A suitable drink to accompany Noir Friday?

[Sir David]

I can't speak for the movies, where no-one seems to drink anything but neat Scotch, but the Philip Marlowe of the printed page certainly had more varied tastes. From the pages of The Long Goodbye we find him drinking a Gimlet:

 

"A real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else" 

 

(Though I personally serve it over ice.) 

 

If it seems a tad heavy on the Rose's it may just reflect the possibly awful quality of the gin he may have been drinking back then, but I don't mind it...in fact I think I may just make one as my afternoon's viewing continues. 

 

Anyhow, it set me thinking about other suitable drinks for Noir Friday: I'd love to hear some suggestions and try them myself, of course! 

 

 

[trsquare]

Tequila Mockingbird, except that I don't know if "To Kill A Mockingbird" would be considered noir.  However, we could have a martini, champagne cocktail, or just straight scotch (neat or over rocks).  

 

For those of us who don't smoke, we could always look for the candy cigarettes, which were wrapped in paper, and you could pretend.

[Bill Holmes]

I quit smoking too long ago to start again, and although my bourbon days (and nights, and afternoons) are mostly behind me, that seems like the appropriate cocktail for noir.

 

(I would prefer the frozen margaritas I already made if that won't reduce my pretense of cool...)

[PiercingMildred]

I'd say, gin, amaretto, tonic with a squeeze of fresh lime... Yum.

[Winston Smith]

Ive stayed with a traditional Gin Martini...although tonite I switched to an old standby - the Screwdriver.

 

All into a shaker w/ 3 ice cubes

3+ Oz Gin ( stir a bit/do something else for a cpl of minutes)

½ Oz Dry Vermouth ( stir a bit – go put the olives on a skewer)

Shake or stir about 10 seconds (stirred comes out clear/shaken cloudy)

3 Olives ( always an odd number)

 

* Chilled Martini glass

 

Cheers David!

[Chris Pierce]

Vodka tonics,are what I used to drink. Bourbon looks cool in the movies,but it's bad news in reality.

[Sir David]

I quit smoking too long ago to start again, and although my bourbon days (and nights, and afternoons) are mostly behind me, that seems like the appropriate cocktail for noir.

 

(I would prefer the frozen margaritas I already made if that won't reduce my pretense of cool...)

Hot days are good days for Margaritas...I'm no snob: sound good to me! 

[Sir David]

Tequila Mockingbird, except that I don't know if "To Kill A Mockingbird" would be considered noir.  However, we could have a martini, champagne cocktail, or just straight scotch (neat or over rocks).  

 

For those of us who don't smoke, we could always look for the candy cigarettes, which were wrapped in paper, and you could pretend.

Hmmm, could be interesting: I've dug up a recipe and am certainly going to try it! 

 

1 Jalapeño pepper slice

2 oz Tequila

1.5 oz Watermelon-Basil Purée

0.75 oz Fresh lime juice

0.75 oz Agave syrup (equal parts agave nectar and water)

 

Muddle the pepper slice in a shaker; add ice and all the other ingredients, shake until chilled and pour! 

[Sir David]

Ive stayed with a traditional Gin Martini...although tonite I switched to an old standby - the Screwdriver.

 

All into a shaker w/ 3 ice cubes

3+ Oz Gin ( stir a bit/do something else for a cpl of minutes)

½ Oz Dry Vermouth ( stir a bit – go put the olives on a skewer)

Shake or stir about 10 seconds (stirred comes out clear/shaken cloudy)

3 Olives ( always an odd number)

 

* Chilled Martini glass

 

Cheers David!

Cheers!!

 

Funny how that odd number works...I always have to have three cherries in my whisky sour (all of which are "donated" to the wife, of course!)

[cigarjoe]

John D. McDonald's character Travis McGee was fond of Boodles Gin and bitters ;-)

[vagabond1]

manhattan 

or straight scotch

[Walked Alone]

Perhaps a gin martini, shaken and bruised.

 

Can't go wrong with scotch or whiskey in a tumbler.

[cigarjoe]

Bennie, in Neo Noir Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia drinks tequila right out of the bottle.

[Jeff G]

Yamazaki 12 Year went perfectly with Murder, My Sweet last night.

[MaryJacobi]

How about the Vesper? I think I'll try this next Friday. 

 

3 oz gin

1 oz vodka

1/2 oz Lillet Blonde

 

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

[Chris Pierce]

Look here folks. Do it like I do....get a dirty dame,at a dirty bar,preferably one shot in B&W..(I haven't found one yet, but it doesn't keep me from trying) and no matter what you drink....it goes perfectly with the movie.

(For the ladies...find a cheap detective,or a heavy!) ????

[dwallace]

Let's not forget that prohibition made gin.  Gin was the poor man's drink prior to prohibition.  Then all the cocktails with prohibition.  Gin at any time was most terrible.  Now they have real whiskey again and enjoying it.  

 

I agree it is mostly Hollywood and their idea, but it goes with the masculine image, even Mildred Pierce drinking it neat.

[dianelewis]

If i drank the way these folks did in these movies, conversation and walking would be quite difficult!  I guess I'm a light-weight!  Hahahaha!

[CitizenKing]

Vodka tonics,are what I used to drink. Bourbon looks cool in the movies,but it's bad news in reality.

 

I have to disagree with you about bourbon, but I grant that it is an acquired taste.  Good bourbon is terrific, though I doubt many of the characters in the movies are drinking good bourbon.  In fact, I doubt they would drink bourbon at all.  Back then it was probably cheap rye whiskey, or some rotgut that was imitating rye.  It goes well with the self-loathing.

 

On a more cheerful note, the characters in The Thin Man (no, not noir, but moving in the right direction) were happily imbibing from beginning to end.  Doesn't seem conducive to solving mysteries.  That movie was set near the end of prohibition, so they would have been drinking cocktails designed to mask the poor quality of the booze.  It was funny then, but we have a harder time laughing at alcoholism today.

[Chris Pierce]

I have to disagree with you about bourbon, but I grant that it is an acquired taste. Good bourbon is terrific, though I doubt many of the characters in the movies are drinking good bourbon. In fact, I doubt they would drink bourbon at all. Back then it was probably cheap rye whiskey, or some rotgut that was imitating rye. It goes well with the self-loathing.

 

On a more cheerful note, the characters in The Thin Man (no, not noir, but moving in the right direction) were happily imbibing from beginning to end. Doesn't seem conducive to solving mysteries. That movie was set near the end of prohibition, so they would have been drinking cocktails designed to mask the poor quality of the booze. It was funny then, but we have a harder time laughing at alcoholism today.

That's fine if you like it. I've seen too many times how bourbon turns on people,including myself. I'll pass on that.

[Sir David]

I have to disagree with you about bourbon, but I grant that it is an acquired taste.  Good bourbon is terrific, though I doubt many of the characters in the movies are drinking good bourbon.  In fact, I doubt they would drink bourbon at all.  Back then it was probably cheap rye whiskey, or some rotgut that was imitating rye.  It goes well with the self-loathing.

 

On a more cheerful note, the characters in The Thin Man (no, not noir, but moving in the right direction) were happily imbibing from beginning to end.  Doesn't seem conducive to solving mysteries.  That movie was set near the end of prohibition, so they would have been drinking cocktails designed to mask the poor quality of the booze.  It was funny then, but we have a harder time laughing at alcoholism today.

I love The Thin Man series, though I always wondered how those two were even conscious most of the time, let alone being out there solving crime! 

[NoirPawn]

Either a gin martini stirred not shaken, or rye.  Been meaning to try a highball one day, too.  

 

Speaking of rye, since trying it I have moved on from bourbon.  I really like the stuff.  The Atlantic has an interesting article about the history of rye:  http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/09/how-rye-came-back/375061/

[LadyinBlack]

I can't speak for the movies, where no-one seems to drink anything but neat Scotch, but the Philip Marlowe of the printed page certainly had more varied tastes. From the pages of The Long Goodbye we find him drinking a Gimlet:

 

The gimlet was the drink of choice of Terry Lennox, with whom Marlowe had a bromance in The Long Goodbye.  I've never had one but plan to correct that oversight ASAP

[Sir David]

The gimlet was the drink of choice of Terry Lennox, with whom Marlowe had a bromance in The Long Goodbye.  I've never had one but plan to correct that oversight ASAP

I always liked that Chandler let Marlowe have a friend...all to often in the hard-boiled world friends are used and abused as needed to move the plot forward. 

[Swithin]

If memory serves, Scotch is the only drink mentioned in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. With a water chaser. Double water chaser if the Scotch isn't so good.