New England Patriots
Classic Cocktail: Ward 8
Boston’s booze history isn’t as legendary as NYC’s, but their current cocktail scene is fantastic, and they do boast this old-school drink. It was created in 1898 at a joint called Locke-Ober for Martin “Czar of Ward 8” Lomasney, sort of the Boss Tweed of Boston. Lomasney kept a notebook of everyone who owed him a favor, as your guests will after you mix some of these up.
2 oz. Rye Whiskey
½ oz. Orange juice
½ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. grenadine*
Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry. If you’re a stickler for accuracy, decorate with the Massachusetts flag.
Anti-Cocktail: Jägerbomb
OK, so the chances the Jägerbomb was invented in Boston are pretty slim, but given the number of college students in Boston, the chances the city has consumed more per capita than anywhere else are pretty good. Drop a shot glass full of Jägermeister into a glass of Red Bull and throw it back every time party boy Gronkowski makes a catch.
Beer: Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Boston Brewing Co. is the brewery that started the craft beer movement way back in 1984 and is still an admired producer of some of the finest beers in America. Sure, some people will gripe that Sam’s not a microbrewer anymore, the same way indie snobs hate it when their favorite band goes big time. But as long as the quality remains, I’ll be a fan, and you should be too.
