Knee-Bend
(aka the Kaepernickebein)
by David Wondrich
The Knickebein—or, roughly, “Knee-Bend”—was a German-American drink of the 19th century with an egg yolk floating in it, a whole bunch of sweet liqueur, and a foamy egg-white top. For this modern tribute to principled protest, I kept the egg white and a splash of liqueur but replaced everything else with good American spirits and a touch of lemon juice. There’s a little bitterness in it to remind us of the bitter reason why we protest.
Stir together in cocktail shaker:
½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp white sugar
Add:
1¼ oz well-aged California brandy
¾ oz straight rye whiskey
1 tsp Amaro CioCiaro or other orange-heavy Italian amaro
½ oz raw egg white*
Shake viciously and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Dot five to six drops of Peychaud’s Bitters on the egg foam in a row running around the left-hand rim of the glass and, using a toothpick, draw them out into parallel red stripes.
*This is much easier to measure if you whip it lightly and briefly with a fork first. Or you can just say “To hell with it” and leave it out entirely. It’s your drink. You’ll have to forget about the nifty red-and-white stripes, though.
David Wondrich, the James Beard Award–winning author of Imbibe, is the senior drinks columnist at The Daily Beast, after putting in a decade and a half as Esquire’s drinks correspondent. He lives in Brooklyn.
Covfefe Negroni
by Naomi Gordon-Loebl
What is “covfefe”? It could be the Orange One’s Reddit password; it could be the name of a hideous new luxury-condo complex he’s planning in Downtown Brooklyn. For now, let’s say it’s a cocktail: a Negroni variation we can all raise in a toast the day we finally kick him out of office (and perhaps drink to soothe our covfefe woes along the way).
Add to a mixing glass filled with ice:
1 oz dark rum
1 oz sweet vermouth
½ oz extra-strong, freshly brewed covfefe coffee
½ oz Campari
Stir until thoroughly chilled. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass and garnish with an orange peel.
Naomi Gordon-Loebl is the internship director and research editor at the Nation Institute.
Russian Interference
by Megan Barnes
Three of these and you won’t even care that your election was stolen. I find vodka to be a rather boring spirit to work with, so I added aquavit for that coriander/caraway flavor, St-Germain for a hint of lychee and pear, and citrus to balance out the cocktail.
Add to a cocktail shaker with ice:
1 oz vodka
½ oz aquavit
½ oz St-Germain
¾ oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
Shake, strain, and serve in a coupe with a mint garnish.
Megan Barnes is the beverage director of Espita Mezcaleria in Washington, DC.
