THE SPAGHETT = High Life + la dolce vita
Adam McDowell on the stupid lazy man's answer to the Aperol spritz
So there’s this dumb new drink going around that I kind of love. I don’t think it qualifies as a trend yet, but I could use your help turning it into one.
Bon Appetit drinks guy Alex Delany spotted it toward the bottom of the list of happy hour specials at a place called Wet City Brewing in Baltimore. It’s a Miller High Life with an ounce each of Aperol and lemon juice ($5).
For reasons not yet revealed, this drink is called a “spaghett.” Not a spaghetti, mind you — a spaghett.
Delightful.
SPAGHETT!
Think of it as a lazy man’s Aperol spritz. Delany extols its virtues thusly:
The bubbly, rose gold liquid goes down easy, especially when it’s cold as it can be without turning into a beer slushie … this is on deck for the rest of August and most of September for me. Long live Baltimore. Long live summer. And long live the Spaghett.
What do I admire about the spaghett? (Like, besides the perfectly stupid name?) Well for starters, I’ve never been to Baltimore, but I’m predisposed to like anything that comes from there: Donald Trump hates the place, and it gave us The Wire and Cal Ripken Jr.
Second, a spaghett is easier to make than an Aperol spritz. Delany advises fixing it right in the bottle. This requires you to drink about two ounces of beer first to clear some room before you pour in the lemon juice and Aperol — in case that wasn’t obvious, dummy.
Third, the spaghett might actually be tastier than your basic Aperol spritz, too, depending on your personal preference.
Insofar as the spaghett works as a drink, its secret lies in employing a beer that’s about as close as you can get to a blank slate. This allows the bitterness and sourness of the Aperol and lemon juice to come to the fore in refreshing fashion.
I suppose you could substitute any old plain lager — maybe the plainer the better. I have a Sapporo kicking around somewhere and I’m tempted to try that. Yet somehow the recommended High Life is just plain fun (and it’s not even regionally appropriate — High Life is from Milwaukee, another U.S. city I’ve never set foot in).
In the midst of all this, I vaguely recalled that Miller High Life in bottles was a relatively new thing in Canada — it’s only been available since last year, apparently — and if it hasn’t been a hit product so far, maybe it will be now.
Anyway, the best thing about the spaghett is its irreverence. This is isn’t something to overthink. It has three whole ingredients; go round ’em up and fix yourself a couple spaghetts, and raise a toast to whatever’s left of lazy summer times.
Sheeeeeeeit. Another round of spaghetts?