Reader nominations for the "IT" drink are below. Post other nominations under "comments." [I have grown weary of cutting and pasting.]
· Pabst Blue Ribbon
· I would put my money on the caprainha as the new IT drink. and it doesn't end in O.
· A nice dry Mer-LO? Seriously, why not bring back the plain old Bloody Mary? When done right, with all veg-accoutrements dangling off the rim, it's like a meal in a glass.
· That the e-mail was signed "k-LO" made me think of Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review, who is referred to by her readership the same way. What with the GOP convention headed here, maybe a Bush-Republican drink is really where the trend is headed. In typical Bush fashion, it'd be announced as a multi-culti affair appealing to all of America's minorities by building on stereotypes, with the menu listing it as a combination of tequila, malt liquor, anisette and potato vodka. But then you get the drink and, behold, it's pure, 100% distilled-in-a-Texas-bathtub moonshine. Alternatively, there's the "J Lo" a drink that starts off with a spicy mix of interesting flavors that is subsequently drowned in water-downed Guiness
· I seem to remember that the apple martini was wedged in there between the cosmo and the mojito.
· Here in Austin, the Mojito never really took off. The cosmo is over (it was a little too high-falutin' for this town anyway). Our new drink here is the Michelada. Kind of like a bloody beer. You put a dash or two each of wosterchire, tabasco, and if you want, a splash of tomato juice. Add a good deal of fresh lime juice, top it off with a Mexican beer (my friends and I use Modelo Especial, it's kind of cheap, but good), add ice and serve in a salted glass with a lime wedge. Here they run about $4 at the bar. Of course, you are NYC, so I guess that means $12 for you guys.

· I suggest real tequila poured and drunk the way it's supposed to be: in a snifter, sipped like brandy without ecoutrements, as it is done in Mexico by anyone who isn't a U.S. college student or local wino trying to get fucked up. (NOTE: Cuervo Gold and many othe rpopular brands are NOT tequila. Under the authentiicy law, they can be watered down with fermented sugars by as much as 49% and still be called tequila. Tequila's notorious
reputation comes from the rancid hangovers resulting from drinking fermented sugar instead of 100% Blue Weber Agave tequila.)

I suggest Herradura Reposado Estilo Antiguo, or any other Herradura Reposado in the absence of Estilo Antiguo. You usually can't go wrong with any tequila
reposado that clearly states "100% blue agave" on the label. Plus, you get the added bonus of acting pretentious by sipping tequila slowly from a brandy snifter with no salt of lime, and impressing others on your knowledge of the way tequila is supposed to be handled. Pretentious, expensive, and eye-catching: what else can you ask from a new "it" drink for Manhattan?
· I suggest the Irish Car Bomb as the new it drink for Manhattan. Seems appropriate with all the bombings in the world and could be adapted as the Iraqi Car Bomb for political correctness (and to lose that B&T feel to ordering one). While a big fan of the Mojito, I must agree that its day has come and gone. Not to mention the fact that bartenders now scowl when you order one.
ICB
Half pint Guinness
One ounce Jamisons (with another optional half ounce
Baileys for the truly brave or stupid)
Pour Guinness into pint glass. Pour Jamisons (and
Baileys) into a shot glass.
Drop shot into pint and drink it all off.
It is indeed the Irish man's version of the Boilermaker (or Depth Charge as Grammy calls them). Not something one would order when out drinking with
the boss, but it's not like anyone has a job these
days.
· Ask Toby at Passerby— I heard he invented a drink called the "black irish" that's rockin. All the kidz love it.
· [The IT drink] will be the 'budtini', budweiser served in a martini glass over some chambourd to make it drinkable.
· Blood orange margheritas from Suba, on the rocks, no salt natch, plus they put Spanish Fly in their cocktails, which work apparently - last night was a night of coupling
· The side car. Though that was in in Chicago two years ago.. meaning it was "in" where it really counts like five years ago. That s why I say drink a gimlet keeps the scurvy away.
· for those who NEED to drink the latest drink, how bout: DRANO.

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