It’s late May way back in 1976 and I’m in Austin, TX on one of my first missions. You see, a disparate group of Highschool kids had embarked on a bit of “Class Warfare”. Freshman and Seniors were at odds with each other due to certain time honored hazing rituals that pitted soon to be upper classman against incoming students as a means of welcoming them to the school and providing a proper “Right of Passage” as they moved from child to adult. Everybody understood what it was about and nobody really minded but the School Administration decided this was the year to step in and wanted everybody to sign an agreement that these activities would not occur. I was asked to infiltrate the student body since I was a recently graduated alumni and try to calm everybody down. Bring a little peace, love and harmony back to the universe. I could think of no better way to make that happen than with a great cocktail!
The real problem was trying to come up with something that represented a wide slice of life in the school. Each ingredient should mean something to at least one of the factions and all of the ingredients had to come together in a single tasty concoction that everybody liked. I felt that the best course of action was to drive around to the various hangouts and figure out what the people like. I hopped into my ’69 Chevelle and got started.
First stop … pick up my friend “Pink” and his new Freshman buddy Mitch. It was a perfect chance to start to figure this thing out. Freshman & Senior together in the same place. There has to be a proper ingredient in this group somewhere. Mitch hops in the back so I ask him … “Hey man, you got anything to drink”? Of course he said “No, not on me, man”. My reply was considered but swift. “It’d be a lot cooler if you did”! As I was laughing it off something from that exchange triggered a thought in my mind and the first ingredient was secured. “All Rye, All Rye, All Rye” … Whiskey, of course!
Now it was off to the Emporium Pool Hall to find a few more friends. As luck would have it several of them were hangin’ around outside shootin’ the breeze. We began to discuss what I was up to now so I mentioned that I was working and that I enjoyed having a little extra change in my pocket but from time to time I do think about going back to school … but I don’t know. At least I can afford a little bit of blended rum. In fact, I realized what I really liked about it is that once it was in the bottle it stopped the aging process. I get older and the rum stays the same age. For sure, Rum has to be part of this drink!
Time to head over to Top Notch Hamburger and see what’s shakin’. As I pull into the parking spot I see there’s a girl with curly red hair and a couple of her friends in the car next to me. As an ice breaker I say “How you doin'”? When she replies “Good” I ask if she had heard about the party being busted. Apparently the location for the night’s kegger was ruined when the parents found out what was happening and refused to go out for the night. That’s why everyone decided to head up to “Moon Tower” park. The new fiesta was in the making! I told her everybody was going to be there and the she ought to go. When she said “Ok” I suggested she ditch her friends & ride up with me but she noted that she had her own car already. That’s when I told my friends that “I love those redheads!” And just like that I had another ingredient … Ginger Liqueur. In fact that also inspired another ingredient. Since we were heading up to a beer party why not use a little beer in the mix? This was really starting to come together.
When we get to the “Moon Tower” I could tell tensions were high and the party hadn’t really started yet. There were already a bunch of Freshman angry that rules disallowing the right of passage were being considered and Seniors couldn’t believe they were being asked to sign a piece of paper insuring they would no longer participate in the school tradition. This situation needed a great cocktail but I didn’t have the last ingredient. Stalling for time I decided to just start talking.
“Man, it’s the same B.S. they tried to pull in my day. If it ain’t that piece of paper, there’s some other choice they’re gonna try to make for you. You gotta do what you want to do, people. Let me tell you this, the older you get the more rules they’re going to try to get you to follow. You just gotta make lemonade out of those lemons. L-E-M-O-N” … that’s it! The final ingredient is lemonade!
In that moment the “Slow Ride” cocktail was born. Everybody unified under the banner of a great drink. The Highschool traditions went on, for at least a few more years. We partied into the wee hours of the morning and all in attendance eventually went home listening to whatever rock song made them feel good and woke the next day with a new sense of contentment and purpose. Not a bad outcome for my first mission!