http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/27/FDDG15LUI7.DTL
You can even post a comment at the end. I think his drink recipe would be more
effective if he used 25 mL instead of 22.5 mL as 25 goes into 750 evenly, thus
no waste when pouring from a standard 750 mL bottle. The rest of the amounts
work out OK.
Jerry
Dear President Obama:
I do not represent the San Francisco Chronicle on the issue I'm about to open
up, but I think that I can safely say that I speak for a large number of
American bartenders when I ask you to consider encouraging, or even demanding,
that everyone in this great country of ours make a far bigger effort to "plan
the increasing use of the metric system in the United States," words taken from
the Metric Conversion Act of 1975.
That's right, Mister President, we made a commitment to go metric more than 30
years ago.
I'm well aware, of course, that there are far more important issues for you to
tackle right now, but I think that if you could see your way to giving this
topic just a little thought, you might see that, if this country took steps to
join the rest of the world in their metricity (yes, I just made that word up),
there might be some advantages to the switch that aren't immediately apparent.
Think, for instance, of all the jobs that would be created. For a start,
thousands of packaging designers would be called into action to redesign labels
on cans of soup, and bags of sugar and all manner of boxes and cans and bottles
and bags. Then all the gas pumps would have to be recalibrated. That's a job
and a half, huh? Next we'd have to retool the machines that produce milk
cartons so we could finally buy our milk in liters instead of pints. (I hope,
President Obama, that I don't have to point out the fact that the liquor
industry in America is one industry that went metric years ago. So far ahead of
the milk guys ...)
Is it also possible, Mister President, that our exports will grow if we go
metric. Your average chappie in Britain, I believe, would be far more likely to
buy an American apple pie if he knew that it was 25 centimeters in diameter.
Tell him it's a 10-inch pie and there's a good chance that he'll buy an
inferior English pie instead.
When you took the reins, President Obama, countries that have not been enamored
of us in recent years immediately gave us another chance to show how great we
could be. Surely we must seize this opportunity to show them what we're made
of. If we pushed the metric issue, those Europeans would no longer be able to
laugh at us behind our backs. Not too very long ago I visited a bar in Paris
where I overheard one Frenchman say to another, "Oh, zoze Americains! Zeh steel
theenk in ounces, you know. Ooh la la!" I left that bar in a hurry and went
straight to the nearest McDonald's for a Royal Cheese (that's what the French
call a Quarter Pounder).
There's one more reason that I'm urging you to work on this issue, Mister
President, and it involves cocktails. As I'm sure you know, the cocktail was
invented in America, and American bartenders have always been regarded as being
the very best in the world, but the sad fact is that we're beginning to lose
ground. Bartenders in London, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong, Bratislava, Moscow and
Rome simply don't understand our recipes, you see. Ounces mean nothing to them.
If you act now, though, the bartenders of America will be quick to order their
metric jiggers, and American cocktails will be once again be served at the best
bars in the world.. You just watch us, sir. We'll jump right in there, and
before you know it the rest of the world will once again marvel at the
creativity of the men and women who work behind the bars of America.
I've created a drink, Mister President, that we could perhaps use to toast you
if you can pull this metric thing off. The ingredients are all American, and
although most of them are made in California, I did include an East Coast
product, too. It comes from a family that supplied George Washington's troops
with their apple brandy. Pretty cool, huh?
In closing, President Obama, I'd like to wish you and your family all the best
for the next four, or eight, years, and if I might be allowed to offer to show
you around some of the fine bars we have here in San Francisco, I'd be happy to
pick up the tab next time you're in town. (We'll go nonalcoholic if it's more
politically correct.)
The We Really Really Love Our New President Cocktail
Makes 1 drink
* 22.5 ml ( 3/4 ounce) Laird's Bottled-in-Bond Applejack from New
Jersey
* 22.5 ml ( 3/4 ounce) Germain-Robin Select Barrel XO Alambic Brandy
from Ukiah
* 15 ml ( 1/2 ounce) ruby port from the Charbay distillery in the Napa
Valley
* 7.5 ml ( 1/2 ounce) Qi black tea liqueur made at the St. George
distillery in Alameda
* 1 Meyer lemon twist from California, as garnish
Instructions: Place all ingredients except the twist in a mixing glass. Stir
over ice and strain into a chilled American cocktail glass. Add the American
garnish.
Gary Regan is the author of "The Joy of Mixology" and other books. E-mail him
at [email protected].
