All of a sudden we’ve got more passionfruit scraps than we know what to do with. We make the vermouth, but it’s a little edgy, so the way to round it out a bit is a less edgy gin. We use Barr Hill because it’s oh so soft. It’s one of the only gins you can drink warm and neat, a true accomplishment. Yes, it has a touch of honey added to it. People lately are very averse to anything sweet which I find odd. Our cocktails are all 3:2 sour to sweet instead of the traditional 1:1 but more and more people are asking for skinny margaritas and tequila shaken with just citrus which to me tastes so goddam awful it’s atrocious. If you’re going to drink booze and want a margarita, then just have the sugar. Shit. Someone asked for a soda last night with no sugar. It’s called seltzer, dude. I get it, sugar is bad for you, but so is eating out and drinking and walking down the street sucking in all the exhaust and brake dust. Life is bad for you. Unless you want to live in a kind hippie commune in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, you’re going to have to suffer some sort of toxin in your body. Oblivion will eventually take us all. There’s no darkness here, just truth. Eat the ice cream, eat the cookies, have a few beverages. The problem is, kids put a damper on a lot of this. You want to live longer for them. I want to watch my boy grow up so I do take care of myself in certain ways. I try to get lots of sleep–that’s the big one. But you have to make sure you’re bedroom is totally dark. Mine isn’t so I use a sleep mask. I also listen to deep sleep brain waves while snoozing. Sleeping naked is also great for you but Jo says I’m not allowed to do that anymore. The hardest part is staying away from screens before bed. I’ve got everything on the highest red setting but it’s still not good to look at that crap before bed. I’ve been good these last few weeks but it goes back and forth. Eating healthy is good too but certain things, like ice cream, are unavoidable. If I could I would just eat 2 pounds of ribeye a day but that’s pretty gross as well as expensive. Eggs are good. As far as liquids, I don’t drink tap water, bottled water, or filtered water, I buy big five gallon refillable glass jugs of ultra filtered pure water. Yeah, that seems a little nuts but my son has never had to drink gross water. I grew up drinking delicious well water. Tap water is just disgusting. What else? I take a few vitamins. A magnesium blend, zinc, and an amino acid called glycine which regulates fatty acids in the body, is an anti-inflammatory and improves the insulin response to things like alcohol. I walk a lot, I get at least an hour of sun a day, I lift some weights in the form of a kettlebell and I’ve been doing a good amount of calisthenic type stuff lately like pushups, pull ups, and dips. Jiu jitsu takes care of the cardio portion of the week and it’s also great for my depression. I haven’t been for a couple of weeks because of this new building job stuff but once we’re all acclimated here in Hancock Park I will make my comeback.

These old bones are dense and fierce, my friends.

Restaurant work keeps a body in shape. Lots of walking and of course shaking cocktails can be strenuous. Believe me. It’s the building as well. Some of those bottles have heavy ass bottoms. Being on your feet is actually good for you as opposed to sitting all day in an office, it’s just that when you get older and everyone around you is in their twenties, working in a restaurant can be depressing.

Not sure where this all went today. Anyway, here’s the cocktail:

Third Martinez

2 oz. Barr Hill

1 oz. Passionfruit Vermouth

Barspoon Maraschino

2 Dashes Orange Bitters