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by - February 16, 2007 - 12:59 PM
The sad truth is, we can’t choose a brand of jeans unless a celebrity endorses them. Just can’t do it. Nor can we pick a rental car service until we know some sort of professional athlete is comfortable shilling for their brand. That’s why we’re forgoing those no-name Nectarini’s we order night after night for a delicious celebrity-endorsed beverage. Because if it’s good enough for the Queen, Ernest Hemingway, or even Lyndon B. Johnson, then darn it if it isn’t good enough for mental_floss.
Queen Elizabeth II – More than tea, Her Majesty prefers a Gordon’s gin and tonic. Oh, and don’t forget the lemon slices. The British Queen takes 3 of them with each drink.
Lyndon B. Johnson – Scotch and soda. When it was hot outside, the former president loved to drive slowly around his Texas ranch in an open top convertible, taking long pulls from a large foam glass. When his cup runneth lower, Johnson simply dangled it out his window. Immediately, a Secret Service agent would run forward, grab the cup, race back to the service car following the president’s, re-fill the beverage, then hustle back to hand it off to the Prez. Secret Service with a smile.
Ernest Hemingway – While he always portrayed himself to be a man’s man, Hemingway loved daiquiris. It’s true! The man who loved boxing, fishing and bull-fighting also loved syrupy drinks– particularly the ones made at the Floridita Bar in Havana, where they substituted maschino liqueur for sugar in the diabetic writer’s rounds.
Oprah Winfrey – Lemon Drop Martinis. What can you say? I guess all the money in the world simply can’t buy class. (Just kidding, Oprah. Let’s help the healing begin, though. Invite us on your show and we’ll talk through this.)
Rush Limbaugh – Nothing by Port wine for our portly friend.
Adam Clayton Powell – The first African American to become a major figure in Congress drank Scotch with a healthy shot of milk. Supposedly, the milk calmed his ulcers while the scotch worked on his nerves.
Winston Churchill – Despite being a big fan of martinis and having a mother who was responsible for the invention of the Manhattan cocktail, Churchy preferred sipping on Johnny Walker Red!
So, what about whiskey- that delicious drink of drinks?
Sure, you’ve seen it on the list above, but it’s still a dicey choice. Here’s a quick for and against:
FOR: Frank Sinatra loved him some Jack Daniels.
AGAINST: Janis Joplin. While she loved her Southern Comfort, and always carried a fifth on stage with her, she’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for drinking.
FOR: Hunter S. Thompson – Wild Turkey on the rocks. If you’re going for an authentic Thompson though, you might need to add pills to taste.
AGAINST: Saddam Hussein – While he asked for hot water laced with honey for his last meal, Hussein’s drink of choice was whiskey on the rocks.
Comments (31)
Comment
I think it’s also worth noting that Winston Churchill’s love of champagne led Pol Roger to create a special sized bottle specifically for Churchill to drink with his breakfast every morning.
posted by Kricket on 2-16-2007 at 2:48 pm
With Hemingway, it’s worth noting that the daiquiris he drank aren’t the frozen fruit concoctions that people think of when daiquiris are mentioned, but a sweet-tart mix of rum, a little sugar syrup, and fresh lime juice. He favored a bit of a variation on it, known as either a Hemingway Martini, a Floridita, or a Papa Doble (Papa’s Double), gives the basic daiquiri extra dimension through the additions of tart grapefruit juice and lightly sweet, nutty maraschino liqueur.
posted by Cosmic Jester on 2-20-2007 at 3:39 am
When Her Majesty visited our town to celebrate Something Important, the drink of choice for settling her nerves in the New World was sherry. She required a house empty of inhabitants, a tray with a glass of sherry and her faithful butler. The reward the displaced inhabitants had was getting to place a discreet, cross-stitched sign “The Queen sat here” in the Loo. Since they lived in a university-owned building open to the public on a regular basis (did HRH know that in advance??), many got to enjoy the sign, if not the facilities. A toilet brush with fame, as it were.
posted by Lynn Heath on 2-21-2007 at 6:55 am
SOUNDS LIKE A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF FUNCTIONING ALCOHOLICS TO ME.
posted by JOHN BROWN on 2-23-2007 at 10:16 am
Having grown up in te restaurant/bar biz I especially loved this column. QUICK FOOTNOTE to Winston Churchill: He named his favorite racehorse Pol Roget. (Sorry, I don’t have the horse’s win records….)
posted by carolyn collins on 2-26-2007 at 8:02 am
SORRY to bother you – thought of this after I sent previous note: Once created a Mojito caviar for Havana restaurant and currently offer a Margarita caviar for public cinsumption. (asking for a website triggered that thought….)
posted by carolyn collins on 2-26-2007 at 8:10 am
Whoa, John Brown. Easy there. So judgmental! Are you a Christian or something?
posted by Dsquared on 2-26-2007 at 2:23 pm
Give me a tall long neck! Doesn;t matter what but nothing beats a cold one on the hot days, or cold days for that matter.
ALCOHOLICS UNANIMOUS
posted by Rich on 8-10-2007 at 6:32 am
I thought the Queen liked to get blitzed on Jaeger
posted by Furious Styles on 10-29-2007 at 3:37 pm
Churchill was once called a drunk, his response was “when I wake up I’ll be sober, when you wake up you’ll still be ugly.” He was mean when he was on the sauce.
posted by The Dude on 10-30-2007 at 11:30 am
Like Rep. Powell, the trumpet great Miles Davis was famous for drinking scotch and milk. He was said to always throw up at midnight, too. No joke.
posted by Chris Weber on 10-31-2007 at 9:02 am
Jack&Coke… mmm mmm good.
posted by TMo on 11-6-2007 at 10:36 am
Let us not forget about how Mr. Churchill also used to say that the perfect martini could be made by “pouring a cold glass of gin and looking at a bottle of vermouth”.
^_^
posted by Melee on 12-6-2007 at 11:02 am
No beer drinkers among the celebs? What will I do for a drink now?!
posted by GTT on 12-14-2007 at 10:08 am
“Because if it’s good enough for the Queen, Ernest Hemingway, or even Lyndon B. Johnson, then darn it if it isn’t good enough for mental_floss.”
This sentence just doesn’t make sense to me. I read it over and over, but it still seems wrong. The “Because if it’s good enough for…then darn it if it isn’t good” part just seems grammatically incorrect. Thanks for the information, anyway.
posted by bob hoskins on 12-16-2007 at 4:30 pm
I HAD A GREAT AUNT WHOSE FAVORITE DRINK WAS WHISKEY AND ICE COLD MILK. SHE CALLED IT HER “TIGER MILK” AND LIVED TO BE 83 DRINKING IT EVERY DAY.
posted by TIM on 12-26-2007 at 2:48 pm
Not being a fan of the parasitic British royals, or any other royals for that matter, I was disturbed to learn that we prefer the same booze, although I consider Gordon’s to be “well brand,” and prefer Boodles. I, too, order lemon rather than lime.
If the queen is drinking what I’m drinking, then I suppose she’s not as much of a nincompoop as I thought.
posted by Phyllis on 12-30-2007 at 6:06 pm
No mention of the Jack Rose?
Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart (along with many others) drank it.
posted by Amanda on 1-1-2008 at 7:06 pm
My drinking team has a nursing problem.
posted by Shannon on 2-5-2008 at 7:00 am
Phyllis, I was shocked, too. Gordon’s???
Maybe the Gordon’s we get in the states is a lesser version.
I would have gone with Bombay.
posted by Moon on 2-5-2008 at 2:19 pm
Lynn,
Not for nothing, but it would be HM, not HRH. The Sovereign uses His or Her Majesty, while members of the Royal family are His or Her Royal Highness.
But still, great anicdote! What was the building, if I may ask. I would love to see the throne in question for myself.
posted by Adrian on 5-2-2008 at 3:57 pm
actually janis joplin’s southern comfort bottle was always filled not with southern comfort but with codeine cough syrup…a double whammy of alcohol and opiates!
posted by jim on 6-15-2008 at 11:23 pm
No matter how much you want to dislike LBJ, another story pops up that makes you respect the man’s style.
posted by Fat Fred on 7-21-2008 at 9:36 am
Timmy: Mommy, I have a drinking problem.
Mom: Oh my God! Timmy, your only six! This is your no good father’s fault!
Dad: My fault? Maybe if you weren’t such a stuck up leech I wouldn’t have to drink!
Mom: You idiot! This family doesn’t need you! Get out!
dad: I’m going!
Mom: Now tell me about your drinking problem, Timmy.
Timmy: If jack has three cans of Pepsi, and he drinks one, how many does he have left?
posted by will on 8-13-2008 at 11:57 am
Not for nothin’, but Southern Comfort is actually a liqueur made from the water of life.
posted by Ryan on 8-18-2008 at 4:00 pm
Um. Wheres The Dude? He\’s like everyone\’s idol.
And he drinks white russians….
Sounds like a winner to me.
posted by Josh on 10-24-2008 at 10:52 am
To continue on subject of the Prime Minister and booze, he dreaded cocktail hour with Roosevelt (as did many others) because the President was too heavy-handed with the vermouth.
And he invented the Irish Car Bomb (j/k).
posted by recreant on 11-1-2008 at 8:56 pm
three slices of lemon for her majesty?? only one in my san miguel light thank you very much.. well thats Thailand for you..
posted by darren on 11-27-2008 at 11:20 pm
Isn’t Wild Turkey a bourbon? Anyway, where are the bourbon drinkers???
posted by Mark N on 1-23-2009 at 7:05 pm
What, no mention of absinthe, that anise-flavored concoction so popular among artists and poets in the Belle Epoque? There were many said to enjoy the drink, from Baudelaire to Van Gogh, even Aleister Crowley.
posted by Brooke on 3-15-2009 at 11:41 pm
H. S. Thompson preferred Wild Turkey on the rocks? Not per “The Kitchen Diaries”. His friends insist that he started each day with a pint (!) of scotch – I think it was Chivas Regal – on the rocks with breakfast. After finishing that, he put another pint of the same beverage in a go-cup and took it with him as he headed out. I’m not saying that he didn’t drink Wild Turkey, but a quart of Chivas before lunch would seem to indicate that it was a real favorite.
posted by Scott on 6-23-2009 at 4:30 pm