Merry Christmas! And in case you need other reasons to drink, it’s also the birthdays of Charles H. Baker Jr, the Indiana Jones of mixology, and The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan. While both are what you’d call extremely enthusiastic imbibers, Baker translated his drinking experiences into legendary cocktail guides, while MacGowan spun his into some of the best songs of the 20th century. Top quotes: First, here’s MacGowan: “Whenever I need a light inside me, I walk into a pub and drink 15 pints of beer.” And here’s Baker on how he managed to never get sick while traveling through third world climes: “We never permitted the setting sun, or at least midnight curfew, to find our mouth, throat and alimentary linings unfortified with at least a daily minimum of 1/2 a 5th of good liquor.” Recommended drink: It’s traditional to drink whatever you find under the tree. And if, horrors!, you can’t find anything drinkable under the tree, well, you need to be a little broader with the hints next year.
