Släckdrünk - The SeaTac Layover

Editor’s Note — while this blog (and some posts) have evolved and been updated from their original pandemic versions, this was my first post. It captures the crazy uncertainty of the early days of the pandemic. I have decided not to update this entry and leave it as a nod to our shared experiences, hardships, and losses. Let’s lift a glass for auld lang syne…. This drink was inspired by having to drive our Finnish relatives to Seattle to literally catch the last flight home.

This recipe may look as dicey as the Comfortel 8 next to the airport, but it will bring out your inner plaid shirt|grunge|formerly-employed Amazonian in us all. You could look at this drink as a late night hookup between a Boilermaker and a Strip and Go Naked. And because we can, we’ll add a Seattle twist — if you can, use locally-crafted beer and/or spirits because, after all, the Pacific Northwest fetishizes all things craft, local, artisanal, etc. If that’s not possible, just find something brown and something brewed and be happy you’re not in a motel in SeaTac, Washington. And if you’re in a motel in SeaTac, feel free to make it a double.

Where we are

Your flight has been canceled and you’re stuck at the Seattle Airport. Let’s go down the pandemic hotspot checklist….

1. Seattle had one of the first instances of Covid-19, back when this was all fake news and a hoax.
2. SeaTac is an international gateway to Asia and Europe, ranked #1 and #2 in global coronavirus trend setting.
3. It’s adjacent to King County, et. al, with among the highest concentrations of cases and deaths in the U.S.

Where we’d like to be (or used to be)

You’ve just got an upgrade to first class. Yeah, there’s a guy next to you with a dry cough, but you’re enjoying a IPA pushback and nibbling on a cup of warm, mixed nuts. You’ve got a complimentary portable video viewer to catch up on the latest movie blockbusters. Sure it’s been handled by hundreds of people before you, but it will make the five hour flight on this beautiful new 737-Max fly by like a dream. Yeah, I’ll have another IPA.

The SeaTac Layover

The booze

2 oz of local (or other) American whiskey — bourbon, rye, blended

The adjustments

½ oz lemon juice

½ oz simple syrup (1:1)

ice

The swirl

Splash of IPA beer

1. In a cocktail shaker or Mason Jar, combine the whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup and a handful of ice cubes.
2. Shake these ingredients so they are mixed. You don’t have to shake them too long because you’ll next….
3. Pour ingredients (including ice) into an ironic coffee mug. It doesn’t have to be ironic, but it helps.
4. Add additional ice if needed and top with a healthy float of IPA beer. Try to use an IPA as the bitterness and herbal notes of this type of beer make this drink something more than the routine boilermaker. Give it a careful stir.
5. Since you’ll have a good amount of IPA left, you can either make another drink or simply treat the beer as a back to your cocktail.

SeaTac Layover Playlist Starters

Gold— Macklemore

Seattle—Perry Como

Shadow of Seattle — Marcy Playground

This Place is a Prison — The Postal Service

SeaTac Layover Binge Watching

Frasier — The Kelsey Grammer series lovingly set in Seattle before Amazon arrived.

It Happened at the World’s Fair — Elvis Presley movie set during the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle.

Sleepless in Seattle — Nothing more comfortable than Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.