LITTLE ROCK — I don’t have any problem with Kid Rock - I went to his show back in 2006 and had a good time - but it sort of bothers me to drink what he claims he does. Specifically I’m talking about a Jim Beam product called Red Stag, which is a black cherry-infused version of their bourbon.
Now before you get all sniffy on me, let me quickly add that I don’t drink Red Stag in the typical rock star fashion - I don’t carry a fifth onstage and swig it straight out of the bottle. I use it as a mixer, mostly in the Manhattan recipe you’ll find at the end of this column.
But then, I don’t drink anything the way I imagine Kid Rock drinks it, though I understand there’s likely some divergence between what I imagine and what actually is - Kid Rock may be a closet teetotaler who uses a Red Stag bottle as a prop. Or he may be, as they say Frank Sinatra was, a highly functioning alcoholic.
If I had to guess I’d bet that the truth is somewhere in the middle, that Kid Rock is a hardworking and probably rather serious musician who probably finds time to unwind with an adult beverage from time to time. I doubt he’s as wild as the image he projects. (He even takes time to remind us to behave responsiblyin the Red Stag ads I’ve seen.)
Kid Rock is probably more like me than his fashion choices might suggest. Both of us probably allow people to believe things about us which don’t correspond with our private realities. (Though it shouldn’t surprise careful readers of this column that I spend more time in gyms than in bars and there are more nights I don’t drink than nights I do.) Still, advertising matters because it works, and one of the ways I know it works is the dissonance occasioned by an image ad for a product you actuallylike - and I do like Red Stag, we’re getting to that - presented in a manner antithetical to the way you’d like to see yourself.
I mean, I consider myself past the point where I want to drink anything endorsed by a rock star, even a rock star as obviously manufactured as the cartoonish Kid Rock. I mean, like Muddy Waters said, I’m a man - spell that M-A-N - I don’t eat kiddie cereals (actually I do, but nevermind that), I don’t want to be drinking no kiddie booze.
And that’s exactly what Jim Beam is marketing Red Stag as - a pleasant-tasting cherry-flavored beverage that will help you to get your party on. And I don’t have any problem with that, or at least I’m not going to wag my finger at Jim Beam and accuse them of trying to lure susceptible young people into lives of sottishness anddissolution. (I actually think alcohol is great gift to which some people, unfortunately, are highly allergic. I wish we were more casual about our drinking.)
It’s just that, well, Kid Rock doesn’t coincide with my image of myself as a sophisticated drinker. I’m more Sinatra in the wee small hours than Diddy for Ciroc (or Janis Joplin, uncompensated, for Southern Comfort - although there’s a rumor that the company gave her a mink coat in gratitude).
Or actually, I’m none of those - I (just like you!) am the rare consumer immune to the siren call of advertising. While I’m occasionally interested in ads for their informational value, I don’t really believe a brand of beer canmake me smarter and betterlooking. So why does it niggle at me that Jim Beam seems to want to sell Red Stag as a sort of thing you’d mix with lemonade to take jet-skiing? (That’s not to suggest they would condone this sort of thing - always use a designated Jet Ski driver.)
In any case, I wouldn’t have tried Red Stag were it not for this column and the demands of feeding you people’s voracious need to know about alcoholic beverages. I would have been quite happy to continue sipping my Knob Creek and mixing in just a bit of maraschino cherry juice into my Manhattans. But this column wouldn’t have been around seven years if all I did was write about the stuff I drink on my own.
And the thing is, I like Red Stag. It’s a good product. It does not taste like cherry cough syrup or a Slurpee (not that there’s anything wrong with a Slurpee). The cherry flavor isn’t overpowering or artificial-tasting, and in another context it might even be considered well-balanced. I wouldn’t drink it straight, or even over ice, but you could. The cherry notes are unmistakable, but it’s not medicinal. It is a great mixer, and while I don’t drink bourbon and cola, if I did, this would be the bourbon I would use.
(Unless I’d use Evan Williams - it’s got a scrapy edge that cuts through sweet and fizzy quite nicely.)
But here’s how I use it most often: Red Stag Manhattan
Combine one part Red Stag with one part rye whiskey (I use Sazerac rye but that’s because I’m hoping for an endorsement deal) and one part sweet (rosso/Italian) vermouth in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a dash of Angostura bitters.
E-mail:
Style, Pages 59 on 11/14/2010