A mother-lovin cocktail recipe

Review

Editor's Note: If you've ever been in a show with local actor John Middleton, you may have sampled a cocktail that he designed specifically inspired by that play. We asked John to apply that skill to shows he witness rather than performed in-as a kind of alternative review. Basically, take a sip and get a taste for the play. If the cocktail below sounds appealing to you, then you may want to drink up the show that inspired it. We start our experimental mixture of mixology and theater with Savage Umbrella's These are the Men.

  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1.5 ounces brandy
  • Juice of half of an orange
  • 1 glass (6 ounces) red wine
  • Sprig of rosemary

In a saucepan over moderate heat stir the honey into the brandy until it dissolves. Stir in the orange juice and red wine. Heat it up. You don’t want it to boil, but you want it nice and hot – little bubbles starting to form around the edges and wisps of steam rising from the surface. Turn off the heat and stir with the rosemary sprig for 20 seconds or so – you just want a hint of rosemary, like the smell of a springtime breeze blowing across a Greek hillside. Discard the sprig. Pour into a mug and enjoy.

If you see These Are the Men, now playing at the Southern Theater, I think you’ll agree that this fortifying little cocktail is a nice reflection of the story, both directly – they drink a lot of wine and talk about honey and oranges – and thematically, a blend of the ancient (wine and honey) and the new (don’t have sex with any family members while you make this). But if you really want to get into the spirit of the thing, then you shouldn’t make just one lonely little cocktail for yourself. You should make this collectively.

Devise a punch!

Invite four or five friends over and everybody brings something different. And you need to do this barefoot – the better to feel your connection to the center of the earth. Then pour everything into a big pot, stir it up and feel things. And there are no bad ingredients. Well, there are. But I trust you to use discretion.

You could also serve this drink cold ­ like a “Sangria” which comes from somebody’s word for blood - the Spanish? You’ll just have to work a little harder to dissolve the honey into the brandy. Take turns and think of it as a gesture that gains in significance with each repetition (like the wedding ceremonies in These Are the Men). If you want the rosemary flavor, you should throw the sprigs in at the beginning and bruise them with your earnest stirring.

And remember, Mother’s Day will be here before you know it!

John Middleton

John Middleton, belovèd Twin Cities actor and unhappy news aggregator.