The Green Meanie

Stop for a moment and contemplate the shot, the perfectly imagined descriptive for a single boost of liquor. The shot's the alcohol delivery system (ADS) designed for maximum efficiency, and the one most likely to blow your head off. A combination hand-and-neck maneuver in which the actor/recipient jumps off the proverbial cliff and into the abyss below, it's not the most graceful ADS, nor are those who commonly partake usually the most graceful of the species. Often it's the fellows who bellow for a round of shots, the saddest sacks of the group, those with the most weight dragging them down and, consequently, those most in need of a quicker picker-upper. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and these days, when soldiers are ducking shots coming left and right from sandy knolls all over Iraq, you're forgiven if you find yourself in need of a little clock-cleaner after a hard day's news.

It's high time to take the shot back from the drunks, because with a little restraint and a big glass of ice water, the shot doesn't have to be a simple obliterator; it can instead serve as a little exclamation point. Guess what? Instead of three or four drunken shots, if you only do one, or maybe two, and have a pint glass of ice water as a chaser, your load will be lightened without much threat of your stomach automatically lightening it later on (always a danger when tossing one back).

The best shot is a tequila shot, it's true. For a little variety, we recommend a Green Meanie from Hammerstone's in Soulard. Created by the sparkling Cory Hammerstone, daughter of the owners, the drink was supposed to be another beast altogether. "I was a margarita drinker at the time, and I was fond of the blue margaritas, and I was also fond of the Midori margaritas, so then I tried to make a Midori blue margarita, but it turned out green."

That's because Midori, a melon liqueur, is overwhelmingly green and consumes all colors in its path. "There's no getting around the green," says Hammerstone.

Which blew the whole concept of naming the drink after the Blue Meanies of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Add to the Midori a shot of Tarantula Azul tequila, which is blended with a citrus liqueur, and a touch of sweet-and-sour mix, and you've got a sweetish shot that tastes quite like slamming lime Hi-C or sucking on a green Life Saver. Cock the wrist, place the glass on lower lip, now tip, and swallow. The war isn't over by a long shot, but for the moment at least, that doesn't matter.