For February, which is Black History Month in the US, we’ve chosen a book about key figures in a legendary section of another Midwestern city, Detroit. Unlike some of our recent choices, this book actually has cocktails in it, too — it is Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall. This book, technically labeled historical fiction, blends fact and imagination to portray 52 “saints,” each of whom was an important figure in the Black Bottom community of Detroit. And, each chapter ends with a cocktail recipe — so there were plenty of possibilities for our sipping while we discuss this book.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book before we met — I have been listening to it, but have not has as much time and energy as I would have liked to listen in the last few weeks. My parents have recently moved to an assisted living community, and we’ve cleaned out their house to prepare it for sale, so a lot of my time and attention has been elsewhere. I can highly recommend the book Learning to Speak Alzheimers, if you have anyone in your life with dementia — I did make time to complete that book, as well as start some others on that topic.

Cocktails for the Book Discussion

There were a number of choices for this book, although some of the drinks were very similar to each other. I chose three drinks with different base spirits to keep it interesting, and followed the recipes as written in the book:

• Awakening Father (#41), for the Feast Day of Nat King Cole – 1/3 jigger of dry gin (1/2 oz Gin No. 11), 1/3 jigger of Italian vermouth (1/2 oz Carpana Antica), 1/3 jigger of French vermouth (1/2 oz of Noilly Prat Dry), 1 slice orange. Stir with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass. Basically a take on a perfect Martini, with a touch of orange – boozy but good.
  
• The Uncommon Solution (#36), for the Feast Day of Lawrence Massey – 1 jigger of bourbon (1.5 oz), 1 pony of sweet vermouth (1 oz), 1 lime juice (1/2 oz), shake with ice then strain into cocktail glass and top with club soda.
  
• Fan Club (#50) for the Feast Day of Detroit Red and Moms Mabley – 1 jigger of Applejack (1.5 oz Starlight Distillery Applejack), 3/4 pony lemon juice (3/4 oz), 3/4 pony simple syrup; shake with ice, and serve in a sour glass. I actually had some small sour glasses (a bit like a coupe), and was delighted to use them – this cocktail went over very well with the group.

I had meant to try the Hotel Man (#44) for the Feast Day of John White instead of the Awakening Father, but forgot until after we were sipping – it calls for 1 jigger of Old Tom Gin (1.5 oz), 1/2 pony of French vermouth (.5 oz), 1/2 pony of Italian vermouth (.5 oz), and a cocktail onion for garnish. I tried it after we met, and it was pretty interesting – I liked it more than I expected, although as it sat and warmed, the onion started to be a little weird for me with the Old Tom gin’s floral notes.