
A.J. Rathbun Blog
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I’m the author of Ginger Bliss & the Violet Fizz, Good Spirits, and other books, the Seattle Magazine Bar Hop columnist and write the blog Spiked Punch. Sip slowly on cocktail recipes, booze news, liqueurs legends and lore, and a heaping helping of party talk.
A.J. Rathbun Blog
1w ago
It is almost silly to have an intro to A Study in Scarlet Cocktail Talk – I mean, is it the most famous detective story of all? Mayyyyybe not, and maybe not even the most famous Sherlock Holmes story (Baskerville,…
The post Cocktail Talk: A Study in Scarlet appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
1w ago
Here’s the thing: I was drinking this drink with this name before said name showed up on the tip of the tongue of every pirate thanks to a famous movie that then became like, what, five famous movies? Are there…
The post What I’m Drinking: The Black Pearl appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
2w ago
Well, it’s January, and I know these days a few fair amount of folks take part in dry January, or Dryuary (I made that last name up right now), both cause of knowing folks that do it and cause of…
The post What I’m Drinking: The Trocadero appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
2w ago
In a past post, I gave a shout out to this particular episode of the original Perry Mason series, and in said post (as, perhaps, in others) I made mention of not being as big a fan of the Perry…
The post Cocktail Talk: The Case of the Fancy Figures appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
1M ago
Ah, here we are, 2025. If you can believe it – a new year, and one that would have seemed impossibly futuristic to a young me. Of course, the things that appeared top of the importance list to young me…
The post What I’m Drinking: An Elusive Memory appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
1M ago
Well, it’s already deep into the winter holiday season, and I haven’t yet put up a sparkly drink suggestion for your holiday gatherings, because I am lazy, or busy, or some combination of the two? Either/or, you may still need…
The post What I’m Drinking: How Silver-Sweet appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
1M ago
I decided that I needed to have a second Cocktail Talk from the Georges Simenon novel Maigret’s Revolver (starring Inspector Maigret, as you might surmise). Be sure to read the Maigret’s Revolver Part I Cocktail Talk to get an overview…
The post Cocktail Talk: Maigret’s Revolver, Part II appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
2M ago
My collecting of Inspector Maigret (the Parisian policeman made famous in an amazing array of novels by Georges Simenon) continues apace, as they say, if perhaps not at the speed they mean when saying it, most recently when I picked…
The post Cocktail Talk: Maigret’s Revolver, Part I appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
2M ago
You might think that I’m in error here, in my typing, or that I’ve gone off the rails into some other universe, or parallel time range, or some other high-brow theoretical bar or lounge where the Sazerac, one of the…
The post What I’m Drinking: The Zazarac appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more
A.J. Rathbun Blog
2M ago
Here’s a swell quote from a swell old pocket book called Suddenly A Corpse, by the legal thriller/crime/pulp master Harold Q. Masur, or Hal Masur, or just old HQM, as his pals used to call him (I hope). It stars…
The post Cocktail Talk: Suddenly a Corpse appeared first on A.J. Rathbun ..read more