The Name: The Man in the Bathtub
The Bar: Calico Jack's (800 2nd Ave., NYC)
The Story
Behind The Name: I think one quality that is universal among small children is that of imagination. And, imaginary friends in particular are a staple of childhood. Whether one was the extroverted child who wanted to keep playing and interacting when no one's around, or whether one was the introverted child who preferred playing by themselves, chances are everyone had an imaginary friend growing up, or knew someone else who had an imaginary friend.
When I was a kid, I didn't have an imaginary friend. But I did have an imaginary acquaintance. His name was Sean Roger and he lived in the faucet of our bathtub.
Growing up in an apartment building, I had a lot of neighbors, and while I was aware of their existence and would recognize them from seeing them in the lobby or in the elevator, I didn't really KNOW them. And I remember being astounded when my parents mentioned that some of our neighbors lived on the other side of our walls. I think that it was from this revelation that I first invented Sean Roger. We never interacted, it was just that in my mind, he was a person who lived in our faucet the way someone else lived on the other side of our walls. He didn't have a personality as far as I can recall, or even an appearance, it was simply the name. The very specific name of Sean Roger that I applied to the imaginary person who I very much insisted lived in our bathtub faucet.
And...that's really all there is to this story. Sean Roger didn't do anything, he was just...there. I think at some point I invented a whole Roger family of Sean's, but I don't remember their names. I just remember Sean Roger.
As I grew up, I eventually realized that this person I invented did NOT exist, and Sean Roger faded from my consciousness. I didn't think about him for years until one day, while on summer break after my freshman year of college, my dad suddenly asked me "What ever happened to Sean Roger?" To which I morbidly replied, "He drowned." I mean, you know what they say, Location, Location, Location. Why the hell would anyone choose to live in a bathtub?
When I was a kid, I didn't have an imaginary friend. But I did have an imaginary acquaintance. His name was Sean Roger and he lived in the faucet of our bathtub.
Growing up in an apartment building, I had a lot of neighbors, and while I was aware of their existence and would recognize them from seeing them in the lobby or in the elevator, I didn't really KNOW them. And I remember being astounded when my parents mentioned that some of our neighbors lived on the other side of our walls. I think that it was from this revelation that I first invented Sean Roger. We never interacted, it was just that in my mind, he was a person who lived in our faucet the way someone else lived on the other side of our walls. He didn't have a personality as far as I can recall, or even an appearance, it was simply the name. The very specific name of Sean Roger that I applied to the imaginary person who I very much insisted lived in our bathtub faucet.
And...that's really all there is to this story. Sean Roger didn't do anything, he was just...there. I think at some point I invented a whole Roger family of Sean's, but I don't remember their names. I just remember Sean Roger.
As I grew up, I eventually realized that this person I invented did NOT exist, and Sean Roger faded from my consciousness. I didn't think about him for years until one day, while on summer break after my freshman year of college, my dad suddenly asked me "What ever happened to Sean Roger?" To which I morbidly replied, "He drowned." I mean, you know what they say, Location, Location, Location. Why the hell would anyone choose to live in a bathtub?
Ordering
The Drink: Calico Jack's is a really fun bar, which is perhaps best known for its various happy hour special. Meaning they really put the "happy" in "happy hour," with a number of different specials throughout the week which keep the place's fun environment hopping. But their main happy hour special is that every Friday, they have a great deal where you can purchase a wristband for $5.00 at the door and, as long as you're wearing it, you get $5.00 drinks. It's a really great deal, especially in New York City. Even better, each week, they do a raffle where one person wins a free wristband party, where the winner can invite friends and, if you mention the winner's name at the door, you get your wristband for free. One of these free happy hours happened to be won by my co-worker Sabrina, who was also present when I ordered The Return of Dante, so a couple Fridays ago, we all got lots of cheap drinks. I have to say, I was impressed. The bartending staff seemed to really know what they were doing. This is a place that could just slide by having mediocre margaritas, but all the drinks I had there were solid. For this reason, I decided to play What's That Drink. My co-workers and I conferred with each other and together we selected the name of the drink, as well as which bartender we should request the drink from, settling on a guy named Dan who had proven particularly adept behind the bar. Dan seemed to like the idea of creating a custom drink immediately, although he did want to make sure I knew the drink might not qualify for the $5 deal. I told him I understood and he went about creating the drink.
The Drink:
Blueberry vodka
Sprite
Shot of raspberry vodka
Ice
Sprite
Shot of raspberry vodka
Ice
Assessment
of Drink: I was already impressed just by looking at this drink. Dan had taken a shot glass filled with raspberry vodka, and put it upside down in the bottom of the drink, surrounding it with the mixture of blueberry vodka and sprite. The entire effect was striking, with the bright red shot clearly visible underneath the bright blue. Plus, the ice floating on top was fun (and made the drink look like a bubble bath). Whenever a cocktail has an extra visual element like this, it already makes the drink more memorable, which is of course the reason I make these bizarre drink requests in the first place. Plus, it was interactive. After I tried a sip of the blueberry vodka and sprite on its own, I was instructed to remove the shot glass, which allowed the raspberry vodka to mix into the rest of the drink.
It might be that I'm easily amused, or it might have been that I'd already had a strong frozen margarita, but I thought this was really fun, and did elevate the experience of having this cocktail.
The cocktail itself was fine. It was exactly what you'd expect from having raspberry vodka, blueberry vodka, and sprite. That is to say that it was on the sweet side. I personally am not a fan of overly sweet drinks, so this isn't a drink that I would typically order, but that didn't mean it was bad. For the type of drink it was, it was well-made and the flavors were well-balanced. If you like sweeter drinks, or anything flavored like blue raspberry, you would have loved The Man in the Bathtub, and as far as sweet drinks go, it was ultimately more refreshing than cloying.
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| Unfortunately, this definitely made the drink look less appetizing. Who knew blue and red together would make muddy grey? |
It might be that I'm easily amused, or it might have been that I'd already had a strong frozen margarita, but I thought this was really fun, and did elevate the experience of having this cocktail.
The cocktail itself was fine. It was exactly what you'd expect from having raspberry vodka, blueberry vodka, and sprite. That is to say that it was on the sweet side. I personally am not a fan of overly sweet drinks, so this isn't a drink that I would typically order, but that didn't mean it was bad. For the type of drink it was, it was well-made and the flavors were well-balanced. If you like sweeter drinks, or anything flavored like blue raspberry, you would have loved The Man in the Bathtub, and as far as sweet drinks go, it was ultimately more refreshing than cloying.
Does It
Live Up To The Name: Yes!!! As soon as I saw the drink I knew this was perfect. The raspberry vodka shot clearly represented the man, and the surrounding blueberry vodka and sprite represented the bathtub (with the ice on top completing the illusion). I often consider the "living up to the name" portion of this blog very metaphorically, but here I was given a literal interpretation. It's rare that a drink physically embodies the assigned name so perfectly. It was absolutely one of the most creative and spot-on approaches to a drink name I've seen.
In fact, I could imagine a whole line of Men in Bathtub drinks, where you can choose which shot you want to have. Although I think the raspberry shot was a great choice because of the bright contrast in colors. Really the only improvement I could think of would be using gin instead of vodka. After all, then you get the extra connotation of bathtub gin. But that idea aside, The Man in the Bathtub is a great example of why I do this blog. Because sometimes I'll get a bartender who really embraces the creativity and spirit of fun that this blog is really about. This was such a cool interactive idea, and certainly made my happy hour at Calico Jack's both happy and memorable.
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| This is almost identical to the first picture I took of the drink, but shows off the floating ice on top, which I thought was a really nice detail to the whole "bathtub" effect. |
In fact, I could imagine a whole line of Men in Bathtub drinks, where you can choose which shot you want to have. Although I think the raspberry shot was a great choice because of the bright contrast in colors. Really the only improvement I could think of would be using gin instead of vodka. After all, then you get the extra connotation of bathtub gin. But that idea aside, The Man in the Bathtub is a great example of why I do this blog. Because sometimes I'll get a bartender who really embraces the creativity and spirit of fun that this blog is really about. This was such a cool interactive idea, and certainly made my happy hour at Calico Jack's both happy and memorable.
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