Tod’s Cooler: 2 oz gin, 2/3 oz creme de cassis, 2/3 oz lemon juice, 4 oz soda water poured over ice in a tall glass.
This drink is named for Tod Sloan a jockey during the late 1800′s and early 1900′s. Perhaps the best known horse ridden by Tod Sloan is Hamburg pictured above. tell you this because I really can’t think of much more to write about for this drink. I don’t know what the deal is with the connection between gin cocktails and horses (see previous post on the Horse’s Neck), but I like horses so I’m all for it. If you want more reading that is set in the backdrop of the horseracing world – you can’t beat the mysteries written by Dick Francis. Sitting on a lounge chair in the back yard on a sunny day, reading your Dick Francis novel and sipping a Tod’s Cooler is a fine way to pass the time! (Alternately, sitting in your leather high-backed chair, wearing your smoking jacket (a.k.a. bathrobe), next to a pleasantly glowing fireplace, sipping a Tod’s Cooler, Dick Francis book in hand is also a fine way to pass the time.)
Diagnosis: Like Tod Sloan’s career this drink is spectacular and short lived, leading immediately to the question: May I please have another?