Burgers That Taste Like Cocktails? Hell Yes.

If my tombstone winds up reading something like, “Beloved Husband, Father, Came Up With The Idea Of Making Burgers That Taste Like Cocktails,” I’d be OK with that. My biggest flaw as a writer, I think, is that I don’t come up with enough really snazzy ideas. I envy those writers who can go to the corner for a coffee and come back with half a dozen viable ideas directly inspired by that three-minute stroll. My ideas tend toward the prosaic: “Here’s a really cool whiskey you should try,” and stuff of that ilk. Alas, most editors are more interested in pieces like, I don’t know, “The Five Whiskeys You Need To Drink While Standing On Your Head” (note to self: spend the weekend tasting whiskeys while standing on my head).

But every now and then I come up with a good idea. In this case, it started with the Manhattan (Burger) Project, which will be posted here in the next few days. And it went from there, until I wound up with burgers encompassing a pretty big chunk of the cocktail spectrum. When I pitched it to Esquire, I told them it would probably take me three weeks to find the chefs, get them to come up with recipes (I was merely the idea man here, not the chef — you’re welcome!), and get photos of the finished creations. It wound up taking six months, but I think it was worth the wait.

So just in time for Memorial Day and backyard grilling season (this year with special social distancing!), I present to you The Cocktail Burger Project as seen in Esquire, complete with seriously snazzy graphics, recipes, links to drink recipes… the works. Keep checking back throughout the holiday weekend for even more delicious cocktail burger recipes as well!