A shot of whishey

[Sam Talley]

I always see coyboys in the movies come into the saloon, slam down a big shot of whiskey, pay up, and go about their business. Now I'm not a lush, but neither am I a teetotaler. The whiskey could not have been the finest aged swill made; yet, they never chased the drink down with water or anything. That rotgut stuff must have burned all the way down; and it could not have cooled them off or do a very good job of washing dust out of their mouths. I know they had beer, but rarely do your see those hot coyboys drinking it. I'm sure they had root cellars to keep things like beer cool.

And why, in the middle of the day, take the one shot anyway? It couldn't have done much except maybe kill any intestinal worms. Am I missing something?

[Lethalrancher]

it is likely all just Hollywood......

[Sam Talley]

Thats another thing, did they even have mixed drinks?

[anthony martin]

Despite the increasing inroads of the temperance crowd America was very much a hard drinking country in the 18th and 19th century with the hard liquors ranging from swill to the sublime.19th century America had an astonishing selection of liquors--literally hundreds of labels and thousands of breweries large and small mostly because beer spoiled so easily before Pasteurization.Rye whiskey(not the woosie blended stuff from up north that only became accepted here during prohibition),the real McCoy, was made all over (Washington made it at Mt .Vernon)and was America's most popular tipple with bourbon and brandy close second and third and hard cider was also very available.Go to any boomtown of the old west and one could have sampled dozens of liquors,fine wines,champagne and even liqueurs.Many of these towns also had several breweries as well.Even some of the smaller communities were better stocked than one would suspect!Rotgut was around but is mostly a Hollywood melodramatic device.Old Overholt-America's oldest rye, was Doc Holliday's favorite.Try a bottle-it's sublime!

[anthony martin]

  Sam,

    Yes they had a variety of mixed drinks.The original cocktail was the SAZARAC cocktail devised in New Orleans around 1810 complte with a rooster tail feather sticking out of it or at least stirred with one.Buffalo Bill  favored a drink called a Stone Fence,a mix of rye and cider.When somone offered to buy him one he would say"Sir,you speak the language of my tribe!"

[Wolfgang]

Sam . . ya don't sound like a drinker.  I'm not one now . . . but I used to be . . and would never chase raw whisky with water or anything else . . .and why take the time to sit down ?.... When ya need a shot of whisky ya stand at the bar, order it, pay fur it, and TOSS IT DOWN.   :)   Lots of bars in France to this day that are stand up only.   Bin there back when I was a drinker. . . Breakfast?   Stand at the bar . . toss down a couple of congnacs . . . eat a couple of still warm from the oven crousants out of the basket of them on the bar,  .... pay up and walk out the door.  Feeling just great with a bit of a "buzz" on a beautiful morning in Paris,.... :)

[Stan H]

Water??? That's to wash your feet in, not drink! I was taught to never insult good whiskey (or any other kind) by adding or chasing it with water.

 

[anthony martin]

  Stan,

     I've had a few whiskeys that tasted like somebody washed his or her feet in it!

[Jim Holden]

Iread about this in a book and it seems it was about BTK and the Lincoln County days.  The authors presented some facts about the astonishing amount of booze that was consumed by the average male in the West almost daily, which basically added up to their being pretty much tipsy most of the time, which supposedly resulted in a lot of the violence....  The supposition was that water was fairly unreliable, as an unpolluted source to quench your thirst, so beer and other spirits were used more often than not. 

Hollywood was not always the culprit, as if you watch a lot of Gunsmoke, you'll remember that Beer was a pretty popular drink at Miss Kitty's, and Marshall Dillon often chose it over Whiskey when he was "on the job".  Sort of ironic...but maybe realistic.

[Dave McGowan]

I enjoy a couple of ounces of GOOD Scotch about once every six months. I sip it over the course of a half hour. Not water; perhaps ice on a hot day. The same treatment for GOOD Rye and GOOD Bourbon. The best of the last was during an enjoyable evening in Nashville some 30 years ago.

The worst drink I've ever had called itself by the name of my favourite. It said Scotch (and says since it's still available) on the bottle but it tastes like gasoline. And if you get caught with that you toss it back, smile, and say, "See you later, boys," and walk away.

And Martin, "washed their feet in it?" I expect that would be an improvement but I don't really know since the only wash water I've drank passed itself off as coffee.

[Buck Grizzly]

Lot's of mixed drinks. Syrups and juices were always being experimented with and any good saloon had a master mixologist (sp?) on duty.