Dr. Maddow's Ho-Go Cocktail

In addition to my enthusiasm for compassion for convicted terrorists, depression-era photos highlighting the contradictions in American society, abstract art about the death penalty, and Manson girls, I also like cocktails.

To lighten the mood this Friday afternoon, I will share with you what I plan on drinking when I get home after work, the Last Word cocktail. Imperfectly Vertical friend and blog-hit-benefactress, Dr. Rachel Maddow, introduced me to the drink. On a cocktail napkin, she wrote:

LAST WORD

MARASCHINO
LIME
GIN
GREEN CHARTREUSE

Equal parts. Shake and strain. No garnish.

***

She also, with the use of arrows from LIME and GIN to the words LEMON and RYE, gave the recipe for a Last Word variant, the Final Ward.

On the back of the napkin she wrote "haut-gout", along with its charming phonetic pronunciation, "ho-go," describing the French term for the flavor profile of the maraschino.

So, tonight, put these ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until the shaker is so cold that it hurts your hand. Then pour it into a chilled cocktail glass. After drinking three of them, say something smart, cutting, and unarguably true about the need for universal health care, followed by an incisive comment about infectious diseases in American prisons.

Know that you are channeling America's sharpest political commentator.

Or at least drinking and talking like her. As best as any of us can, anyway.

Cheers.