Drinks

The Suffering Bastard

Name: The Suffering Bastard
Ingredients: 1 oz. bourbon; 1 oz. dry gin; ½ oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed; 2 dashes Angostura bitters; Ginger beer; Mint sprig

A sippable salve that helps ease the agony of defeat

By Steve Russell

June 10, 2021

Photo: Brent Hofacker / Adobe

Who cares if your team played well all season and made it to Atlanta? Losing is still a mortal wound, especially since it means that your smug rival won. (Those cheating SOBs!) This sippable salve hails from a time when the stakes were even higher, specifically to WWII–era Cairo, Egypt, where a bartender at Shepheard’s Hotel concocted a double-liquored drink for Allied troops. The soldiers reportedly liked it so much that they telegraphed to have batches delivered to the front lines. Those chaps won the day, so maybe drinking one will confer future good luck upon your team. Can’t hurt.

Ingredients

- 1 oz. bourbon
- 1 oz. dry gin
- ½ oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Ginger beer
- Mint sprig

Preparation

Add bourbon, gin, lime juice, and bitters to a shaker with ice.
Shake until well-chilled, about 30 seconds.
Strain into a collins glass over fresh ice.
Top with ginger beer.
Garnish with mint sprig.

Steve Russell is a Garden & Gun contributing editor who also has written for Men’s Journal, Life, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. Born in Mississippi and raised in Tennessee, he resided in New Orleans and New York City before settling down in Charlottesville, Virginia, because it’s far enough south that biscuits are an expected component of a good breakfast.