September 15, 2006
GATOR BAIT
So, I’m sitting in this cigar bar at the Marriott City Center in Charlotte. The bar’s named Cutter’s Lounge (like a cigar cutter, get it?). All of a sudden I hear someone in a group at the bar say to the bartender,"What’s a good, big drink that will cause some damage?”
My ears immediately perk to the keywords “drink” and “damage.”
Mat, the bartender, rolls out a martini glass and fills it with something he calls Sex With An Alligator.
I go over to see this train-wreck-in-progress. And Mat mixes the following:
1/2 ounce Chambord
2 ounces Melon Ball (Midori/sour/vodka)
A slight float of Jagermeister.
He pours it in layers in the glass and damn if it didn’t look like a glass of swampy water from Paynes Prairie.
After Mat admonishes that he doesn’t want to sip this thing, the guy downs it in one swallow.
He gladly reports that you don’t taste the Jagermeister. You don’t even taste the Melon Ball. It’s just a nice, fresh, citrusy flavor before you slide through the Chambord.
He gives it two thumbs. Way up.
There was some talk of other drinks… a Cement Mixer… a Pineapple Upside-Down, an Apple Sauce.
But he said that after you’ve been bit by the Gator, well… nothing is the same.
A little bit of chit-chat and I found out Mat was being lured to Tampa to manage a hotel, but was resisting. “I hear Tampa is just like Charlotte,” he said.
One of the servers then chimed in that one of their regular customers was from St. Petersburg Beach.
“Is that a big place?” Mat asked.
“No, not really,” said. “But it attracts is fair share of people.”
It is a very, very small world.
NOTE: So you know this isn't just some Carolina-barbecue-induced fantasy, you can see another variation of the drink by clicking here.
Posted by Jeff at September 15, 2006 12:15 AM | TrackBack