Last Sunday was my birthday. The official celebration involved some of my best friends packed into a small room at my favorite bar and lots of fun, tasty cocktails, shots of whisky with the bar’s charming owner, and at least one half-gallon sized jug of beer (which was, to be clear, shared by a couple of people – or at least I hope it was). Fun, silly, very casual.
That birthday began very differently, though. At midnight on Saturday night, I was wearing a fancy dress, perched in The Gibson with its elegant, quiet vibe. To go with that grown-up setting, I was sipping the Poet’s Dream.
Clear, dry, and elegant, Poet’s Dream is simply Plymouth gin, dry vermouth, Benedictine, and orange bitters. The Benedictine gives it an herbal note, but overall, the composition is bracing but subtle. Lots of orange aromatics, but very little real sweetness.
Even though I am another year older, I am still far from actually being a mature, responsible adult. Perhaps, as my first drink of this new year, something as serious and respectable as the Poet’s Dream will set me off on the right direction.
