The Jack Kerouac and Hurricane Andrea

Here is another summer drink, a go-to of mine at this time of year if I'm not drinking beer. This may be a first, putting the Jack Kerouac recipe online. I've searched for it for years, but never been able to find it. Nobody outside of Madison seems to have heard of it, and it is only reliably made at Genna's. You can use other types of whiskey: bourbon will make it sweeter, rye is a good choice as well (Sazerac or Bulleit Rye). I do not suggest using scotch or other Irish whiskeys, you need something close to the caramel taste in Jameson.

Genna's Jack Kerouac

Jameson Whiskey
Ginger Beer (not ale)
Angostura Bitters
Lime Wedge

Fill a short tumbler with ice. Add a stiff pour of Jameson, 3-5 dashes of bitters and fill with ginger beer. Stir and garnish with lime, best if squeezed into the drink.

Some seasoned drinkers (or sailors) will notice the similarity of the Jack Kerouac to a Dark and Stormy. This is also a great summertime drink. While no Jack Kerouac, the best dark and stomy-like drink I ever had was made at the Sugarcane Raw Bar in Miami, FL. Since they had Cruzan rum, which I had never had before and which Newman always talks about, I wanted to try a Dark and Stormy. The bartender, Andrea, said that while they didn't have ginger beer, she would be happy to improvise. What resulted was a wonderous concoction I dubbed the "Hurricane Andrea", since 1) Dark and Stormy is actually a trademark of Gosling's rum, and must be made with their ginger beer 2) we were in South Florida, which had been hit by Hurricane Andrew years ago, which, before Katrina, had been the most destructive storm to ever hit the United States. Yeah, I was pretty proud of that one. The ingredients are a bit specific; I've never had one any other way, but you could probably substitute dark rum for the whiskey in the Jack Kerouac and get something close, but this is how it's done with class:

The Hurricane Andrea
Sapporo beer
ginger
simple syrup
lime
Cruzan dark rum

muddle a splash of beer, simple syrup, and ginger in a tall glass. Add rum, ice and a little more beer. Stir and garnish with lime. Drink several, and run train on the city of Miami.

Kir with Ginger-Infused Cognac

From Adam:

Here's a cool drink I've been serving a bit pre-summer dinner. I admit that I saw it on tv, but it's delicious and not that hard if you are willing to keep a bit of a bar. Basically my girlfriend got me a bottle of Hennessy for some reason that I can't figure out what to do with, and this has worked out pretty well. It's a twist on a Kir.

Kir w/ Ginger-Infused Cognac

Pinot Grigio
Creme de Cassis
Cognac
Ginger
Honey
Lemon Twist

Make the Ginger-Infused Cognac in advance:
Peel the ginger and cut into 15-20 thin slices. Place them in a large glass or small bowl and add a good amount of honey over the top. Add cognac (10ish oz) and leave out to infuse for 24-48 hours (depending on how gingery you want it). Strain and keep to use anytime.

The Kir itself:
Ideally you make this is a shaker and strain the ice out, but you can build over ice also. Add ice, 1 oz (a little less than a shot) of creme de cassis, 1oz of the ginger-infused cognac., about a glass (6ish oz) of the wine, and a bit more honey. Shake and strain into a wine glass, or, if making over ice, stir directly in your collins (tall) glass. Add the lemon twist and drink up.