El Presidente

We are now four weeks into Trump’s Reign of Error.

We are now down one national security advisor of questionable ties to Russia, though we did pick up a new head of the EPA who doesn’t think the EPA should exist. As Flynn was being ousted from his national security post, and his access to classified material was cut off by the intelligence community, the NY Times and CNN reported on a numerous contacts between the Trump presidential campaign and Russian intelligence officers.

All of this has raised the question, again, of Trump’s own Russia ties. A Russian spy ship was spotted off the coast of our submarine base in Connecticut. It is unclear if its mission was surveillance or asset extraction. The Administration response was simply, “Emergency, everybody to get from street.”

Republican leaders in Congress, the same guys who spent two years, $7 million and some 30-40 hearings investigating Benghazi, said its all fine, no need to investigate.

Our Narcissist-in-Chief then held a long, strange trip of a press conference yesterday that has most us still feeling a little hungover.

As an appropriate hair-of-the-dog to fortify us all for this Presidents Day Weekend’s protests, it’s time for an El Presidente. ¡Azúcar!

This cocktail is perfect for it’s orange color, Spanish name, and (in my case) using the once banned illegal immigrant Havana Club rum. Some versions of the cocktail’s origin story even have it named for Cuban  President Gerardo Machado y Morales, who was elected president in 1925, became a powerful dictator and was exiled in 1933.

Actually, though, it was named for one of his predecessors, Mario Garcia Menocal. Menocal was president of Cuba from 1913-1921. His presidency started strong on a modernizing note, but his administration later deteriorated. Menocal stayed involved in politics and was part of an uprising against Machado’s dictatorial extension of power in 1931.

According to Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, the drink first appeared in a handbook for Cuban bartenders in 1924. Today there are many variations on how to make an El Presidente, different proportions of rum to vermouth, white rum v añejo rum, and how to garnish.

I went with the recipe from Jason Wilson in Boozehound.

1.5 oz aged rum (Havana Club Añejo 7 Años)

.75 oz dry vermouth (Berry is adamant it be Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc)

.75 oz curaçao (Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curaçao)

.5 teaspoon grenadine

orange twist

Stir on ice vigorously for 30 seconds, strain into a cocktail glass, twist.

Happy Friday,

Cheers!