Deep Thoughts on Cocktail Hour

If there’s one deep truth I've learned from keeping a search for "cocktail" continually open on TweetDeck it’s that it's always cocktail hour somewhere around the globe.  Twitter users are not evenly distributed globally (and I’m only searching in English, although “cocktail” is a semi-universal cultural phenomenon and should appear in all languages), but between North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, there is always someone ready for a cocktail, someone else who could use a cocktail, someone on their way to have a cocktail, someone meeting friends for cocktails, someone who just finished having cocktails, and, of course, someone saying that it’s cocktail hour.  Seeing the level of interest in cocktails is really heartening for an amateur mixologist like me, but it’s kind of tough to be hearing about cocktail hour at 8:00 AM and to know that it’s just a tad early for a cocktail if I have any hope of getting anything accomplished during the next eight hours, not to mention having any hope of going to the gym.

Here’s a sampling:

“I came home from the cocktail event and had some ice cream for dinner. It counts as protein, sorta, right?” @dreamsequins. (Wow, never looked at it that way – UM)

“Stuffed with fish struggling to breathe... Need a cocktail.” @j_frankle. (Rather disturbing image? – UM)

“Delicious cocktail I made this weekend. It's called a "Christmas Caipirinha" but I think it's better for spring. http://bit.ly/3qqUiA” @Thessaly. (Note: Christmas comes mid-summer in Brazil – UM)

“wants a cocktail and a jacuzzi.” @merelyaesthetic. (Why not a cocktail in a jacuzzi? – UM)

 “cocktail time. i'm sure happy hour was invented on a monday!” @ShawnaB (Ditto. – UM)

“ADD why must u torture me! lol I need a focus cocktail. ;) oh look a butterfly...” @BBB40.  (! – UM)

“I'm working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce.” @??  (I see this gem about once a day, so I didn’t want to credit it. – UM)

I could read this stuff all day, and sometimes I do.  Of course, there’s a lot of noise in the feed.  People who just had a shrimp cocktail (or worse: people who just had a bad shrimp cocktail and are experiencing severe consequences).  Personally, shrimp cocktail is one drink I avoid; they are a little chunky for my taste and tend to stick on the way down.  The lemon is good, though, and can be used creatively in another cocktail.

Fortunately for me, thinking about cocktails requires a lot of serious thought, but not too much.  I could spend the entire day deciding what cocktail to have this evening, but that wouldn’t be very productive, either.  I would like to write more on this topic, but I really need a cocktail. Maybe a Jack Rose tonight. Ciao!