‘Tis the Drinkin’
A Chicago mixologist invents some Purim-themed cocktails
March 07, 2012
June Suthigoseeya
June Suthigoseeya
Charles Joly, the chief mixologist at the acclaimed Drawing Room in Chicago, had never heard of Purim’s obligation to drink “until one cannot tell the difference between ‘blessed is Mordechai’ and ‘cursed is Hamen.’ ” When we asked him to design a few drinks for what he delightedly called “the Jewish drinking holiday,” he jumped into the task, reading up on the festival and asking Jewish friends to help. “I had a variety of response from friends,” he said. “Some vaguely remembered the festival, and others who could have written a book on it. It’s one of those things where there are traditions in every family.”