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A history of the Obituary Cocktail — gin, vermouth, and absinthe — tracing its origins at Café Lafitte in the 1940s through its place at the center of New Orleans' mid-century café society and its eventual return from obscurity.

Sue Strachan chronicles the drink's connection to Café Lafitte, the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the U.S., and the circle that gathered there: Tennessee Williams, Ella Brennan, and a rich cast of prominent visitors. The book covers the history of the cocktail's ingredients, recipes for home mixologists, other morbidly monikered drinks, and detours into secret societies, second-line parades, and deathly holidays like Halloween and All Saints' Day.

  • Sue Strachan, Author
  • Published by LSU Press
  • ISBN: 9780807184790

The Obituary Cocktail

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A history of the Obituary Cocktail — gin, vermouth, and absinthe — tracing its origins at Café Lafitte in the 1940s through its place at the center of New Orleans' mid-century café society and its eventual return from obscurity.

Sue Strachan chronicles the drink's connection to Café Lafitte, the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the U.S., and the circle that gathered there: Tennessee Williams, Ella Brennan, and a rich cast of prominent visitors. The book covers the history of the cocktail's ingredients, recipes for home mixologists, other morbidly monikered drinks, and detours into secret societies, second-line parades, and deathly holidays like Halloween and All Saints' Day.

  • Sue Strachan, Author
  • Published by LSU Press
  • ISBN: 9780807184790