The 614ortyPlatter: A Good Stiff Drink or Two

Granville's Three Tigers Brewing, one of the rare times we dined in this year

2020 has been one of those years where many have needed a good stiff drink or two to get through.  If the worst cast scenarios come to fruition in the during the holiday season (I'm personally hoping that isn't the case, but I have my serious doubts), a few more might be needed for some.

For adult-beverage imbibers in Ohio, this year has brought on a small improvement on your access to such in the laws allowing home shipment of beer by breweries and take-home cocktails by food establishments. Of course, missing from the equation is the large gathering aspect, but the opportunity to risk my own, or even more importantly, others' lives for the "privilege" of drinking a bucket full of cheap lagers is one that's easily declined by my household.

Of course, over-indulgence is not a good thing as well, and I imagine there is a little bit of that going on as well, especially with the isolation that this pandemic has brought on.  Thankfully, while this week's playlist may be about alcoholic beverages of all sorts, listening to them will only get you drunk with rhythmic vibes at most.

1) "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" - John Lee Hooker: the most popular version of this popular bar room tune is by George Thorogood, but the song itself dates back to 1953, when Amos Milburn took his version to the top ten of the Billboard R&B chart. This version, by the one and only John Lee Hooker, was released in 1966.

2) "Aviation" - The Last Shadow Puppets: The Aviation, blending crème de violette, gin, lemon juice. and maraschino liqueur is considered a classic cocktail, dating back to the 1920s. On this song, The Last Shadow Puppets, an English supergroup of sorts consisting of members of the Arctic Monkeys, Mini Mansions, and Simian, recall a sound reminiscent of early 1980s REM and similar alt rock groups.

3) "Pisco Sour" - Nosequien y Los Nosecuantos: You've never heard of P-Pop?  Well Nosequien y Lose Nosecuantos mined the Peruvian pop music charts for nearly 25 years, calling it a career in 2013. The titled beverage is the country's signature beverage, with its origins from the turn of the 1900s as an alternative to a Whiskey Sour. However, it wasn't until the 1920s when the drink received its now common egg white and Angostura bitters.

4) "Funky Cold Medina" - Tone-Loc: Perhaps the most well-known hip-hop oriented fictional beverage (the Beastie Boys' "Brass Monkey" is based on a real rum-based drink), Tone-Loc (aka Anthony Terrell Smith) took this tune to the Top 10 on numerous charts around the world in 1989. The tune itself was co-written by Young MC (aka Marvin Young), who himself took his own "Bust a Move" to similar heights around the same time.

5) "Nocino (Robert Stahl Remix)" - Luiz & Winth: The title of this Swiss DJ duo's 2016 house-oriented tune is a somewhat uncommon Italian liqueur made traditionally from unripe green walnuts. Central Ohioans were treated to a version of this potent potable from Watershed Distillery, who created their own very delicious version from unripe Ohio black walnuts. And oh, by the way, this playlist is timely in that that very same distillery is celebrating their Nocinofest this weekend.

6) "Hurricane" - Angela Perley & The Howling Moons: Speaking of locals, Angela Perley and her bandmates has proven to be one of the more popular acts in the last decade, putting out a number of well-received albums. The Hurricane cocktail is one of the sweeter ones on the spectrum, using rum, lemon juice and passion fruit syrup.

7) "Finish Your Chardonnay" - Brigades: Chardonnay stands as the second-most popular wine varietal in the country, coming in just a tick under Cabernet Sauvignon in terms of total sales.  And while Spartanburg, SC, may not be known for their wine, they are known for The Brigades, using their pop-punk sound to good effect on this tune from their 2018 release "True Blue".

8) "Aktepeshie" - Captain Planet 4x4: known by colorful names like ogoglo, Kill Me Quick, and Home Boy, this distilled spirit (typically from palm wine or sugar cane juice) is the national spirit of Ghana. Captain Planet 4x4, a Ghanaian hip-hop group founded at the turn of the millennium, puts the right amount of Lil' Jon-styled crunk into their ode to this well-beloved sipper.

9) "Soju One Glass" - Jung Jae Il, Choi Wooshik: off the soundtrack from Parasite (the 2020 Oscar Winner for "Best Picture), this song starts off slow and melancholy, but breaks out into a tune that you might sing badly after a few too many Soju drinks. Soju, for those who may not know, is a beverage similar to Japanese Sake, but whereas Sake is brewed similarly to beer, Soju is distilled, and not necessarily from rice (sweet potatoes are a common substitute.)

10) "Manhattan" - Sara Bareilles: describing her music as "piano -based pop soul", Bareilles has fashioned a career the past two decades with ample album sales and several Grammy and Tony nominations.  In cocktail terms, the Manhattan is also considered a classic cocktail, whose blend of whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters was, if you believe the lore, created for the mother of Winston Churchill at the Manhattan Club in New York in the mid-1870s.