Chappy Hour: The Pussy Foot + The Chemical Life

You might just get a contact high reading Jim Johnstone’s latest, The Chemical Life (Vehicule Press) – a collection fuelled by, and grappling with, substance abuse. By request, we are pairing this month’s selection with a mocktail: the kind of drink you might have enjoyed at Massey Hall, the site of our feature poem, during the 100 years that alcohol was banned from the premises. The Pussy Foot is a classic prohibition drink, so packed with flavour that you won’t miss a thing. 

The Cocktail

(text instructions)What you need:

• 2 oz orange juice
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz lime juice
• ½ oz grenadine syrup
• ½ oz simple syrup
• 1 egg yolk
• Cold sparkling water (optional)
• Orange slice

What to Do:

1. Pour all the juices and syrups into a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Add the yolk.
3. Shake well then strain into a large tumbler half filled with ice cubes.
4. Top up with fizzy water if preferred.
5. Garnish with an orange slice.

The Book

If that poem had you yelling “encore,” take the doubly-impactful The Pussy Foot and The Chemical Life (clicking will begin a .pdf download), and then check out the book, for size.* * *For more Chappy Hour, click here.