The NYT's Sad Attempt at Gettting Drunk
Today's Dining section of the NYT is dedicated to drinking and the "cult of the cocktail," which is sort of like Martha Stewart hosting a show live from a dive bar. I mean, there's an honest-to-God listicle in there about 8 Bartender Philosophies, and something about alcohol and bundt cakes. The most puzzling bogus trend piece, however, is about the popularity of the college-girl and manchild drink called the White Russian, which was apparently drank by a character in the excellent but ten-year-old cult move The Big Lebowski. That fact serves as the big news peg, as cult followers of the film regularly gather to imbibe what one enthusiast calls a "big boy milkshake."
“When I first encountered it in the 1970s, the White Russian was something real alcoholics drank, or beginners,” said David Wondrich, the drinks correspondent for Esquire. Now, ordering the drink is “the mark of the hipster,” he said.
The thing about hardened alcoholics drinking these can't possibly be true—no one can drink six White Russians in the same way that they can't drink six margaritas. An alcoholic having their drink of choice being a White Russian is as dangerous a choice as a heroin addict shooting into an artery.
Now, we know some people at the Times know a little bit about drinking. That's why the gayer ones are always hanging out at Escuelita in Times Square.
But we will thank them for one thing, a White Russian—or, as the Times so helpfully notes, a "White Trash Russian," which involves whiskey and Yoohoo, is a great drink for the unemployed or the slackers among us. In other news, if you go to Milano's in the middle of the day and tell them you've just been laid off, guess what? Old men will line up to buy you drinks for the rest of the afternoon. Not White Russians though. That's for pussies.
