{"id":459,"date":"2024-11-21T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cocktailians.com\/2024\/11\/bury-the-lede.html"},"modified":"2024-11-21T10:15:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T10:15:00","slug":"bury-the-lede","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cocktailians.com\/?p=459","title":{"rendered":"Bury the Lede"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite public figures working these days is Dessa<\/a>. I describe her as a "public figure" because she's such an interesting polymath: she's an amazing musician<\/a> (singer<\/a> and rapper<\/a>), a soulful, funny writer<\/a> and poet<\/a>, a thoughtful (and thought-provoking) podcast host,<\/a> an engaging speaker<\/a>, a riveting<\/a> performer<\/a>, even an impressive baker<\/a>! (I bet she's double-jointed<\/a> and makes great soup and is an excellent bowler as well.)<\/span> She describes herself as having "quick wit, sharp pen, soft heart," and I think she's endlessly fascinating and just the bee's knees.<\/p>\n

\"BtLBut why am I writing about her here? Because a couple of days ago, she published "Bury the Lede: A Cocktail Book<\/a>" (Doomtree Press, $19.95).<\/span> The title is drawn from her most recent album, Bury the Lede<\/em><\/a>. In the book, she combines essays about songcraft with a drink recipe themed to each of the album's tracks<\/a>. It's a really interesting approach. For the drinks, she worked with Marco Zappia<\/a>, the Twin Cities barman<\/a> (described herein as "beverage maverick") behind Colita<\/a> and Martina<\/a>\u2014who makes "the most fun cocktails in America<\/a>" according to Esquire\u2014<\/em>to develop and refine the recipes. The book is a gorgeous object as well, a slim hardback volume with stunning photography by Bill<\/a> Phelps<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Aside from the wide-ranging drinks and other nuggets of lore and information sprinkled throughout the book (we'll get to those), one of my favorite parts of the book is the authorial voice; Dessa's tone is always conversational, direct, wry, and self-aware; she's knowledgeable, shares credit easily, and isn't afraid of being goofy. She begins with a paean to amateurism and its freedoms: "You get to learn only what delights you and leave the rest to the pros." In a great interview with the Minnesota Star-Tribune<\/em><\/a>, she expands on this idea: "Anytime I see someone who\u2019s excellent with what they do, I wonder if there\u2019s any way we can work together. I\u2019m an eager collaborator who\u2019s most graceful when I\u2019m collaborating with people whose skill sets are different from mine because I don\u2019t get a chance to get territorial." Her past collaborations have led her to neuroscientists<\/a>, ice<\/a> cream<\/a> makers, and the Minnesota Orchestra<\/a> (and she's no stranger to the booze business as well, working with RockFilter Distillery<\/a> on Dessa's Time and Distance<\/a> organic bourbon and Dessa's Hand Shadow<\/a> organic rye.) <\/p>\n

The essays on craft provide a glimpse of how these songs and tracks come together, and tie in nicely with the drinks. For example, "Hurricane Party<\/a>," the first track on Bury the Lede,<\/em> was inspired by the actual hurricane parties people throw in New Orleans, hunkering down together to weather the storm:<\/p>\n

\n

I wrote Bury the Lede<\/em> when it seemed like all the news was bad. The pandemic was tapering but still scary; the tenor of TV news felt apocalyptic; and it seemed everywhere an urgent need was going unmet. The hurricane party metaphor felt particularly apt. . .I think decency asks us to share some resources when we\u2019ve got \u2019em. But also, flex and revel while you can. Being alive is a temporary state of affairs, so maybe grab a drink with bubbles in it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As Zappia tells it, the song's<\/a> opening lines, "Fill the kiddie pool\/Up with prosecco" immediately suggested a sparkling drink \u00e0 la the French 75<\/a>, but the mention of "hurricane" and the nod to NOLA took him to the famously potent Pat O'Brien's drink<\/a>. The "Hurricane Party" drink combines the two, and in a nifty little lagniappe, matches the seafoam green of the Bury the Lede<\/em> cover art.<\/p>\n

\"Hurricane<\/a><\/p>\n

Each drink's essay and recipe are followed by another short, informative "Cocktail Crash Course" essay explaining one of the finer points of bartending. In "Hurricane Party"'s, Dessa passes on a brief description of why you shake cocktails (cooling, dilution, mixing), adds the pro tip that you can hear<\/em> when you've shaken a drink long enough, and notes that drinks that will be diluted further only require a "short shake." <\/p>\n

(Can I also add that it's so refreshing to read a drinks book that doesn't have the exact same introductory chapter on equipment and basic technique that is seemingly in almost every other cocktail book out there? They're ubiquitous, seemingly identical, and dullsville.) I also like that this book is written from the perspective of an amateur enthusiast\u2014working along a professional drinkmaker, to be sure\u2014but that it drops some really wide-ranging knowledge on how good drinks are made and served.<\/p>\n

For a book that contains twelve main recipes, they cover a lot of ground and go to some interesting places. "Chopper<\/a>" is a bittersweet pop song, so the drink is a pink bittersweet spritz. Pictured on the book cover, it's a variation on a Negroni Sbagliato<\/a>, but adds a cucumber oleo saccharum<\/a> and is garnished (if you really wanna wow your guests) with a bitters-sprayed bouquet of dried flowers. Impressive. "Tell Me Again<\/a>" incorporates vodka, Calpico, nocino (and they provide a recipe for DIY nocino as well!)<\/span>, sake, and a sea salt rim. "I Already Like You<\/a>" is a chocolate-hazelnut egg cream<\/a>, which arrives with the excellent, excellent suggestion that you spike it with Amaro Montenegro<\/a>. Gin Martinis make a couple appearances: batched in the freezer in "Crash<\/a>," and as deconstructed jello shots in "What If I'm Not Ready<\/a>." There's a coquito<\/a> variation and a milk-washed<\/a> tea-infused whiskey sour. <\/p>\n

I like what they did for the "Twelve to One<\/a>":<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The cocktail\u2014using the term loosely here\u2014 for this song is drawn verbatim from the second verse, so Marco cannot be held liable for its lack of sophistication.<\/p>\n

Oreos and bourbon \/ I rent a movie and I watch it in bed \/ That\u2019s a B+ Thursday \/ and the past stays asleep in my head<\/em>. . .<\/p>\n

Any of [the Oreo] varieties pairs respectably with bourbon, though I\u2019d offer that Double Stuf evokes an air of sleepover indulgence that\u2019s well suited to a self-administered weeknight remedy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And the drink is simply that: a slug of bourbon and a Double Stuf Oreo. But they also drop a recipe for the "B+ Old-Fashioned," which includes Dessa's Oreo bitters and is garnished with an Oreo. These bitters are great and I'm looking forward to trying them in some other drinks, but this was a fine Old-Fashioned:<\/p>\n

\"Bplus<\/p>\n

B+ Old-Fashioned<\/strong><\/p>\n