If you’ve been following the weekly post of Ameerah, so you can get acquainted with her before her story is released, here’s the next one.
In 1925, Ameerah got the opportunity of a lifetime—to be the head dancer at a speakeasy in New York City. She was in love and had a bright future ahead of her. Her favorite cocktail was the tuxedo # 2.
Mixing Instructions:
1. Mix ingredients together in a shaker (except cherry garnish).
2. Shake vigorously for 35 seconds.
3. Strain and pour into martini glass.
4. Add cherry garnish and serve.
I got this picture and recipe from The Marketing Dame.
Right when Ameerah was about to spread her wings and live the life she desired, she was double-crossed. The ultimate betrayal. It was so dark that even the purest of souls cringed into a fetal position and wept. Ameerah was wrongfully admitted to an insane asylum where horrible things were done to her.
Back in the 1920s there were radical changes in the treatment and understanding of psychology. It was a period of testing of new techniques at treating the insane. Sleep therapy was one of them, where the patient would be injected with barbiturates and knocked out for days or weeks at a time. This happened to Ameerah, among other things, like being strapped to a bed that had leather restraints on it.
Stay tuned
for more info. on Ameerah, the dark hearts of humanity, and why she chose the
path she’s now on.
Ameerah was having the time of her life during the summer of 1925 when her high-hat parents were out of state on business. She was a flapper gal who drank, smoked, and loved to dance. She had two deep dark secrets that in the end ruined her and was used as ammunition to wrongfully commit her to an insane asylum where horrible things were done to her.
Before the light was taken from Ameerah, plunging her into the dark side of humanity, she experienced for the first time in her life, happiness and true love. Of course, all of this took place during prohibition where there were hidden illegal drinking nightclubs that people flocked to. The speakeasy. It was called “the speakeasy” because a bartender had to tell a patron who was ordering an alcoholic beverage to speak easy, so he wouldn’t raise suspicion. The term actually went back further than that, to the 1800s, but it was basically for the same reason. The speakeasy was also known as the blind pig or blind tiger. They were secretive joints that you had to find and give a password like panther sweat, in order to gain access to. A lot of speakeasies were run by gangsters, and they greased a lot of palms-political and law enforcement—in order to keep business rolling. In 1925, there were an estimated 30,000-100,000 speakeasies in New York City alone.
The south side cocktail was the drink Al Capone and his gang favored the most. Ameerah tried it when she went to a speakeasy with her best friend Betty and Betty’s bootlegging brother Abe. The drink is light and refreshing. The ingredients are simple.
South Side cocktail:
Ingredients:
5 fresh mint leaves
1 oz. simple syrup (one part sugar, one part water)
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
2 oz. gin
Garnish: mint sprig
Serve in a cocktail glass
Makes one drink.
Simple, delicious, dangerous: The Southside. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.
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