For the next few weeks, I'll be posting occasional stories about my father. He was the kind of man who deserves a little more than a shout-out from an obscure food blog, but I think he'd be pleased since the obscure blogger is his youngest daughter.
This will be my first summer without my father, and while I'm really not sure what I'm going to do with myself without him, I do know what to drink when I'm missing him on long, warm evenings: Gin and Tonic. Specifically, Tanqueray and Tonic.
T & T was my dad's signature drink. Mine, as you know, is the Negroni. He never fully understood my rather potent pick, but he did respect it. In fact, I like to think that my dad was proud of me for being a girl who likes gin. (My sister inherited the T & T affection, so it is true that we are both our father's daughters.) My mother once warned me, as I was measuring out a Negroni at Thanksgiving one year, "Catherine, no man likes a girl who drinks gin!" Well, I know more than a few men who do.
Tanqueray makes me think of my favorite man, my dad. I can see him now, reaching for the bottle on the high shelf in our pantry, and grabbing his silver shot glass. When I was a kid, I'd watch him mix his drink and think how absolutely delicious he made it look, slicing up a lime and squeezing it over the ice cubes. He'd take a sip and say, "Ah. Life is good." Now that I'm older, I understand the beauty in a well-made cocktail and how one (or two or three, but my dad never had too many) can vastly improve the quality of an evening. That's a lesson from my father that I will never forget: Enjoy your life, and have a gin and tonic.
Do you have a signature hot weather drink? Leave it in the comments and I'll post your favorites all summer long!
8 comments:
Thanks for sharing your dad's favorite drink. I used to be a big T&T fan, then my friend Howard got me hooked on Bombay Sapphire Martinis. But my real favorite summer drink is Campari with soda on ice. It's very refreshing on a hot day.
(BTW, it's Tanqueray, with a "q"!)
Thank you, WBTS! My father would have teased me relentlessly for that spelling mistake! I can't believe how badly I messed that one up. Oops.
And thanks for sharing your favorite summer drink. I like Campari and soda on ice, too. It's bitter, but in a good way.
I love hearing that your Dad had a signature drink, especially one that I can appreciate. There is NOTHING more refreshing on a summer day than a gin and tonic with a squeeze of lime! My parents used to drink them, and I always thought they looked so good in their glasses with condensation running down the side.
I grew up in a family devoted (perhaps overly so) to cocktail hour, especially in the summer. To this day, the smell of gin tells me the temperature is above 65 degrees; the smell of bourbon means we may have a fire in the fireplace (these were central New York summers, before global warming). Summer would not be summer without G&T's!
what a great story. thanks for sharing-- i am not a big gin fan, but will have a T&T this summer to toast your dad :)
for what it's worth, my favorite hot-weather drink is an ice cold beer, usually light, that i can chug. sophisticated i know.
Nice story. I think your dad would be most proud of any tribute from this blog. My father is my biggest fan too.
Lovely post which I'm sure your dad would love! I love a T&T - best kind of gin there is, IMO.
Unfortunately my first experience with gin was half a bottle of Tanqueray about 8 years ago. I've had gin once since then. I will admit that the gin and tonic looks extremely inviting and refreshing, however I've always been a rum fan in the summer time. My favorite drink is the classic daiquiri, and I'm not talking about the cloying strawberry mess you'd get at a chain restaurant. I mean a tasty concoction of rum, fresh lime juice, and a little simple syrup. To me, nothing beats a good cigar with a daiquiri while relaxing on the porch on a hot summer day!
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