The Nightcap

 Just the saying, "Would you care for a nightcap?" sounds grown-up, sexy and a little naughty at the same time.  It congers up flashes of old movies and probably the best movie with a nightcap scene is The Graduate.  We're soon to be moving into more space and so my dream of owning a bar cart is soon to be a reality.  But I don't want it to be something that I stage and fill once and then it just becomes another thing to dust every week.  I plan on fully utilizing it for parties and dinners but I wanted to somehow make it a little more integral.  And this is what got me thinking about the nightcap.

Apparently there are rules to the nightcap and if I plan to do it right then I should study up, so I checked out Rosie Schaap's advice.

(1)    A nightcap should be a one-off, not “one more” of whatever you’re drinking. As great as a good cocktail is, according to Schaap, that’s not how to end a night. She says, “Your last drink should be set apart, so pick something special, something to sip slowly; one serving of one spirit, neat.”

(2)    A nightcap should be brown. Stick with the classics: top-shelf whiskey, good brandy (usually Cognac), a burnished, potent, amber liqueur.

(3)    A nightcap shouldn’t stray too far from the movements that preceded it. If you’ve been drinking whisky cocktails, move up to a neat single malt. If wine, Schaap recommends cognac.

(4)    A nightcap should be warming. In Schaap’s words, “After the initial burn subsides, a soothing comfort remains, the liquor equivalent of a cup of hot milk. Just much better.”

They've even got a Perfect Last Drink Playlist, I think I'm going to love this!

 Closing Time,” Tom Waits
“Cognac Blues,” Dizzy Gillespie
“Hemingway’s Whiskey,” Guy Clark
“In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” Frank Sinatra
“Last Call for Whiskey,” Choker Campbell & His Band
“Night Cap,” Charlie Parker
“One for My Baby,” Billie Holiday
“The Parting Glass,” the Pogues
“Straight, No Chaser,” Thelonious Monk

***photo credit Onward Reserve