on this fun a cappella recording of Arlen and Harburg’s standard.
6. Jerry Orbach, John Lesko, & Various Artists, “Lullaby of Broadway.” Okay, fuck it: this is a stretch. In 1933, there was a musical film called 42nd Street. In 1935, a song called “Lullaby of Broadway” first appeared in an unrelated movie. A later Broadway production of 42nd Street co-opted “Lullaby.” It wasn’t in the source material, though, so it’s a cheat. Y’know why I say “fuck it”? It’s always nice to remember that Orbach could also sing.
7. Jimmy Durante, “Inka Dinka Doo.” You’re the top. You’re Inferno’s Dante. You’re the nose on the great Durante.
8. Doc & Merle Watson, “Stormy Weather.” A little more Harold Arlen, this time writing with Ted Koehler. Doc Watson, who’s still kicking around at 85, is a country and bluegrass pioneer. Merle, his son, died in 1985.
9. Ike & Tina Turner, “Stormy Weather.” Tina Turner, who’s still kicking around at 69, is … aw, to hell with it, you know who she is.
10. Bill Evans & Stan Getz, “Night and Day.” Finally, a little Cole Porter, but I’m gonna cheat you of the lyrics because I’m a son of a bitch. Porter wrote this for his 1932 play, Gay Divorce, but 1933 saw it become a hit, when Fred Astaire recorded it.
11. Bryan Ferry, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” Recorded for his 1974 album, Another Time Another Place.
12. Frank Sinatra, “You’re Getting to Be a Habit With Me.” From Frank’s sublime Songs for Swinging Lovers.
13. Ginger Rogers, “We’re in the Money.” I began with Fred, so it makes sense to end with Ginger. This is her original recording, from Gold Diggers of 1933. This song’s a good reminder of the context in which Prohibition was repealed; the lyrics directly mention the Depression and bread lines. (In fact, sociologist David Hanson even links the Depression directly to the repeal of Prohibition.)

Oh, and because I love you, an embedded YouTube video of the always-dapper Ferry singing “Smoke”:

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A while back, I got a sample of Don Julio Reposado Tequila. I poke around in several directions to find a recipe to mix it into, and found this drink, from the 2008 Food and Wine Cocktails.

This drink is a Philip Ward joint, from Death & Co. in New York City.

Ice
2 oz. reposado tequila
1/4 oz. bianco vermouth
1/4 oz. Campari
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
dash of Angostura bitters

Stir all ingredients over ice, and strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

Man, this is an odd drink. Tequila and Campari. Bianco vermouth and maraschino. I have a perhaps surprising analogy to describe this drink, so bear with me.

Nearly forty years ago, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded a bunch of duets together, but none of them really worked out. (What a wasted opportunity, guys. How could you have screwed this up? Oh yeah, drugs.) The one song that even partly succeeded, “Girl From the North Country,” appeared on Dylan’s album Nashville Skyline.

The Rojo Bianco reminds me of that song. The lead ingredients, tequila and Campari, never really harmonize. They don’t clash, but they don’t come together either. You listen to the song and think about their voices, twirling around each other, but never melding. At the same time you think about the mains, you forget about the backing band. You know it’s there, but you pay attention to Dylan and Cash and forget anything else. The bianco and maraschino definitely sweeten the drink and balance the Campari’s bitterness, but aside from softening the Campari, they fade behind the dueling vocals. I don’t know whether it matters to use bianco vermouth instead of regular French vermouth.

And yet, I love “Girl From the North Country.” I hear the other tracks these guys recorded in those sessions, and I hate them for squandering the moment. But “Girl…” is a good song, despite how broken it is. And the Rojo Bianco is a good cocktail, even though the ingredients never harmonize.

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Last weekend, Martin Miller’s Gin hosted a gin mixers’ competition at Death & Co. in New York. Bartenders from the UK and the US battled to impress a distinguished panel of judges. Although invited to attend, I was unable to do so, having made previous plans to adopt a kitten this weekend. Yes, that’s right, a kitten, smartass.

I was able, though, to join Miller co-founder David Bromige and his posse at Milk & Honey on Friday evening. As surprising as this may seem, this was my first visit to M&H, and I’m grateful to Miller’s PR man, James Monahan, for the invitation.

First, let me describe Milk & Honey, for those who’ve never been. Getting in is not easy; you need the unpublished number, and you need to reserve in advance. M&H founder Sasha Petraske wants to keep the vibe intimate, the bar uncrowded, and the sidewalk outside the bar uncluttered by chattering fools. If you’ve ever been inside or outside a crowded New York bar on a weekend night, you can see the advantage to his approach.

Nothing outside the bar announces that it’s a bar. Well, almost nothing. There’s a red metal pail hanging from a hook, filled with sand and cigarette butts. The letters “M &” are on the door, the H having disappeared by the time of my visit. The bar is inside a storefront that at one point was apparently a tailor’s shop. (Incidentally, I’d love to know the pre-M&H history of the space. If anyone knows, e-mail me–adashofbitters at gmail dot com–or comment here.)

The bar has six tables (banquettes), plus bar stools and a bit of standing room. The tight control at the door means you never have to push through a crowd to move through the bar. Nothing irritates me so much as having to make people physically move so I can reach the bar, the loo, or the exit. M&H has no cocktail menu but will match a drink to your taste. Our table ordered a batch of Miller’s-based gin drinks–two Last Words, a Ramos Gin Fizz for Mr. Bromige, and a Negroni for me. (The best Negroni I’ve had. I wonder what vermouth they used.)

David Bromige is a wonderful drinking companion. He briefly related the history of his spirit, and how he, Martin Miller, and Andreas Versteegh came up with the formula, after many, many rounds of testing. He described the gin as a vanity project, one that they enjoyed so well they eventually chose to market it.

He described Miller’s distillation process: the botanicals are steeped in grain alcohol for 24 hours before distilling. Actually, the botanicals are steeped in batches. One batch, in one still, contains juniper, iris, cassia, licorice, coriander, angelica, orris, and nutmeg; the other batch contains citrus peels. This brings a layered, nuanced flavor to the final product. They then ship the distillate to Iceland, where it’s cut with glacial water, bottled, and shipped to its destination.

Iceland provides another advantage than just the water–it’s midway between Miller’s two main markets, Europe and the United States. This cuts the cost of shipping the gin to the U.S.

Jeffrey Morgenthaler has an extensive series of posts with more details and photos of the process, beginning here. Morgenthaler was a guest of the people of Miller’s Gin, who flew him over to convince his skeptical mind that the Icelandic water actually does matter to the flavor of the gin.

Anyway, we finished up at M&H and moved on to Sasha Petraske’s newest place, White Star Bar. Although White Star specializes in absinthe, this didn’t feel like the night to expand my mind; I’ve only tried three or four products in the absinthe category. Instead, I tried something off the well-curated cocktail menu–the American Trilogy, a mix of rye whiskey, applejack, and orange bitters.

I also got to chat, albeit very briefly, with Jamie Boudreau and Paul Clarke, both of whom were in town to participate in the competition. Boudreau was there to dazzle the judges with his gleaming white smile, and Paul was along to snap his fellow judges out of Jamie’s spell. “Don’t fall for his charm! It’s a trap!”

But our visit was altogether too short because everyone else was off to Employees Only bar for a late-night nosh and more drinks. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to barge in on my crash-pad host at 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 am, and I had a busy Saturday planned, adopting the aforementioned kitten with Mrs. Bitters.

I’ll post again soon on results from the competition, plus a couple of images that James e-mailed, and maybe a couple more jokes at Paul Clarke’s expense.

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I got nothing.

We’ve been so busy this month that I just didn’t get my shit together in time to even make anything from scratch, let alone write it up.

That doesn’t mean I won’t have something else to post this week, though. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, point your eyes at Doug’s Pegu Blog for his wrap-up post, later this week, and thanks to Doug for hosting.