A Buck is a cocktail so old; apparently it’s come back from obscurity a number of times, become popular again only to fall back off the radar. What Mr. Booze loves about it is that The Buck can be made with darn near any spirit you’re partial to. It’s a summer drink, made in a tall glass as a liquid weapon against a muggy August evening. I drink my Bucks in the carport on hot evenings with a little jazz n the background. The sound of summer cicadas and a Buck…how sweat it is.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Booze (Apple Jack or Bourbon or Gin or Rum or Tequila or Rye or Vodka)
• 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice (whichever you happen to prefer)
• Ginger Ale or Ginger Beer (Mr. Booze always goes with Ginger Beer)

Fill a tall Hi-Ball glass 2/3rds up with cracked or crushed ice, add the juice, the ribbon peel of the lime or lemon, and the booze. Fill to the top with the ginger then stir softly.

Find aluminum lawn chair in a shady spot and enjoy.

There’s a great scene in the hilarious, 1963 movie, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, where, while trapped on a drunk’s plane 2 boobs are ordered to the cabin bar to “whip up a couple of Old Fashioned. For every reason I laugh every time at this scene and used to wonder what was this drink that Jim Backus would send Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hacket to the back of a screaming twin-prop to whip up? Well, after I had my first Old Fashioned, I understood.This drink is damn good. Apparently, an honest to goodness bourbon distiller and a bartender chum came up with this classic back in 1900. Yes sir, Colonel James E. Pepper and a bartender at the Pendennis Club in Louisville were responsible.

This one takes a bit of time and trouble to make but she drinks well and is a drink absolutely conducive to conversation. 3 friends plus 6 old fashioned = 2+ hours of bar talk. There’s just something about bourbon that loosens lips.

Here We Go –

• 2 ounces Bourbon (this drink was made for Early Times)
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 1 White Sugar Cube
• Soda Water.

Place sugar cube in an old fashioned glass and soak with the bitters. Add a splash of soda to cover the cube and crush cube with a bar spoon. Add cracked ice to near top of glass. Add bourbon to fill. Stir and garnish with a slice of orange and a maraschino cherry. I add a twist of lemon peel. Enjoy and gab away.

You go to the fridge and reach for a beer after you cut and trim the lawn and I get it, it’s hot, your itchy, you’ve earned a cold one. But…if you ever happen to wait ‘til after 5pm on a Summer’s day to tackle your yard, I highly recommend a tall, cold Tom Collins as your reward. Put the mower away, grab a shower and head down to your bar. Put on some Herb Albert’s Tijuana Brass, mix yourself up this cocktail and slide on in to Saturday evening. The Tom Collins is a Summer Time Classic. It fights with a Gin and Tonic for my attention from June ‘til September. Strong, sour and delicious, you need to know how to make a good one.

This recipe calls for simple syrup; boil a cup of sugar to a cup of water, stir ‘til clear. Leave out to chill to room temperature. Bottle and refrigerate. It’ll last a couple months in there.

Here we go –

• 3 ounces Gin
• 2 tsp. Simple syrup (feel free to add an extra if you like sweet)
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• cold club soda

Shake the gin, syrup, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into tall glass half filled with cracked ice. Pour soda to fill. Sink a slice of orange and/or lemon and a maraschino cherry. Add a stirrer and relax to the sounds of Herb Albert’s Whipped Cream & Other Delights.

Simple, subtle and absolutely worth mentioning. This drink involves little mixing, just the proper ingredients, and the right glass. If you mix it perfectly and have the right Ginger on hand, you’ll be hard-pressed to ever order a rum and coke on a night out again. You’ll fall in love with this underground classic. For years, the quick pour of the golf-pro, the Ad exec, and the Bank VP, the Bourbon and Ginger will become your poker staple. A great drink for Fall and Winter; not too sweet, easy to drink, nice on the stomach, quick to mix.

You have to have the right glass for this one. Go to a thrift shop, garage sale, kitsch shop or in an old box in your parent’s basement and find a set of Hi-Ball glasses. Ideally, they should stand around six or seven inches tall. The classics of the day came with naughty cartoons or 60’s, geometric patterns stenciled on them. You’ll need a set.

Here we go:
- 2 Ounces good Bourbon
- Ginger Beer to fill.

When it comes to a Bourbon and Ginger, Ginger Beer is where you need to go. Mr. Booze’s absolute favorite brand is Goya. It’s rich and gingery to the point of being almost peppery. Fill your glass half up with ice; add a stir stick. Add your bourbon then fill to near top with the ginger beer. Stir sharply ‘til its frothy. You can throw in a cherry if it is Christmas.