Drink 44: Peaseblossom

The Name: Peaseblossom                                                                           

The Bar: Angry Burger Gastropub (4460 Broadway, NYC)

The Story Behind The Name: Few things are as exciting as when friends who had been living in a different city move to your city. I was lucky enough to have this happen to me recently, when two of my closest friends from college, Jeff and Elizabeth, moved to New York City from Boston. And once they arrived, I knew we had to play What's That Drink, and I knew exactly what the drink name would be.

A quick word about Jeff. See, to me and my friends, he's not just known as Jeff. He is known as Jeff the Viking. Because he looks like a viking. Don't believe me? Here is a casual picture of Jeff.

Or, it was taken on Halloween, but it might as well just have been a random Tuesday.

Now, anyone who knows me (or has read this blog before) knows that I work in the theater, and in college, I had the chance to direct my favorite Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. If you don't know the play then you should absolutely check it out--it's one of the funniest and most literally magical things ever written. But for the purposes of this blog, the most important thing to know about the play is that part of it takes place in the land of fairies. Two of the prominent characters are Titania and Oberon, the queen and king of the fairies. Titania in particular goes everywhere with a train of fairies, Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed, and Peaseblossom. These characters can be, and often are, major presences in the play, but in terms of lines they're definitely minor characters. Their shining moment arguably is when they are each introduced one by one to Titania's newest lover, a terrible actor whose head has been turned into the head of a donkey. I told you this play is weird. Each fairy in turn comes up and proudly announces their name.

For the production I directed, I cast Jeff. Jeff had never acted before or since, but I knew before auditions had even started that I wanted him to play Peaseblossom. I don't even remember when or why this idea came up, but I just thought it would be funny. Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed were women and moved about the stage with graceful and balletic movements. And then there was Peaseblossom, played by a large viking who carried an axe. He was essentially like a Bond villain's henchman, acting as the muscle in an incredibly incongruous setting and with the least badass name anyone could possibly think of. Here's a brief excerpt from the play, and I've used punctuation and capitalization to show Jeff's line delivery.

BOTTOM: I cry your worship's mercy, heartily: I beseech your worship's name.

COBWEB: Cobweb.

BOTTOM: I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good Master Cobweb: if I cut my finger, I shall make bold with you. Your name, honest gentleman? 

PEASEBLOSSOM PEASEBLOSSOM!!!!!

From an artistic standpoint, I justified Jeff's casting by having Peaseblossom essentially act as Titania's bodyguard. But really, this casting choice was just because it was hilarious to have Jeff scream "PEASEBLOSSOM!!!!!" in a loud and booming voice. Because sometimes you don't have to justify a directorial choice with textual evidence. You can just go, "This is funny. We're doing it." Jeff, in turn, threw himself into the role with gusto, and really gave a fantastic performance. Frankly, I've never seen a better or more interesting Peaseblossom since. He really made this bizarre decision work so well, and will always be Peaseblossom, or Peasebee as the cast affectionately nicknamed him, in my eyes.

Peaseblossom, before the show

Ordering The Drink: Jeff and Elizabeth moved to the city in early August, and before they'd even finished unpacking, I insisted we go out for a drink. We went to Angry Burger Gastropub, which was right by their new apartment, and which they'd been intrigued by. And I think it's definitely going to be a new neighborhood favorite. As you'd expect from a place with "burger" and "pub" in the name, they had a good beer selection, and solid burgers. Luckily for me and my mission to order strange cocktails, they also had a full cocktail list which featured some really intriguing options. We were sitting at a table, and our waiter came over to ask if we wanted an extra drink. I explained how I wanted a weird custom cocktail, and he seemed to be amused by the idea. After I explained it, he asked me to repeat the order, because he wanted to make sure he'd explain it to the bartender exactly right. After my second explanation, he still seemed concerned that he might not convey the drink order exactly right (and also had never heard of a peaseblossom, which is fair since it's not exactly a word with everyday usage), so he called the bartender over to our table. The bartender was immediately on board, and also had heard the word "Peaseblossom" before, so he set off to make the drink in Jeff's honor.

The Drink:

Equal parts gin and vodka

Lavender Syrup

Lemon

Orange Bitters 

Lemon peel twist

Assessment of Drink: When the drink was first explained to me, I will admit I was a little bit skeptical. Elizabeth had ordered another lavender cocktail earlier in the evening, which was very similar to this one and which I had found to be a bit too sweet for my tastes. Not bad, but also not necessarily a drink I would order. But after trying the Peaseblossom, all three of us actually found this spontaneous drink to be far more balanced and composed than the one Elizabeth had gotten off the menu. The secret was the orange bitters I think, which along with the lemon, managed to temper the sweetness of the lavender nicely. You could still get the distinct floral flavor, but without it feeling overpowering. It still was certainly a sweeter drink, but it was incredibly refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day.

Does It Live Up To The Name: Absolutely! The name Peaseblossom is instantly light and flowery. That's the whole reason I had cast Jeff in the role, after all, was to play off of the image one gets when hearing this name. I almost expected a drink to show up to the table that would be bright pink. And while this drink wasn't pink, it was certainly playful and light. The lavender really was an inspired choice. He took a drink named after a flower, and added a flower to it. so the dominating flavor of the drink was floral, which works perfectly. I would totally buy that this drink would be called the Peaseblossom. And while you can't really see in the dimly lit picture, it did have a light purple tint, which I think fit the drink's name perfectly. It was a dreamy drink for a midsummer night.

Peaseblossom, about to try the peaseblossom