密歇根新闻广播 向我们怀念的餐厅和酒吧工作人员致敬

There's a bracing¹ herbal, minty, chocolaty, funky², bitter Italian liqueur (an amaro) called Fernet Branca. It became wildly popular among people who work at bars. It's often used in cocktails³, but if you're a bartender visiting another bar, your colleague might pour you a shot as a greeting, a bartender's handshake. During these days of the COVID-19 pandemic, let's call it a "bartender's elbow bump."

"If the bartender really likes you as a customer, they might pour you a Fernet shot. If you've never had a Fernet shot, just be warned. You might think they hate you, but they actually love you," explained Tammy Coxen of Tammy's Tastings.

As I mentioned, it is bracing.

In honor of those in the restaurant and bar industry, Coxen decided⁵ to share the Toronto with us. It's a twist on the Old Fashioned, the original cocktail⁴.

"We are making this today kind of in solidarity⁶ for all the folks in the restaurant and bar industry who are really struggling right now," Coxen said.

It's really rough with restaurants closed to dine-in customers and bars closed.

The Toronto is one of my favorite cocktails and one of the very first I learned to make at one of Coxen's cocktail classes about eight years ago. My first sip⁷ of a Toronto reminded me of the aroma⁸ you might get from a cedar⁹ cigar box.

It's rare that I can look at the bottles on the counter where Coxen mixes drinks and immediately know what she's going to mix. I did this time. A bottle of Long Road Distillers Straight Rye Whisky, a bottle of Fernet Branca, Angostura Bitters, and an orange.

"Even though this is called Toronto, I wouldn't use most Canadian whiskeys," Coxen said, adding, "Any American rye whiskey works really well here."

You can use a Canadian rye whiskey if you can find one.

Toronto

2 oz rye whiskey

1/4 oz simple syrup¹⁰ (equal parts water and sugar)

1/4 oz Fernet Branca

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Garnish¹¹: orange peel

Add liquid ingredients to a mixing vessel¹². Add ice. Stir long enough to dilute¹³ and chill. Strain into a coupe or martini glass. Express the oils from the orange peel and drop peel into the glass.

That first Tammy's Tastings cocktail class I took was called "Stirred, not Shaken." As the class learned that night, if there are no cloudy ingredients, the drink should be stirred.

"That's right. No citrus in here. So you want to stir it with ice for a good long time, even though this is kind of a riff on an old fashioned it's not served on the rocks," Coxen said. "You want to make sure that it's as cold as you want it to be when you are finished making it, because it'll never get any colder after that."

When I took a sip, it definitely was the Toronto I remembered. I mentioned to Coxen that I find it a really comforting drink.

"You might be the only person to ever describe Fernet as comforting," she responded.

To me the Toronto is a reminder¹⁴ that so many of the folks that we turn to for these lovely drinks and for the great food that we're all probably missing right now are having a hard time.

"Now, more than ever, I think those of us who are mixing drinks and cooking at home can recognize the work that the cooks and the bartenders and the dishwashers, especially the dishwashers, do in restaurants and bars. So, yeah, our hearts goout to all of you," Coxen said.

There are a lot of relief funds being made available to help them make it through this period.

Cheers to all our friends we miss.

1 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

2 funky   

adj.畏缩的，怯懦的，霉臭的；adj.新式的，时髦的

参考例句：

• The kitchen smelled really funky.这个厨房有一股霉味。
• It is a funky restaurant with very interesting art on the walls.那是一家墙上挂着很有意思的绘画的新潮餐馆。

3 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

4 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

7 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

8 aroma   

n.香气，芬芳，芳香

参考例句：

• The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
• The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。

9 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

10 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

11 garnish   

n.装饰，添饰，配菜

参考例句：

• The turkey was served with a garnish of parsley.做好的火鸡上面配上芫荽菜做点缀。
• The sandwiches came with a rather limp salad garnish.三明治配着蔫软的色拉饰菜。

12 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

13 dilute   

vt.稀释，冲淡；adj.稀释的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The water will dilute the wine.水能使酒变淡。
• Zinc displaces the hydrogen of dilute acids.锌置换了稀酸中的氢。

14 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。