Casey's Last Stand (Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Blue Blazer)

The Blue Blazer. The Blue frickin' Blazer. Dave Wondrich did one on national television for Conan O' Brien. Yes, I get that it's Jerry Thomas and I have an abundance of respect for this trailblazing bartender. . .

BUT. . .

I want to hate this drink. I want to dismiss it and put it out there with the rest of the show-pony flaming drinks that were all the rage at the same time as cocaine and Fuzzy Navels were all the rage. Seems like everybody has been so busy fawning over JT that to slam any of his creations seems like it'd come across as blasphemé. But c'mon, this is flair bartending circa 1894, and we're talking whiskey and water. The only reason we talk about it is because it's on fire. . .

. . . you see, I struggle with the respect issue, particularly working at a restaurant. Decades of showboating a-holes flipping bottles, speed pouring ten shots at a time, stupid names like the Woo Hoo, Adios MFers, Oatmeal Cookie shots. . .oh, and let's not forget the ubiquitous 'tinis . . . let's just leave it at this; it takes more work than you'd think to become a respected bartender because there are years of gravity working against you. . .

. . . and yet I'm still talking about the Blue Blazer and maybe I am still talking about it because it's on fire and maybe I'm not. You see, Casey, an extraordinarily talented young bartender, texted me and said it was his last night at Café Presse and I should try his Blue Blazer. The video here, a cellphone capture, shows him in action. The flavors, actually, were just fine. In fact, it was tasty.

So I owe Jerry Thomas a bit of an apology. Yeah, I'm kind of tired of him right now, just a little too much exposure, but that's not his fault. And yeah, I have to begrudgingly give it up for the Blazer. Fine. I'm gonna have to find something new to rant and bitch about, I guess.