Powered by Max Banner Ads Cocktail Chatter How’d Ya Like a Nice Planter’s Punch? by Ed Sikov “That’s the thing about Planter’s Punch,” Sal shouted over the din at BarHarbor one Friday evening as a crowd of guys holding sweaty dress shirts over their arms, not-so-fresh from the city, yelled remarks at each other while getting smashed on overpriced drinks. “What’s the thing?”... 

Cocktail Chatter Oh, Mary? Meet My Family! by Ed Sikov Some of us are so gay-centric that we have no close straight friends and leave our families in Anamoose, N.D., or Chloride, Ariz., and never look back. But if you’re like me, you love your friends, straight or gay, and you love your family, too. Still, we tend not to mix our friends with our families. We prefer to lead double lives. Your straight... 

Cocktail Chatter A Yankee Sazerac by Ed Sikov “This is like Jezebel,” I snarled as I leafed through the cocktail books. Some were mine, but most came with the house, which was built by the guy who owned Showers – a bar in Chelsea that features guys in Speedos drenching, self-lovingly soaping and rinsing themselves onstage. The old gang showers at the Columbia gym were hotter. Anyway, I was researching... 

Cocktail Chatter Snobs invent Fire Island Iced Tea by Ed Sikov Six of us were lined up in beach chairs judging the gym rats on parade at the water’s edge. “Why does that guy have ‘Bondi’ printed on his ass?” I inquired. “I love Make Way for Tomorrow, too, but it’s a strange film to be referenced on a musclehead’s butt.” “It’s not Beulah Bondi, darling. It’s Bondi Beach in Australia.”... 

The Return of the Screw by Ed Sikov July 5, 2010 Dan and I opened our house in Fire Island Pines in March, when it was still frigid. We drank Jamesons for a few weeks, no ice. (You know it’s cold when Dan drinks anything stronger than an aperitif.) Our housemates began showing up the last weekend in April, when Dan had to be in Dallas for yet another neuroscience conference. So it was just Craig,... 

Cocktail Chatter “Don’t Cry for Me, Margarita” By Ed Sikov June 21, 2010 Craig was giddy on the ferry. “Margaritas are my favorite drink!” He clapped his dimpled hands in excitement and began sing-songing, “Goodie goodie gumdrops!” He was still jolly because I had withheld my control-freakish plan. I had no intention of using that sticky-sweet frozen concentrate he loved, and I was too... 

Cocktail Chatter The Madras By Ed Sikov June 7, 2010 Jack Fogg, the CNN reporter, strode into the house with the world-ownership attitude of everyone who went to Harvard. With him was his lithe Indian boyfriend, Samir. They rented a room one weekend a month. “Dude!” said the accent-free Samir, who liked to be called Sammy. Jack smiled his regal hello and bounded up the stairs to their room. I... 

Cocktail Chatter The “I Don’t Care What Anyone Says” Classic Martini by Ed Sikov “It’s early Alzheimer’s,” I whined. I’d left the duck breasts I’d planned to grill at home. I’d have to rush to the grocery and buy some more. And they’d have no time to marinate! “Alzheimer’s jokes aren’t funny,” Dan scolded. “Chipotle-Grapefruit Duck is no joke either.” “You know... 

Cocktail Chatter Gearing up for housemates season by Ed Sikov “They eat grasshoppers there.” This came from Kyle, one of “the puppies,” as the rest of us called them behind their backs. “You moron! It’s cicadas!” – the inevitable put-down by Robbie, the other puppy. Generically shirtless but periodically pantsless, too, the puppies moved and spoke in tandem. They played with each other... 

Cocktail Chatter Homo for the Holidays By Keith Orr My puritan forbears would be aghast at the amount of drinking that goes on around the holidays. They’d also be aghast that I am gay, so we know how much I care about their opinion. Thanksgiving Eve is one of the biggest bar nights of the year. But the real drinking starts the next morning for me.  Several years ago Martin and I took over the...