Alcoholic writers and their favorite drinks

Creative people, and especially writers, are not averse to regularly pouring over the collar. Some struggle with boredom in this way, some look for inspiration at the bottom of a glass. Not surprisingly, many of our favorite writers were real aces, not only in terms of literature, but also in terms of alcoholic beverages. Well, let’s figure out what the great alcoholic writers drank and in what quantities.

Get drunk to the point

Ernest Hemingway – Mojito and Papa Doble

“Write drunk, edit sober”

Uncle Ham was, for the most part, a great drinker, and his literary talent was matched only by his talent for getting drunk. He did it with a special scope and with zealous zeal. It got to the point that he moved to France only because they made excellent wines – he himself did not hide this. Rumor has it that it was from his filing that the popular French cocktail “Death at Noon” appeared (45 ml of absinthe per 150 ml of brut).

Be that as it may, but the alcoholic Hema was not remembered for his predilection for French aperitifs. Most of all, he had fun in Cuba, where in the mornings he visited the bar La Bodegita del Medio and tasted the signature Mojito there, and in the evening he went to El Floridita, where a whole galaxy of Daiquiris were waiting for him. Moreover, he loved the special Daiquiri, which was eventually named after him – Papa Doble (Papa Double).

The classic Daiquiri recipe you will find here, Papa Double differs from it: a double portion of rum, lime juice, a little cherry liqueur, no sugar and only crushed ice. He overturned such long drinks on average 12 pieces at a time – great people lived then. And in his honor in Florida, the Hemingway Special cocktail was invented, which is now a classic.

Francis Scott Fitzgerald – Gene Rickey

“You drink a glass, he drinks another, and then another drink drinks you”

Francis loved gin, believing that it could not be smelled on the breath. He drank quickly, literally from one glass. In general, with his wife, Zelda, they were still those rascals. The Fitzgerald family was seen in various dirty tricks. Everyone remembers how they jumped into the Plaza fountain, undressed in Follies, cooked hours of guests in tomato soup, and came to bohemian parties in pajamas, however, Zelda quickly got tired of this and she danced naked. The writer’s favorite cocktail was Gin Rickey.

Jack Kerouac – Marguerite

“As a Catholic, I can’t commit suicide, but I can drink myself to death”

The name of the leader of the beatnik generation, Jack Kerouac, is hardly familiar to a peasant who punches a bottle of state-owned and a can of sprat at the checkout. But if you tell him that there lived and was overseas such a writer who wandered around the country for a long time and died at the age of 47 from cirrhosis of the liver, then the man will certainly shed a tear and raise a glass to the soul of a talented drunk.

Probably no one in this life has drunk as many margaritas as Kerouac mastered them. This is, in a way, his tribute to Mexican culture, which he respected and revered. In his short life, he never missed a day without a Margarita … two, three, five. It got to the point that in the New York White House Tavern, where the writer was a regular, one day numerous signs “Kerouac, go home!” appeared on all the walls of the toilet.

Hunter S. Thompson – Chivas Regal Whiskey

“Wouldn’t advocate drugs, alcohol and violence – but they always work great”

In wide circles, the founder of gonzo journalism is associated with “two bags of grass, seventy-five balls of mescaline, five strips of blotters of fierce acid, a salt shaker full of cocaine with holes, and a whole intergalactic parade of planets of all kinds of stimulants, trunks, squealers, laughers, a quart of tequila, a quart rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of crude ether, and two dozen amyl. But Thompson’s favorite drug has always been good whiskey and Wild Turkey Kentucky bourbon. The author’s biographer Jean Carroll wrote: “He took his first sip of Chivas at 3:50 in the morning, and then put away a bottle or two during the day.” Now you look at Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas differently …

John Steinbeck – Jack Rose

Back in 1947, Steinbeck arrived in the USSR on the instructions of an American newspaper in order to write a series of reports together with photographer Robert Capa. He quickly got bored with official meetings and excursions, where it was not possible for him to study the life of the Russian people. Once he left the hotel without guards and went all out. As a result, he got drunk in the company of drunks and fell asleep on a bench. Steinbeck most often dabbled in the Jack Rose cocktail.

Edgar Allan Poe – Satherac

“People around me are pushing me to drink”

He was the most inveterate drinker of the XNUMXth century. Allan Poe was in particular demand for strong drinks, in particular absinthe. Favorite cocktail was also with absinthe.

Charles Bukowski – boilermaker

“Drinking is an emotional thing. It is a form of suicide where you are alive again the next day. It’s like killing yourself to be reborn. I have already lived 10-15 thousand lives.”

This character drank everything that could burn and contained at least a fraction of alcohol. He drank openly, without hesitation, and even provoking. Began pouring over the collar at the age of 13, during the Great Depression. Throughout his life, he tried everything, but the Boilerman cocktail, the American version of our Ruff, enjoyed special honor with him. Only instead of the official one, cheap American bourbon appeared, knocking over a glass of which the pragmatic writer washed down with beer.

Raymond Chandler – Himlet

“Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magical, the second is intimate, the third is ordinary. And then you just undress the girl.”

Chandler, like his main character, private detective Philip Marlowe, had a weakness for good whiskey and Gimlet. While working on the script for the film “Blue Dahlia”, the producers forbade him to drink, which led to the most undesirable consequences. As a result, when the deadlines were running out, the main producer John Houseman locked the writer in the house for a week, in which he first placed a week’s supply of whiskey, six secretaries who had to write down even the smallest thought of Raymond, and a doctor who injected the writer with vitamins. As a result, one of the most ingenious scripts was born, according to which the film was made, which entered the history of Hollywood.

William Faulkner – Mint Julep

Unlike some of his peers, Faulkner started drinking early in his career. At the typewriter, without first pumping up alcohol, he completely refused to sit down. Loved the mint julep.

A couple more boozers for the seed

• Meanwhile, many Russian writers and poets loved vodka. The same Yesenin or Dovlatov. It’s hard to forget about the alcoholic experiments of Venedikt Erofeev – Moscow-Petushki is a real collection of cocktails.
• Erich Maria Remarque was not averse to pampering himself with Calvados. Actually, the heroes of his books also drank Normandy apple brandy.
• Goethe, once tasting Franconian wine from Bavaria, became an ardent admirer of the gifts of Bacchus. After the tasting, he ordered 900 liters of “red” a year.

We do not in any way promote the lifestyle that the above individuals led. Some of them certainly cannot be called happy people, some have lived too little. You need to drink in moderation, but no one forbids doing it like “great” ones!