Thirsty in LA on The Imbiber Show

When it comes to prodigious thirsts and sturdy livers, few can compare to Dan “The Imbiber” Dunn, Playboy’s “adult beverage” columnist and author of the upcoming Living Loaded: Tales of Sex, Salvation, and the Pursuit of the Never-Ending Happy Hour. On  The Imbiber Show, Dan and Mike “Stretch” Roberts talk about all things booze with wine and spirits experts, as well as taste cocktails from some of L.A.’s top bartenders (a recent episode featured Julian Cox and Damian Windsor). With guests of that caliber, it was quite an honor when Dan invited me to tape an episode of The Imbiber Show.

The episode was centered on sensory memories and playing with ingredients, inspired by Grant Achatz and the Absolut Sensory Analysis Workshop that Dan and I attended recently. Well, we started with the theme and somehow veered into the smell of ass, Perez Hilton, Dominican hookers and gay cartoon characters. Unfortunately you can barely hear me, but needless to say I was incredibly witty and extremely knowledgeable throughout the show. You can stream the episode or download it from iTunes.

Following are the recipes for the Bols Genever cocktails I made for Dan and Stretch, which were inspired by the theme. All I did was swap out the whiskey from the original cocktails and replace it with the Bols, but it’s fun to see what happens to a couple of classics when you play with the base spirit. I mistakenly doubled the amount of Bols in the Fourth Regiments I made for Dan and Stretch, but they didn’t seem to mind.

White Manhattan

• 2 oz. Bols Genever
• 1 oz. dry vermouth
• Dashes Angostura bitters
• Stir with ice and strain into a coupe / martini glass
• Garnish with a lemon twist.

Fourth Regiment Cocktail (adapted from Charles Baker)

• 1 oz. rye whiskey (Bols Genever)
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters
• 1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 1 dash The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
• Stir with ice and strain into a coupe / martini glass.
• Garnish with a lemon twist.