FCB: A non-religous Easter and a Scotch-based drink

In which Friday Cocktail Blogging makes a (hopefully) stealthy return (just like a much too drunk husband enters the bedroom after a nite out with the blokes ? [1] ) Written while copiously consuming the drink mentioned below and the hi-fi belting out classic Ghazals such as Main Nashe Mein Hoon, Hungama Kyon Hai (Thodisi Jo Pee li Hain), (you get the drift) etc……..

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It’s a long weekend here down-under, with both Good Friday and Easter Monday being holidays (in Tasmania, they even take Easter Tuesday off)! What tickles me however, is the notion I gathered over the close-to-an-year I have been here; that the Aussies are really not that religious. At least not in the open, in your face, all too preachy manner of the US religious right. The Oz attitude towards religion is like most other things in their life: it is something that exists in the world, something to tolerate while getting on with the important stuff like cheap-beer chugging, bbq-ing and general partying.

Therefore, they make the best of it – by taking holidays and grabbing a chance to get pissed. Even as I type, I can hear shouts of drunken revelry in nearby apartments no doubt celebrating the crucification in some weird manner.

And in my mind, the current prevalent images of Easter are formed – not by resurrection, or even the colored eggs – but by the posters plastered all across the university: Enticements to attend weekend parties in which ‘Easter’ bunnies in their coquettish garbs are the focal point (for example see this).

Compare this state of affairs with the US, where during my first six years in New York state, we did not even get Good Friday holidays (a big surprise to us initially as it used to be holiday in ‘secular’ India as well).

Anyhow, I am attempting to make the best of the situation, even with the temporary pseudo-bachelorhood state [worthy of a separate post by itself].

Add to this, it is the colorful festival of Holi in India.

So really, little excuse not to drink. And overall, a good reason for the FCB to return.

In that spirit, recently we have been trying out cocktails with Scotch. Now, if it is a single-malt Scotch, then mixing a nip with anything other than a hint of H₂O, is pure sacrilege. However, if it is blended malt that you have in the kitchen cupboard, then be a bit adventurous, and venture with some of those juices and liqueurs. In particular, I have realised that the orangy flavor of Triple-Sec/Cointreau goes well with Scotch. So here goes a recipe, which is sometimes referred to as the High Voltage, while I have named it as:

The Confused Scotsman

• 2 parts Scotch (I used Ballantine’s 12-year old blend)

• 1 part Triple-Sec (1.5 if you like it sweeter) [recommended you use regular Triple-sec rather than Cointreau, which will make it much too sweet)
• 0.5-1 part lime fresh lime juice (depends on taste and tartness of the lime)
• Soda water for topping

Mix all ingredients except Soda water in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously (and I mean vigorous). Strain into a old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Top with Soda water. Now I actually prefer it without the soda-water, especially if the lime if fresh enough and the mix has been shaken well enough, but the choice is yours.

Goes well with ghazals with a romantic/unrequited-love/pining theme or even an old film-noir [or, as in my case, reading hard-boiled police detective stories set in Edinburgh].

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[1]: Yes, my metaphors suck.