No. 74: Cross Country (November 5, 2013)
This drink was named by my son, who, on the big moving day on which we had all spent months of effort, thousands of dollars, dozens of nights of lost sleep, weeks of misery without our furniture and kitchen stuff and books, and many, many bottles of wine and spirits (this last one was just by my husband and me), thought the drink should commemorate his cross country season. Well okay then.
We came back quite thirsty from an Athletics Banquet which celebrated my son's cross country team's season along with all of the other fall sports teams, which is where the idea for the drink’s name originated. It’s not clear how well my son’s team did (I can’t tell if the coaches were just too disorganized to figure out the team’s standing in the league, or if they didn't want to say, or if the league doesn’t do standings, or if the school is one of those “every athlete’s a winner” kinds of places), but my son was the best one on the team, which was great. Okay, it was just five ninth graders and one tenth grader on the team, but still! I was very proud of him and very happy to name this drink in honor of his accomplishment.
I wish the drink were better, though. It was fine, but not as interesting as No. 72 Costco Real. As with the Costco Real, I was trying to use up bottles so as not to have to move them (we were staying in the rental for another night or two, until we could make the new place habitable), so this combination was borne more of a desire to move product, and not so much of a careful thought process.
1 ½ oz bourbon (I used Kirkland)
I think the lemon juice added a smidge of edge to the Costco Real that this drink lacks. Cointreau is an amazing thing to add to almost any drink, and it’s good here, and surprisingly not too sweet, but the Cross Country needed something else either as well as or instead of the Cointreau. I had thought that the bourbon would be sharp enough to seem tart and balance the sweetness of the Coco Real, but really, the bourbon was just strong. Maybe it needs orange juice? Grapefruit juice? Not sure.
My son’s success on the cross country team: A; the drink Cross Country: C+
p.s. Our stuff all fit in the apartment! Hundreds of boxes of stuff and it all fit! Whether it will all fit when the items are removed from the boxes is another story entirely. But the sofa and beds and armoire made it down the narrow hall! Whew!
