(llustration: Nurul Hana Anwar)(Illustration: Nurul Hana Anwar)
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.
(Illustration: Nurul Hana Anwar)(Illustration: Nurul Hana Anwar)
Covfefe Negroniby 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.
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.
The NationTwitterFounded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.