Mission Mission

You know, on these hot summer days, when you want something a little more complicated than a beer, but making a cocktail just seems too hard, and leaving your backyard seems a *lot* too hard… just make a shandy! Sneak Attack + aranciata works pretty good, but half the fun is playing with different combos.

Let’s get to work!

Update (5:16pm): This combo works pretty good too…

Not nearly as good as the other two marg options I’ve mentioned today, but it contains real tequila, it’s a damn sight better than any of the other BuzzBallz, and, to be honest, it’s on par with or better than most dive bar margaritas (not including all the good options we have here in the Mission, obvi).

My friends couldn’t believe they charged me $9 for dusty brown syrup with no alcohol left in it, but it was fun! You could taste in every sip the 60 years of nobody ever ordering Campari, in that dark little room with the best jukebox in the world.

I got the mini Coronas, but even still, Simon had to smash his nose in to get his lips around the edge of Nattles’ little mason jar. But it made the drink even better! Because he had to really work for it!! (Right, Simon?)

Anyway they’re good because if you make them at home (as opposed to having them at Chevys on the water) you can fine-tune them with all the ingredients you like best.

We were about to get on the bridge when we realized we were in a borrowed camper that didn’t have a FasTrak, and we didn’t have quite enough cash for the rush hour toll. So I swerved off I-80 and into the Chevys parking lot and it was awesome.

Our pal Paul (of the “Drink of the Week” segment on BFF.fm’s “Weak Ledes” show starring Nick Pal, formerly of the “Drink of the Week” column on Mission Mission) points out that Trick Dog has some kind of Malort!

(Somebody on Twitter points out that it’s not actual Malort, so to Malort lovers it’ll probably be like when I order a Fernet at some weird bar and they give me the “Fernet” that’s made in Colorado: it’s fine but it’s not Fernet.)

In any case, possibly really good news for Malort lovers probably? And also, does anyplace in this town have actual Malort?

For years I’ve been trying to come up with a carrot juice-based brunch drink. The tomato juice-based Bloody Mary is one of the most famous and beloved drinks of all time, so why not something with carrot, right? About a decade ago I tried something involving a ton of carrot juice and a ton of Ketel One, and a whole banana as garnish. It was a waste of a ton of carrot juice and a ton of Ketel One and a whole banana.

Now, I’m not saying the El-ahrairah is gonna join the Bloody Mary in the cocktail hall of fame, but it is damn good. The ginger helps mellow the carrot, and the dark rum stands up to all of it better than Ketel One would.

And it goes great with Barrelhead Brewhouse‘s BRUNCH POUTINE.

These Thistle guys (note that their URL is thistlechangeyou.com) (wait, so is it pronounced “this’ll”?) were giving out sample shots of their 100% raw, cold-pressed kale juice the other day on Valencia, so we struck up a conversation and ended up buying some other juices to go. But, us being us, we needed to combine them with alcohol in order to consume. It was awesome. Fancy juice is the bomb.

Next I’m gonna try combining the kale juice (which is called “Verdance” and also contains apple, celery, cucumber, spinach, parsley, lemon and ginger) with mezcal!

(We got the idea of a carrot-orange mimosa from the new kitchen staff at Broken Record btw.)

They call it firewater, but I think the aging process mellows it out a lot because I found this stuff to be very smooth indeed. We did shots to cap off a very nice homemade dinner, and it made for a lovely dessert. I’d drink it all the time if I could.

[Photo by Nattles]

You’re right, no Fernet is as good as Fernet Branca, but sometimes it’s fun to branch out a little. My friend Simon recently hosted a Fernet party, most of which I do not remember, but according to this photo I just found, we drank this concoction. And it looks pretty good. (I do remember the Argentine Fernet was delivered to the party by someone who on the event invite expressed profound distaste for Fernet of all kinds. It was nice that she came to her senses and decided to participate.)

Looks real nice in that gorgeous Fernet Branca glass too.