Drink 22: The Undead Gamble

The Name: The Undead Gamble                                                                               

The Bar: One If By Land, Two If By Sea (17 Barrow Street, New York City)

The Story Behind The Name: This month, I've already ordered some drinks with a Halloween theme, but they've genuinely been pretty funny stories and amusing anecdotes. Well, in time for the actual holiday itself, the name for this drink comes from a genuinely creepy story-- perfect for Halloween. It's creepier than mysterious phone calls from so-called comedians. It's even creepier than an evil clown. And it's about a cat my mother used to own by the name of Gamble.

Now Gamble was no ordinary kitty. First off, he had quite a distinctive appearance. He was a large striped cat, and when I say large, I mean large. Clocking in at 26 pounds, he could reportedly lie down on a piano bench (my mom is an accomplished pianist) and be longer than the bench. I asked my mom if she could find any pictures of Gamble, and there were none she could find readily, so instead I leave you with this approximation of what Gamble might have looked like.

But his size alone is not what made Gamble so distinct. He was a bit of a hot-tempered cat and was known to fight with other cats-- primarily by defending his smaller, gay brother Procter. Over the years, he had, appropriately, collected some battle scars, including a permanent bruise on his upper lip, a missing tooth, and a chip in his left ear. So, imagine those on the liger above and you've got a sense of Gamble.

Like all cats, however, his appearance was not the only thing notable about him. He had a distinctively scratchy "meow," for one, and also seemed to show a preference for a particular brand of cat food called "Cozy Kitten" that smelled incredibly foul and which no other cat ever wanted to go near. My mom has described the scent as being like chum. Exactly like chum. So, Gamble might also have been part shark. Gamble sounds awesome.

My mom also had two pet dogs, named Poppy and Sacha, and like many dogs, they weren't particularly fond of cats, barking if they ever saw one, but they made an exception with Gamble and had always treated him like one of the gang. Like many cats, Gamble would sometimes go out (presumably, to fight cats) and not come back for days on end. But, Gamble had always had a fondness for my Uncle Doug (I believe Gamble was technically Doug's cat, even though he lived with my mom) and whenever my Uncle Doug would come to visit, Gamble seemed to always know that he should come back home to say hello.

One day, my mother was riding her bike to school when, on the road ahead, she saw an especially large piece of roadkill lying in the middle of the street. As she got closer, and the roadkill came more into view, she could see it was a cat. A large cat. With stripes. She stopped her bike and went to look. Gamble had not been seen for a few days, which again, was pretty normal for him, but, seeing that roadkill, she immediately assumed the worst. As she got off of her bike, she knelt by the dead cat and saw that, sure enough, it was her beloved Gamble. There was the bruise on the lip. There was the chip in the ear. If that wasn't enough, the poor cat was even wearing a white flea collar that Gamble wore (the vet used to have to clamp it into place so that he couldn't slip out of it and it would have to be cut). Sadly, Gamble was brought home and buried in the yard, under a hibiscus bush.

A month and a half passed, longer than Gamble had ever been gone before-- although, of course, that made sense, since he was dead. But then, one day, my mother kept hearing a cat loudly meowing outside. A loud scratchy meow that sounded very much like Gamble, but of course this was impossible, so she chalked it up to an eerie similarity. Sometimes the meowing would sound like it was very close, and when she'd look outside, she would see a large cat standing on the edge of the lawn, but would never come any closer. My Uncle Doug was coming to visit in a few days, so my mom joked that it was Gamble coming back because Doug was going to visit. It was a joke..or so she thought. The night before Doug arrived, the large cat actually came right up to the house and was at the bottom of the stairs leading to their front door. They got a better look at him, and were surprised by how much he looked like Gamble. They were even more surprised that Poppy and Sacha were not barking at the strange cat. But, of course, it couldn't be Gamble. It just couldn't be.

The next night, on schedule, Doug arrived and, that evening, they heard the cat loudly meowing again. My mom mentioned the strange cat to her brother and, out of curiosity, he went to the door to get a look. There, right in front of the door, was the cat. A large cat. With stripes. And a bruise on his lip and a chip in his ear.

Oh shit!

There was no mistaking him-- just like the dead cat that had been buried in the yard, this cat had all of Gamble's distinct markings. The only thing missing was the clamped-on flea collar (which, again, had to be cut off and which he could not just slip out of), almost as if he had been reborn into a new body. He ran through the open door and jumped onto the kitchen counter where his food bowl used to be. At this point, he was greeted by Poppy and Sasha, who seemed super happy to see their good friend and not at all worried about how or why he was there. My mom got the cat some of his very own Cozy Kitten cat food (she still had a ton of it since none of the other cat owners that she knew wanted it) which he happily ate. And while my mother and her brother were certainly weirded out by this strange appearance, and could think of absolutely no explanation, one thing was clear: Gamble was back and was most certainly alive now.

Gamble meows in the face of death.

To this day we have no idea what happened. Perhaps it was another cat they found in the road, but it seems unlikely that another cat would resemble Gamble so closely. Gamble lived with my mother for a few more years and continued to have some close scrapes with death. One time, on a road trip to Florida, Gamble jumped out of an open car window and ran off. This would be bad no matter what, but my mother happened to be driving through the Everglades at the time-- a place known for being filled with alligators. After searching for him and calling his name for hours, they eventually left because they were being bitten by mosquitoes. While they figured they might have lost Gamble forever, they decided to go back to where he had run off the next day, as they didn't want to give up all hope of finding their pet. They called him for several more hours (and my mom even brought a can of his disgusting Cozy Kitten cat food) and, eventually, miraculously, Gamble appeared from out of the glades. My mother picked him up and held him, not believing that he had actually returned. Unfortunately, at that moment, a huge semi noisily passed by. This startled Gamble who jumped out of my mother's arms, clawing her face, neck, and arm in the process. From the pain, she instinctively let go, and Gamble once again scampered off into the Everglades. This time, they were unable to find him. It was the last they saw of Gamble.

Although, the night that they were returning home from Florida, right before they left, a small kitten from a fish camp down the road jumped onto their windshield. A kitten with distinct stripes running down its side.

A photo of some stairs with nothing terrifying on them at all.

Since then, there were no more Gamble sightings, but I'm pretty sure that if he were to show up on my mother's doorstep today, she wouldn't be surprised. My mom lives in New York now, not in the South, so maybe Gamble still is roaming around, meowing, looking for Cozy Kitten, and just generally being his bizarre and supernatural self.

And, no. She never dug up the grave from under the hibiscus bush. She was too terrified by what she might find. Let's just assume that she would have found nothing but a lone white flea collar. And no skeleton.

Ordering The Drink: I knew I wanted to order a Gamble-themed drink for Halloween, but struggled to think of a name. I almost went with The Cat With Nine Lives, but that's just a saying. Gamble didn't come back from the dead NINE times, just once or twice (that we know of). Ultimately, I settled on The Undead Gamble as I thought it sounded cool. And while it's not an obvious name for a bartender to make a drink for, I thought it was fairly evocative and might provide some good inspiration. I was excited for my drink. And it was truly a GAMBLE since I might end up with a delicious drink, or something that tastes like Cozy Kitten.

I made my way to One If By Land, Two If By Sea, a bar and restaurant which I have been planning to go to for a a Halloween drink for months now. That's because it's known for two things: its beautiful decor and for being haunted. 

Seriously, look at this beautiful place. Now, we'll forget all about that and focus on the "haunted" part.

My last attempt at ordering a drink from a haunted bar proved unsuccessful, but I had high hopes for this one. And, also, the ghost stories from this place seem to be much more detailed and well-documented. It has, if we were to believe all accounts and stories, a total of 20 ghosts residing within the establishment, and numerous people have vouched that they have seen them (including some members of the waitstaff who quit after witnessing a supernatural occurrence). The most well-known ghost there is that of former Vice President, dueling enthusiast, and one time owner of the bar, Aaron Burr. I actually first heard that Aaron Burr's ghost haunted this place on the infamous ghost tour which fans of the blog will surely recall. Sure enough, as I entered the bar, there was another ghost tour right outside. Sadly, their tour was not being given by Alice and they had no idea what they were missing.

Why even take a ghost tour without Alice?

  
I entered the bar and ordered a drink. Rather than immediately get my custom drink, I ordered a signature cocktail of their called the Cigar Box, which has been a favorite of mine since I first tried it here a couple of years ago. I hadn't been back since then, and wanted to see if it lived up to my recollection, which it did.

The Cigar Box, a delicious bourbon and fig vodka based drink

As I sipped my Cigar Box, a couple arrived who was there to celebrate an anniversary. As they spoke to the hostess, one asked "Is Aaron Burr here tonight?" The hostess laughed and said "We think he left here a few years ago, actually." So, alas, I most likely would not be seeing Aaron Burr tonight. It only took him about 175 years to move on so, you know, good for him I guess.

I then asked the bartender if he'd be willing to make me a drink based on the name "The Undead Gamble." He said "I'll give it my best shot," and set to work. A couple to my right heard me placing my order and were intrigued too. The three of us watched him at work.

The bartender ponders what the hell "undead gamble" means.

This is easily the most methodical I've ever seen a bartender be about a drink. He took out several bottles which he seemed to be considering. At one point, he even pulled out a cocktail book and flipped through it, which easily is the first time a bartender has actually done research in pursuit of one of these drinks. He caught my eye at one point and laughed. "It's coming along," he said. "I'm excited!" I told him. "I see you have a bottle of absinthe out and that's always a good sign." He grinned mischievously. "I want it to be green," he said.

He didn't end up using the absinthe (which is sad because I love absinthe) but he definitely succeeded in his goal. This was the brightest, greenest drink I've ever seen.

The Drink:

The Undead Gamble

1 1/2 oz. blanco Tequila
1 oz. lime
3/4 oz. simple syrup
1/4 oz. creme de menthe
Ice

(The bartender was kind enough to write out the full list of ingredients for me, including proportions.)

Assessment of Drink: As I think the picture shows, this drink is immediately striking, and undeniably one of the more distinct-looking drinks I've gotten for this blog thus far. And it tasted absolutely delicious. I was at first a bit skeptical of how the lime and mint would work together. As anyone who has foolishly attempted to drink orange juice immediately after brushing one's teeth can attest, citrus and mint really do not work well together. But here, it undeniably worked. The lime's more fruity and floral notes were brought out by the freshness of the mint, making this a surprisingly refreshing drink. As he handed me the ingredient list, the bartender said, "It's basically a margarita without the triple sec." Which it was. But, like, a mint margarita. Which sounds very odd, but trust me, it worked.

As much as I would have loved for the absinthe to have made it into this drink (and I feel like that liquor just feels generally spookier for some reason and might have been a good inclusion) I was really glad that this bartender used creme de menthe, as it's an alcohol that I think is very underrated and looked down upon, perhaps because of its low alcohol content. But I think creme de menthe is really fantastic. It compliments other flavors really well (and for those who don't like strong drinks, is a great way to make a stronger drink a bit more palatable) and has a distinct taste that is, ultimately, not too overpowering most of the time. And its vibrant green color certainly adds a wow factor (the bartender was right-- the green from the absinthe would never have been this bright). In college, I always had some creme de menthe on hand. A signature drink of mine was an alcoholic milkshake using creme de menthe, vanilla ice cream, vodka, and either creme de cacao or regular chocolate syrup. I called it an Avodka Kedavra. I miss college.

But what I love most about creme de menthe is its aftertaste. It's just a very clean flavor and it lingers very nicely on the tongue and lips-- it has a sweetness but not too much so. And an aftertaste is, to me, what separates the good drinks from the great drinks-- the great drinks are the ones that you can still taste long after. And this drink was definitely a great drink. I can still taste it right now, in fact. Had I not ordered my beloved Cigar Box, then I probably would have ordered another, and am especially glad to have this recipe as I might try to make one of these on my own in the summer. Really delicious stuff, and an absolute Halloween treat.

A mysterious hand clutches the Undead Gamble. Could it be a ghost's hand?! Maybe. Could it be my own hand?! Much more likely.

Does It Live Up To The Name: Yeah! I mean, if I got this drink and was told "This is called The Undead Gamble" I'd definitely buy it. The bright green color certainly has something spooky about it, and that's definitely what I was looking for. The drink actually kind of reminded me of drinking Slimer from Ghostbusters. And that would, in all other circumstances, be a terrible, terrible thing. But, luckily, in this case, it was appropriate and, more importantly, truly delicious.

Mmm! Minty fresh!

While this cocktail does indeed fit the name, I can't help but think of a lot of other ideas that might have worked even better. There are many ways to go with the word "undead": mummies, vampires, ghosts, etc. There's even a cocktail called the Zombie which could have been a great inspiration for The Undead Gamble (it's made of assorted rums and fruit juices). And I must say that the "gamble" part of this drink was totally missing. How perfect would it have been to have gotten a drink with some Black Label Jack Daniels? In other words: Blackjack.

But I merely throw these out as alternatives. I truly was happy with the drink I received. The fun in this whole experiment is, after all, seeing how different bartenders respond to the different names. And, in this case, name inspired the bartender to go "I WILL MAKE A GREEN DRINK!" He didn't just make a green drink, he made one of the best all around drinks I've gotten for this blog. I'll definitely be returning to One If By Land, Two If By Sea sometime soon. And might just bring this recipe with me to see if it can be recreated. It was the perfect place to cap off my month of spooky drinks.

And, on that note, happy Halloween, everybody! As much as I love the holiday, I couldn't think of a good costume this year, so I won't be dressing up. Which means that this Halloween, I'll of course be going as Jon Hamm.