The Sunday Digest 128
“I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live.”
Welcome to The Sunday Digest — a free Sunday newsletter featuring long (and some short) reads, original columns, things I’ve saved over the last week, relaxing playlists, episodes releases, exclusive product drops, and more. Yes, you can reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you. Or, if podcasts are more your speed on Sundays, we’ve got that too.
Sunday Read › New York City Martinis, by the Numbers
by Amanda Arnold for Punch Drink
“I’ll do a Gibson with Monkey 47, please.”
This was the last martini I ordered. The first time I had a martini with Monkey 47 gin, I hated it. I think it was the bartender’s fault but that particular restaurant has built up enough goodwill with me that I won’t fully expose who made it. Maybe, instead, I should be blaming the vermouth.
But when I gave it another shot? It was the best martini I’d had in the last year or so. While I’ve scaled back my martini intake as of late, I’m still not opposed to joining in on a round of them. After all, I did just make one for myself on Monday evening. The best place to order a martini, however, is New York City.
In this week’s Sunday Read, my favorite cocktail-based publication Punch Drink breaks down the numbers behind martinis in New York. I know this may be reaching you early on Sunday morning (and potentially after a big night), but man does a martini sound good right now.
If there’s one main takeaway, it’s that the dirty Martini continues to reign supreme. (Interestingly, drinkers seem to be split relatively evenly between vodka and gin.) At Le Dive, a bustling Dimes Square establishment popular among the under-30 crowd, “someone drank two extra-dirty vodka Martinis with one olive before moving onto two filthy vodka Martinis with three olives each,” the team reports. During one Saturday night service at Hawksmoor, every single classic Martini was served dirty. Not all drinkers at New York establishments are gravitating toward the briny stalwart, though. The espresso-spiked iteration continues to be a favorite among the evening crowd (though many bartenders hesitate to classify it as a Martini), while upstanding historic renditions like Vespers and Gibsons seem to be on the rise.
Read in full here.
The Sunday Haiku: *hands over face*
why why why why why
why why why why why why why
why why why why why
New Episode › Retail Therapy 111: Party Shirts and Off-Menu Martinis
We welcome Circling Back’s Dillon Cheverere to the program to shop for party shirts, Paul Mescal and Benson Boone’s recent goings ons, New York City martinis by the numbers (see above!), early tennis vibes for summer, wishlist items, and more.
Listen to Retail Therapy on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube (see above), and anywhere else podcasts are found. And a reminder to follow Retail Therapy on Substack!
Things I Saved This Week
Additional Reading
Doing some research for today’s newsletter, I discovered that F. Scott Fitzgerald was a fan of using “cocktail” as a verb.
Don’t miss the most recent edition of Things Girls Do.
I really enjoyed this piece from
titled “Everyone’s Outside the Club.”
“How can I support Sunday Scaries?”
Buy our zine, Scenes of Note.
Listen to Retail Therapy.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Subscribe to all Washed Media Podcasts.
Or, you can simply subscribe here:
10/10 haiku
That Sunday haiku is the best thing I’ve ever read