Barrett's Mixology

Monday, October 4, 2004

The Ward Eight

2 oz Whiskey
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Grenadine

Shake with ice; strain into a red wine glass filed with cracked ice. Garnish with lemon slice.

My Uncle Ron attended Babson College during the late 1960s. As the lone bastion of conservatism in a pseudo-Communist city, Babson students seldom ventured off campus into greater Boston. Instead, he and his friends elected to bide their time drinking as hard as their eventual sworn enemy, Ted Kennedy. This, of course, made finding female companionship problematic, as the campus was still all male at the time. Upon a fortunate night when they were accompanied by two Radcliffe ladies, they remained hesitant to go forth into any public drinking establishment, particularly in Cambridge. Rather, the four of them got into Ron's black 1965 Camero and drove north on Route 1, out to Saugus, and stopped in at the Continental Restaurant, affixing themselves firmly to the barstools. Ron's date requested that the bartender make her something semi-sweet, but with whiskey. Taking a sip himself, my uncle remarked upon how well the drink worked, not at all ruining the strong flavor the whiskey. The bartender introduced himself as Jimmy, and explained that the drink was called a Ward Eight, and he had learned the recipe from the drink's inventor, the bartender at the Locke-Ober Cafe, who prepared a batch on election night for the State Reps in Ward Eight. The Continental Restaurant is still in Saugus, as is Jimmy, now ninety-three years old.

Barrett's Mixology

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