The News Is Scary, So Here Are Some Cocktail Tips; Watch Out for Dangerous Igloo Coolers–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Feb. 13, 2025

Indy Digest: Feb. 13, 2025

Rather than discuss the yucky news of the day—oh, look, an anti-vaxxer is now in charge of the Health and Human Services Department!—I am going to instead comment on a much more pleasant topic: Cocktails … because why not?

(If you’re here for the news rather than musings on the joys of sweet vermouth and whatnot, you’ll find plenty of news links below. Enjoy! Or something!)

I am a big fan of good, tasty craft cocktails. This is one reason why the Independent has hosted Palm Springs Craft Cocktail Week in the past (and will do so again in the not-too-distant future). While all spirits have their place, my heart first and foremost goes out to bourbon and rye whiskey, and my two go-to drinks both use whiskey as their base.

First up: the classic Manhattan. Ah, yum. My default is to use Bulleit rye in my Manhattans, but after choking down far too many mediocre Manhattans at bars and restaurants, I’ve come to believe that the most important ingredient is not the whiskey, but the sweet vermouth.

If you’re at a bar where the only sweet vermouth is Gallo or Martini & Rossi … consider ordering a Jack-and-Coke instead. At home, I use one of two sweet vermouths. On the more budget-friendly side, I use Noilly Prat; while it’s made by the same company as Martini & Rossi, it’s sooooo much better. Total Wine sells M&R for $11.19 for a 750 milliliter bottle, and Noilly Prat for $14.99, so the price difference is not huge—and it’s definitely best to spend $3.80 more for the Noilly Prat.

If you have a few more bucks to spend, I heartily recommend my less-budget-friendly home option: Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. It’ll set you back $25.99 at Total Wine for 750 ml, but, man, this stuff is worth it. It’s rich yet smooth with wonderful chocolate notes. Put three parts of Bulleit rye into a mixer; add one part Cocchi, a dash or two of Angostura bitters, and a spoon of juice from a jar of Bada Bing cherries, and stir. Strain into a glass with one of those Bada Bing cherries (which are better and far less sticky than twice-as-expensive Luxardo cherries), and get ready to drink the best Manhattan you’ve ever had.

My other go-to drink is a variation on a Manhattan. It’s a little more complicated; and I am picky, so I almost never try to order it at a bar or restaurant. It’s called a Brooklyn.

Most Brooklyn recipes call for dry vermouth, but I’ve discovered using a mix of both dry and sweet vermouth (I use Noilly Prat for both) creates a drink that’s oh-so-nice and balanced. The cocktail also includes a bit of Maraschino liqueur and Torani Amer Picon (which has been hard to find at times in recent years due to ingredient shortages that have now apparently been resolved), along with the whiskey base. My recipe:

• 2 ounces of Bulleit Rye
• 1/2 ounce of Noilly Prat sweet vermouth
• 1/2 ounce of Noilly Prat dry vermouth
• A large dash (1/4 ounce) of Maraschino liqueur
• A large dash (1/4 ounce) of Torani Amer Picon
• Stir in a mixer; strain into a coupe glass.

Yum. So good. Just make sure you don’t add too much Amer Picon; if you do, its bitterness will throw the balance out of whack.

Of course, a lot of people, for very good reasons, eschew alcohol. Because the quality and variety of non-alcoholic spirits (sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s not anymore!) are both significantly on the rise, I plan to see if it’s possible to make a tasty non-alcoholic Manhattan. Watch for details in this space on how that goes—on another day in the not-too-distant future when I just can’t with the yucky news of the day.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• We’re in the midst of the worst California flu season in many years! The Los Angeles Times reports: “By one measure, this season has already been more potent than any seen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The rate at which flu tests returned positive results at the state’s clinical sentinel labs surged to 27.8% for the week ending Feb. 1, the most recent for which complete data are available. That’s higher than the peak of the ‘tripledemic’ winter of 2022-23, when California’s hospitals were stressed by simultaneous high circulation of flu, COVID and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. ‘We’re still on the way up,’ Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious-disease expert at UC San Francisco, said of flu. Since the pandemic began, he said, ‘this is the first time that we’re mainly talking about flu rather than COVID.’” The story goes on to say there have been at least 10 pediatric flu deaths this season in California, including three teens in San Diego County—none of whom had gotten the flu vaccine.

• Yet another piece of evidence showing the country is in a weird, dark place comes via this CNBC piece: “Google’s popular online and mobile calendars no longer include reference to the first day of Black History Month or Women’s History month, among other holidays and events. The company’s calendar previously had those days marked at the start of February and March, respectively, but they don’t appear for 2025. … A Google spokesperson said the changes took place in the middle of last year. ‘Some years ago, the Calendar team started manually adding a broader set of cultural moments in a wide number of countries around the world,’ the spokesperson said in an email. ‘We got feedback that some other events and countries were missing—and maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable,’ the spokesperson added.” OK …

• Meanwhile, the Trump administration has booted a major journalism institution from White House events because it declined to acknowledge the whole “Gulf of America” thing. CNN reports: “The White House on Wednesday defended its decision to block a reporter from The Associated Press from covering two official events because the news service did not refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. President Trump signed an executive order on his first day renaming the Gulf ‘in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people,’ according to the order. The AP recommends that its journalists and the news organizations that rely on it reflect the Gulf’s historic name, but acknowledge Trump’s desired shift in language, which directly affects usage by the federal government and inside the U.S. … ‘It is a privilege to cover this White House,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.’ … ‘Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions. That’s an invitation that is given. I was very up front in my briefing on Day One that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,’ Leavitt continued, in response to questions from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. ‘And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. And I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that.’’ Yikes.

• Meanwhile, Google is bowing to the president’s demands on the “Gulf of America” decision—and now Mexico is considering a lawsuit against the tech giant. Reuters says: “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday urged Google, opens new tab to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America’ for U.S. users, adding the country could file a civil suit against the firm if necessary. Google changed the name for U.S. users of Google Maps to reflect the decision by the government of U.S. President Donald Trump to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Sheinbaum has repeatedly decried the move, arguing the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ name has long been recognized internationally. On Thursday, the leader said Google had not resolved Mexico’s earlier complaints.”

• This is one incredible headline from Variety: “How Kanye West Landed a Super Bowl Ad—Then Used It to Sell Swastika Shirts After It Aired.” No, we are not making this up. The story says: “Kanye West‘s Yeezy.com advertisement during Sunday night’s Super Bowl stunned viewers with its bizarre vibe. But then what happened next shocked the station execs who ran it and media buyers who approved the spot even more: West immediately flipped the website after the ad aired, replacing its previous content with just one item: A swastika T-shirt for sale, at $20 each. Up until the ad actually ran, the Yeezy.com website featured a Shopify-powered store selection of various non-branded articles of clothing like shirts, pants and jackets — nothing that would have been deemed a content issue. … Within the hour of the ad airing in Los Angeles and other markets, West made the switch and users saw just that $20 white T-shirt with a swastika on it.” It’s this kind of crap that makes me want to write about whiskey drinks instead.

• The state’s high-risk homeowners’ insurance plan needs a $1 billion bailout—and homeowners will foot much of the bill. Our partners at Calmatters report: “After saying it would run out of funds by March, California’s last-resort fire insurance provider will impose a special charge of $1 billion on insurance companies—which will in turn pass the costs along to homeowners—the first such move in more than three decades. … Most California home and fire insurance customers will see temporary fees added to their insurance bills as part of the charge, known as an assessment—marking the first time insurance companies will have imposed an assessment directly on customers. The FAIR Plan is a pool of insurers required by law to provide fire insurance to property owners who can’t find insurance elsewhere. Its customer base has grown dramatically in the past several years as insurance companies have increasingly refused to write or renew policies in the state, citing increased risk of wildfires. It now has more than 451,000 policies.”

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … coolers! The Associated Press reports: “Igloo is recalling more than 1 million of its coolers sold across the U.S., Mexico and Canada due to a handle hazard that has resulted in a handful of fingertip injuries, including some amputations. The now-recalled ‘Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers’ have a tow handle can pinch users’ fingertips against the product—posing potential amputation and other crushing risks, according to a Thursday recall notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Igloo has received 12 injury reports in the U.S., the CPSC notes, which include fingertip amputations, bone fractures, and lacerations. There are no known injuries in Canada or Mexico. … The now-recalled coolers were sold at major retailers like Costco, Target, Dick’s and Amazon between 2019 and January 2025 for between $80 and $140.” Ow!

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