Vol. 10, No. 12 | The Talented Mr. Banner
Hey Ya’ll!
I’m in Cape Town this week for Ajabu, a cocktail festival. I’ll be speaking on two panels, but let’s be honest, someone could have asked me to come here to mow their lawn and I would have done it. I love this city and it feels so good to be back. I feel like I’ve been fighting for the past two weeks to get to this moment. Even though this is still some form of work, it’s still a personal trip and the creative recharge I’ve needed.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:
I had a riff on an Incredible Hulk at Hello Hello, a new cocktail bar in New York. Do you remember this cocktail? It was a 50/50 split of Hpnotiq and Hennessy. Their version had D’USSÉ, Hpnotiq, citrus, banana, lychee and matcha. I was planning on just tasting it, but it was so good that I drank the whole thing in about two minutes. I love that the Incredible Hulk is getting this craft cocktail treatment.
In general, I’m seeing a major uptick in bartenders using Hpnotiq in new and exciting ways. Last year, a bartender in Chicago made me an Old Fashioned with Hpnotiq as the base spirit. It’s the kind of thing no one in their right mind would ask for, but yet, she made it absolutely delicious.
I googled Incredible Hulk because I realized I had no idea where this cocktail came from and I wondered if it was documented. I ended up reading a fascinating article in Vine Pair on the origins of the cocktail. It’s a masterclass on marketing. It’s so crazy when you realize that there was a time when marketing spirits through rappers and the hip hop community didn’t exist.
I was at Hello Hello for a D’USSÉ event. Not sure if I’ve mentioned that I work on D’USSÉ in addition to St~Germain, Grey Goose and Bombay. D’USSÉ was founded by Jay Z, which is why it’s so strange to imagine a time when hip hop wasn’t tightly involved in spirits. It’s hard for me to remember and I lived this history.
The cocktail at Hello Hello is called The Talented Mr. Banner and it wasn’t until reading that Vine Pair article that I understood why. I clearly don’t read comics. I’d convinced myself that somehow it was a David Banner reference and not because of Bruce Banner in Incredible Hulk.
I just Googled David Banner to make sure I got his name right (I know, I know), then found out that the Incredible Hulk TV show actually used the name David Banner for the character. So then I Googled “David Banner rapper Incredible Hulk” (because I was definitely talking about the rapper and I wanted to see if he ever drank Incredible Hulks). And now I’ve realized the rapper’s real name is not actually David Banner (who knew this?!) and he created the stage name because of the Incredible Hulk TV show. Mind blowwwwn. So was I right about why they named the cocktail The Talented Mr. Banner?
I thought this newsletter would go many places but at no point did I think I’d end up here. Quickly, here’s what I thought I’d write about: 1) My favorite tropical cocktails are with cognac. 2) Hypnotiq works well with cognac because it’s one of the ingredients. Mix the thing with the thing they’re already made with 3) St~Germain tastes great with cognac because there is eau de vie (unaged cognac) in the blend. 4) No one ever mixes St~Germain with cognac and it’s such a miss. 5) The history of how cognac became a staple in the Black community because of soldiers stationed in France during the war.
I hope you’re all well! I’m off to see if I can find cognac in Cape Town.
Shannon