Bryan Paiement - Sports Bar: Cocktails and Sports Trivia

Contents

This book is a publication of

Red Lightning Books

1320 East 10th Street

Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

redlightningbooks.com

2021 by Bryan Paiement

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Manufactured in China

First printing 2021

ISBN 978-1-68435-175-6 (hdbk.)

ISBN 978-1-68435-176-3 (web PDF)

All cocktail images courtesy of Sky Pond

Photography & Video Productions, Inc.

A toast to my parents, Pierre and Paula, and their unwavering support and encouragement.

CONTENTS

In many uncelebrated ways, sports is a world of lobbies.

Jim Valvano, the late, great basketball humorist/coach, first stumbled upon that notion some years back. He was sitting in a lobby somewhere when he realized how central lobbies are to sports. Regardless of the eventhockeys Stanley Cup, college basketballs Final Four, the Super Bowl of the NFL, name your favorite happeningthe hotel lobby provides sanctuary for that odd collection of people who follow the games. Fans, former players, broadcasters, writers, analysts, young statisticians, old coaches, equipment salespeoplethey all find their way to the barstools and couches, where they kibitz until the wee hours, replaying contests, advancing and testing theorems, trading tales and gossip, and talking up the game: what was, what might have been, what will be.

They smoke; they dream; they commune with the great spirits of sport. Youd be hard-pressed to find one of them without a drink in hand. And I am one of them, a deep sub on lifes all-lobby team.

Thats why Ive been so delighted by Bryan Paiements book of cocktails. I can open it and dream about all sorts of elixirs, the more exotic, the better. Whether your space is the lobby of the team hotel or your special tailgate or even the privacy of your man or woman cave, you have to know the playbook. And this sweet little volume is it.

And its even more important for those days when you dont have any big games at all. Its then that you can thumb through the pages and dream and experiment to get ready to put your game face on.

Heres to the mix. Cheers!

Roland Lazenby

Author of Michael Jordan, The Life

A huge thank-you to my wife, Dana, whose willingness to imbibe, taste testing a multitude of cocktails, no matter how unorthodox the ingredients, helped to shape the finished product. Tasting cocktails is a tall task to ask of anyone, but someone has to do it!

A special thank-you to Alex Ho, owner of Sky Pond Photography and Video Productions in Estes Park, Colorado. The Sports Bar project would not have been possible without his expertise and artistic eye in framing the cocktail photos.

Thank you to renowned author Roland Lazenby for lending his words to the project and helping to enhance Sports Bar.

And a huge thank-you to my agent, Joseph Perry, whose hard work helped make Sports Bar possible.

I know youre itching to get to the game, so thank you for taking the time to read a bit about whats in store for you in Sports Bar: Cocktails and Sports Trivia. If you were like me growing up, then you may be somewhat sad that youre not actually a professional athlete at this point in your life and the sporting events in this book dont include inside information about you, the pro athlete. I loved playing sports as a kidand still do. Im a decent athlete, so naturally as a kid I figured Id be making outrageous sums of money and living the life of an adored athlete as an adult. But, hey, Im not, and odds are you arent either, so rather than stew on our change of life course from when we were younger, lets bask in it and celebrate the athletes who make their incredibly rare talents look effortless.

As I mentioned above, I love watching, playing, and talking sports. Working as a professional bartender at a resort in Estes Park, Colorado, affords me the opportunity to watch every major event and talk shop accordingly. The beautiful thing about living in a small destination town just outside Rocky Mountain National Park is the diversity the mountains attract every summer; people from the opposite side of the country, the opposite side of the world, take the time to take a seat at the bar, and, inspired by the whatever sporting event may be taking place, a conversation is sparked. Its these conversations about sports and the often unbelievable and fascinating facts I learn from these patrons that gave me the idea to put together a book that melds my two passions: booze and sports.

As a bartender, I have the opportunity to be creative and create drink specials inspired by different sports throughout the year. In April, the Masters takes place at Augusta National, a golf tournamentthe golf tournamentthat deserves its own cocktail, which became Augusta on My Mind. The cocktail utilizes the highlights and backstory of the Masters and golf in general: blended scotch from Scotland, where the game was invented; hibiscus simple syrup to pay homage to the pristine flora flanking the course; and grapefruit juice to add just the right amount of pink to resemble the azaleas the tournament is so famous for. I find that watching these amazing competitions throughout the year is just more fun when an inspired cocktail accompanies them. Were going to imbibe while watching anyway, so why not have a delicious libation to sip?

So, what if youre not a big sports fan? Should this book be destined just to be a wedge for your lopsided table? A regift item for that uncle who wont shut up about sports? The simple answer is no! The cocktails in Sports Bar can easily stand alone without the aid of a game or tournament. However, I urge you sports haters out there to whip up the cocktail and then discuss some of the remarkable sports trivia with those around. For instance, did you know that the number of vasectomy procedures performed on men increases exponentially in advance of March Madness? It seems men are much more willing to go through with the procedure knowing theyll be able to sit on a frozen donut for a week and watch the tournament guilt-free. Ladies, lets see what else well do, especially when the Stanley Cup Finals are on!

Ive read through many cocktail books with delicious drinks. Yet obscure, hard-to-find ingredients act only to deter the reader from actually making the cocktail. Relaxall the ingredients and directions for making the drinks in this book are very straightforward, the ingredients readily available at your local liquor store. No online ordering necessary.

I had a great time creating Sports Barnot only did I learn incredible facts researching my favorite sports events, but I was able to play the part of mad mixologist in the kitchen, working and reworking drink concoctions until I got them just right. I cant tell you how many times after shaking cocktails for a fourth or fifth time in a night, I had to reassure my wife that this was part of my book project, my research.